Must See Movies: July
We here at Reel Steel care about cinema, and as a result we care that you, our readership are going to see the very best that cinema has to offer.
Maggie’s Plan
released July 8th, 2016
Greta Gerwig plays a young and independent New Yorker who decides to have a child on her own.
Things change after meeting John (Ethan Hawke), where she then plans to end his unhappy marriage to Georgette (Julianne Moore), but when it becomes clear that this isn’t what she had hoped for, she hatches a new plan to set things right.
A screwball love-triangle comedy drama, with an unexpectedly bizarre performance from Julianne Moore.
The Neon Demon
released July 8th, 2016
A beautiful nightmare set in the LA fashion world, Elle Fanning plays an up-and-coming model trying to survive the wrath of the competition, seeing her personality change in ways she never imagined in this cut-throat world.
Writer and Director Nicolas Winding Refn, as with his best known film to date, Drive, partners once again with soundtrack composer Cliff Martinez, for a film that will no doubt divide audiences.
Finding Dory
released July 29th, 2016
A new Pixar feature is always something worthy of attention, and here we have a follow-up to one of their early hits, Finding Nemo.
This story follows Dory, a fish who suffers from short-term memory loss, as she tries to find her own family in the big wide ocean with help from her friends Nemo and Marlin.
Having already broken records for an animated feature on its release in the US, this looks set to be one of the biggest Pixar films to date.
Doc/Fest Diary 2016
Words: C. Abbott
It was with great excitement, curiosity and pleasure at the knowledge that I would be a part of the festival this year. This marked the 22nd year running and it was bigger than ever, respected globally as one of the most important documentary festivals and the largest in the UK. As a film student and writer I decided to volunteer as part of the talks & session’s crew – helping to greet the delegates and ensuring the events ran smoothly – I did this not only for the experience and enlightenment at a corner of the film world I was ignorant of until this point but also to educate myself on the great lengths taken to keep such an event afloat and explore the absolute diversity of documentary filmmaking.
As an individual that had never worked in such an environment and never wrote what could be considered a blog before, this was a week of surprises and occasional confusion. Speaking of which…
Things could have got off to a smoother start, yet as things would unfold I was to realise calling the path ahead a rocky one would be a duplicitous understatement. The festival officially ran from the 10th – 15th of June, I arrived in Sheffield on the 9th as travel and work never seem to mix on a personal level, for some reason. Unfortunately I was tad late for my first shift the day after, I got a call 30 minutes after I should have started (my bad). So in typical fashion I rushed into the volunteers hub which was mercifully 5 minutes down the road from me. Within minutes I was told to report to the delegate desk, handed a shirt and instructed as to what I had to perform. With great aforementioned confusion a picture was taken of all the volunteers at this station to which I’m visibly the odd one out, and then 6pm hit. Delegates poured in and suddenly the festival came alive. Despite my distinctive out of depth presence, I soon grasped the situation and was the first point of contact for guests entering the festival. Filmmakers, producers, press, actors and more all started arriving with a flourish of relief to finally arrive and excitement to get started, mostly for the welcoming party in a couple of hours. This was to be my week, 4:30pm – 9pm each night, greeting these artists and critics alike into this cultural beacon for cinema. It was to be a good week.
The opening weekend of the festival did not match the vigour of the guests with the weather of the city. People travelled far and wide to be greeted by familiar grey and relentless downpours, that welcoming British hug. This never dampened the mood however it did cause unfortunate cancellations for some of the outdoor attractions. There will always be issues with such massive events and this was no exception, a standout was how everyone had to evacuate City Hall during the Michael Moore screening of Where to Invade Next? But with a great deal of reorganisation and leg work that was promptly corrected. One downside for me however was how I was largely away from the events of the festival, being a greeter separates you from the atmosphere of the event and detaches you from the experience, it is something I’ll be sure to make differently in following years. Yet, I did manage to squeeze in a few screenings and the films were both wonderful and bizarre.
The highlight of which was by far Paa Joe & The Lion. It is a film that is essentially a father and son tale, a tale of art and strife. A once respected artist now living in poverty, his and his son’s only hope for redemption being in the form of a journey to the UK to start a new life, something I think we can all agree is more prevalent than ever. Other films ranging from the politically ambiguous The Confession to the oddity of Mattress Men, it was wonderful seeing the creativity and curiosities of people from around the globe. Not only this but the screening of Louis Theroux’s latest My Scientology Movie was met with great appreciation along with talks from Joanna Lumley, Reggie Yates and the consistently brilliant David Attenborough. It’s hard not to recommend to anyone to take part in the festival, the much overused phrase of there’s something for everyone is never more accurate here.
The festival was a great success, the weather was misery, the events went through setbacks and personally things could have started differently. Yet despite it all, this is something I will happily take part in again and recommend you to do the same be it as a volunteer or a guest. It is an experience and one I’m proud to have been a part of. Oh, and the parties. Go to them.
Must See Movies: 2016 (so far)
Words: J. Senior
Yes folks, it is now June and the mid-point of our cinematic year, so it’s time for another list.
2016 has been a fantastic year for films so far, so we thought we’d do a quick run through of our six favourite films of the year released in the UK… you guessed it… so far…
So in no particular order:
Captain America: Civil War
To say this is the strongest Marvel film so far is an understatement. Joe and Anthony Russo have managed to better Joss Whedon’s Avengers Assemble in what is essentially The Avengers 2.5. But they have done so with a massive ensemble cast that still manages to give every individual their moment. Captain America is responsible for carrying the MCU in each of its phases, his solo outings are the strongest of them all, and he is really the back-bone of the entire shared universe. Despite this film not quite being a proper solo outing his actions drive the narrative forward and create the framework around which events unfold. It’s also notable for finally managing to get Spiderman right on screen, something two directors and five movies haven’t been able to do thus far. He only plays a bit part, but his reveal will take you back to childhood in one relentless action sequence in an airport terminal. Other newcomers like Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther and Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo are also excellent additions to the MCU. If the comic book movie is starting to grate a little, this film is confirmation of every reason you can imagine as to why these films are so bloody addictive.
Dheepan
Jacques Audiard has directed some of the most stunning and challenging independent movies of the last decade or so. Whether that be the muscular prison drama A Prophet or the romantic epic Rust & Bone. Audiard finally won the much coveted Palme d’Or at The Cannes Film Festival last year for Dheepan. The story of a Tamil Tiger soldier (the Dheepan of the title) who forms a fake family with a woman and a young girl he has never previously met, in order to gain migration into France so that he can escape the atrocities of war in his home land. However, life in a down trodden Paris suburb doesn’t remove Dheepan far from violence and the darker elements of his soul begin to seep back when he is confronted with challenging moral conundrums. The film’s rise in tension is expertly executed here, and as a visual piece, this film really succeeds in being utterly mind blowing. It is also a very relevant and human story whilst being surreal and dream-like at the same time.
Victoria
A one take thriller? “But didn’t they already do that in Birdman?” I hear you say. Well no, because that film used cinematic trickery of the highest form to appear as if it was filmed in one take. Victoria goes one better, as in the whole film was captured in one fell swoop. The premise is interesting but not that impressive until you’ve watched the film and you realise just how complex and large this film really is. The logistics involved alone don’t bare thinking about. What starts as a harmless night out in Berlin ends up landing our Spanish protagonist Victoria in the middle of a bank heist, and exposes her to the dark underworld of the city in which she lives. The planning that must have gone into each shot and scene is truly mind boggling. Director Sebastian Schipper has crafted a story that is so unique and compelling in his first directorial effort you really do worry for his next project and how it can compare to this. Victoria really is that good, it has to be seen to be believed though. Words just don’t do it much justice.
The Revenant
Forget all the hype, the Oscars and the bear rumours and what you are left with here is a true cinematic experience. The Revenant is just that, an experience, if you can stand the fact that it really is just another revenge thriller and instead revel in the visual genius of Emmanuel Lubezski and the cool and calculated direction of Alejandro Iñárritu you will be justly rewarded for your time. It’s an intense tale of survival and man’s primal instincts that never flinches from moments of pure violence, but that is all juxtaposed against beautiful moments of calm and serenity. The Revenant is at its strongest when it takes a step back and relaxes, the build up to the key conflicts is what really hooks you into the story. The bear mauling is oddly grotesque and the final showdown is textbook Wild West fare, but the real genius here is experiencing one man defy all the odds of nature to avenge his betrayers. It’s the journey and not the destination that count ultimately.
10 Cloverfield Lane
*if you don’t like spoilers, probably best to avoid this one… it’s hard to talk about without them*
Coming off the back of hand-held camera monster movie Cloverfield, this “spiritual sequel” shares little with its namesake bar the Cloverfield in its title, and a zany ending that completely defies the films main narrative thread. Overall, 10 Cloverfield Lane plays out as an intense thriller about captivity. When Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up after a car crash, she finds herself trapped in a basemant bunker with the strange Howard (John Goodman) who claims there has been an alien invasion and that she must remain with him below the surface for a couple of years at least until it is safe to venture out. He has equipped his hide away with everything they need and more such as; food, water, clothes, vinyl records and… board games. Dan Trachtenberg’s film is an intricate and intense one, that constantly twists and turns before your eyes. The narratives that run alongside each other are completely at odds, the very real and oppressive captivity thread vs. the bizarre notion of science fiction which sits around the setting. Both Winstead and Goodman deliver knock out performances, and as their ideals begin to clash the film swerves into a frantic and thrilling third act which is confrontational viewing and also pretty hilarious (in parts) as well. Michelle is a strong and admirable character but she goes from being just slightly industrious to being the reincarnation of Ripley from Aliens towards the finale, as she has to fight against ridiculous odds to survive. There hasn’t been a blockbuster like this for some time, where you go in completely unaware of what you are about to watch, it compares to something like District 9 perhaps in that aspect, which is testimony enough surely?
Spotlight
If you haven’t seen Spotlight yet, have you been living under a rock? This snappy and expert tale of a team of journalists who uncovered a mass of child sex abuse cases in the Boston catholic church is probably the highlight of the cinematic year so far. Here’s what we said in our review, on the day after it picked up The Oscar for Best Film:
The Academy Awards love to shell of the Best Picture Award to films that show America at its best. Now, it is clear to see that the film isn’t positive in its portrayal of Boston in the 70’s and 80’s. But, it is an incredible example of Americans coming together to solve a problem in their own society. The only way it could be more patriotic is if Michael Keaton ran around waving a giant Stars and Stripes as he chases leads and hounds lawyers. For that fact alone, it makes it a more likely winner than The Revenant, which is a staggering artistic effort but says little about the world in a wider sense.
I think it extends beyond pro-Americanism and is really pro-humanity. It is a film about people doing the right thing in expense of their own lives. It is something that we should all aspire to, and it gives the film an incredibly worthy punch. Unlike other films of recent years that have followed a similar vein like Argo for example. We can forgive Spotlight its schmaltzy American values for the simple fact that is not just a film for America. It is a film about the human spirit in its purest; free of ego, personal gain or selfish achievements. For that fact, and that fact alone. It deserves its Oscar and will truly live longer in the memory than the others than ran against it this year.
The Nice Guys
2016/ USA
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice, Kim Basinger, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Yaya DaCosta, Margaret Qualley
Words: N. Scatcherd
Los Angeles, 1977. The mysterious death of a porn actress and the subsequent search for a young girl bring together two very different Private Investigators: hapless drunk Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and steely bruiser Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe). Mismatched they may be, but in time-honoured buddy movie style – a style director Shane Black was instrumental in popularising back in 1987 when he wrote Lethal Weapon – the two somehow make a semi-capable duo as they stumble through a case involving porn, air pollution, government conspiracy and a giant, talking bumblebee.
Black has always had a real knack for witty, rapid-fire dialogue and that’s his biggest strength again here. What The Nice Guys sometimes lacks in plot (there are a lot of contrivances and lucky coincidences going on here), it more than makes up for with freewheeling charm. It helps that it’s just funny – Gosling giving the movie some of its biggest laughs, displaying a gift for physical comedy I don’t remember seeing him utilise in anything else he’s done – and he and Crowe have great chemistry. Angourie Rice is also a revelation as March’s smart, tough thirteen year old daughter Holly. The film has a lot of fun with its setting, relishing in a tongue in cheek depiction of a 70s America filled with smog, sex, gaudy suits, flash cars and marijuana (and Richard Nixon even appears in one of the film’s more surreal moments).
As previously mentioned, the plot itself is shaky at points, sometimes feeling like it’s trying a little too hard to bring a few seemingly disparate strands together into something coherent, often sacrificing believability for the sake of a laugh, in a way which occasionally pulled me out of the film. Of course I’m talking personally here, and maybe logical plausibility should sometimes be secondary to tone. On that front, The Nice Guys delivers, carrying itself along nicely enough on its performances and dialogue that the overall sum outweighs some occasionally shaky components.
The Mutilator
1985 – USA
Director: Buddy Cooper
Starring: Matt Mitler, Ruth Martinez, Bill Hitchcock
Words: O. Innocent
Originally titled Fall Break, the title by which Buddy Cooper’s low-budget slasher effort has come to be known is much more fitting; lurid, attention-grabbing and totally unoriginal, The Mutilator perfectly encapsulates the essence of this cult curio in a mere five easy-to-remember syllables. Largely forgotten in the midst of the Freddy and Jason-dominated slasher boom of the ‘80s, now, after years of obscurity, cuts and cheap bootlegs, The Mutilator has finally been given the resurrection it deserves courtesy of cult home entertainment mavericks Arrow Video. Delivering the full uncut, unrated version with a plethora of new bonus features, Arrow Video’s new Blu-ray is the real deal. However, the question on all horror fans’ lips is; was it really worth the wait and the hype? Well, if we’re talking in terms of sheer entertainment value, most definitely. Of course, this being a low budget slasher film, it certainly won’t win any awards for creativity or originality, but if cheesy ‘80s fun and brutal bloodletting is what you’re after, The Mutilator delivers.
It begins, as most of theses films do, with a flashback showing the origins of the killer. Here, a father comes home from hunting to find that his son has accidentally shot his wife while cleaning one of daddy’s precious rifles – a clever comment on America’s controversial right to keep firearms in the house, or a contrived attempt to grab the viewer’s attention and thirst for blood from the get go? I’ll let you decide that one. Any mystery as to whether the son or the father is going to be the killer is quickly dispelled as the old man drags the body into the living room, pours a drink and shares it with his dead wife. Fast forward a few years and the kid – now a young adult, naturally – receives a phone call from old dad asking him to look after the family holiday home on the beach during Fall Break. Ed Jr. angrily refuses and tells his dad where to stick it, but quickly changes his mind when his bored student friends – the usual archetypes; the jock, joker, final girl et al – convince him it will make a good Fall Break holiday. Set to the sound of the film’s annoyingly catchy theme song, Fall Break (going on a Fall Break/gonna have a good time!) the holiday kicks off as the gang stock up on beer and drive to the beach with the top down.
On arrival the gang discover that the beach house has been recently occupied with a ton of booze lying around and the front door left wide open, while the viewer discovers that deadly daddy is still here, lurking in the garage. After stumbling across a collection of mounted animals and hunting equipment, we are treated to a nice bit of exposition explaining that Ed’s dad was a pro hunter (“only thing he’s not hunted is humans!”) and the scene is set for the hunt to begin. The John Rambo of slashers, Ed’s dad utilises his honed hunting skills to pick off the teens as he would any other prey. The real highlight of the movie, these kills are commendable for their brutal bravura and brazen bloodletting. Courtesy of a young Mark (From Beyond, Evil Dead II) Shostrom, the gore effects transcend the meagre budget with crowd-pleasing sawing, stabbing and beheading which easily rival those of the studio-backed Friday the 13th series. The violence never quite veers into sleazy video nasty extremes, though; always managing to maintain a sense of ‘wow, look at that’ wonder as opposed to making you run to the nearest bathroom. Goofy, nostalgic, funny – both intentionally and unintentionally – and uninhibitedly entertaining in all the right places; the film, although cheap, is nevertheless extremely enjoyable, and there’s a palpable sense of fun about the proceedings which ensures you’ll always have a good time with The Mutilator.
Net Picks: Pride
Net Picks is your weekly digest of some of the best movies and TV shows currently doing the rounds on streaming sites such as Netflix, MUBI, Amazon Prime, Curzon Home Cinema and On Demand services such as Freeview and Sky Movies.
2014- UK
Director: Matthew Marchus
Starring: Ben Schnetzer, George Mackay, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy, Joseph Gilgun, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West
Currently streaming on: Sky Movies
Words: J. Senior
The British prestige movie is a genre that is ever on the rise, each year there tends to be a marquee British movie with the usual actors cropping up time and time again, bringing us light and whimsical tales of good old British spirit and under dogs on the rise, think; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The King’s Speech, Philomena, Lady in the Van, The Theory of Everything or even Eddie the Eagle. They aren’t films that particularly challenge you as a viewer, but are more towards the end of large budget light entertainment. There’s a clear formula in there that keeps audiences coming back for more. It has seen this small collection of works begin to burgeon and become a staple part of the viewing calender each year.
Pride (and we promise we’ll review some films that aren’t on Sky Movies next week) uses the genre to its benefit and manages to convey a more powerful message than its contemporaries. Director Matthew Marchus has created a film that encapsulates the struggles of two down-trodden minorities all the while giving us that little British wink of familiarity and comfort.
There’s familiar faces in Bill Nighy, Paddy Considine and Imelda Staunton. They really act like a warm handshake, easing you into the story so that you feel at ease and are more receptive to the film’s messages.
The script is also incredibly tight; there’s a lot going in Pride, and there are a lot of stories transpiring side by side that cause knock on effects and twists in the narrative. The film is set in 1984 and focuses on a small group of Gay and Lesbian activists led by Mark (Schnetzer) who see the Miner’s Strikes as a way of promoting their own cause and spreading their own message of unity. They are turned away by most mining communities, save for one. When Welsh miner Dai (Paddy Considine) hears how the LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) want to lend their support and finances to their own cause, he invites them to Wales and from there both their worlds come into collision. The Gay Activists and Welsh Miners are poles apart in terms of their lifestyle choices, but they find as events progress that the one common thing they have, their humanity, is all they need to hold them together. LGSM begin to see that by helping others their own cause is strengthened as opposed to piggy-backing onto the strikes and the Miners open themselves up to a world they had never before experienced.
Overtly gay activists in a Welsh mining village, as a concept, does make room for some excellent comedy, but it also underpins the darker side of the Gay movement, and how only 20 or so years ago homosexuals were seen as dangerous insurgents in our society with the rise of HIV and Aids being a particular point of reference. Personally having never been shocked by people’s sexual preferences I found it staggering to think that Gay and Lesbian people were treated in such a disgraceful way only six years before my own birth. Their fight runs parallel with that of the miners who were being victimised and punished by the extremes of Thatcher’s hideous Tory government.
Pride does exactly what it says on the tin, it evokes pride in the viewer. Depsite all of the forces working against them, the characters in the film hold fast in the face of adversity. Whether that’s Joe (MacKay), who hides his sexuality from his parents to join LGSM’s cause, Cliff who after years of living as a repressed homosexual in Wales finally opens up about his own sexual preferences or even Dai, who steps completely out of his comfort zone to get support for his local cause, his acceptance of LGSM’s help feels overtly British in its sensabilities.
2016 doesn’t differ too much from 1984 for all intents and purposes. Gay and Lesbian rights have progressed slightly in the intervening years but there is still that lack of equality and understanding in large parts of our society, at times if you aren’t straight you can still be viewed as an ‘other’. We have another Tory government that is again set on attacking our Nationally owned institutions, this iteration of the blue evil has turned its attention away from British industry slightly (save for the steel works closures) and is now tearing down our health services and arts foundations. Never has a British prestige movie been so directly relevant and thought provoking before.
And honestly, never has one of these films taken you on such an emotional rollercoaster before either. To quote my cousin (who recommended I watch the film):
“Nobody makes it through that ending without crying,and if they do then they should be killed instantly with a heavy blow to the skull, because anyone who doesn’t cry their eyes out after that isn’t human”
I’ll leave it there I think…
Must See Movies: June
We here at Reel Steel care about cinema, and as a result we care that you, our readership are going to see the very best that cinema has to offer.
The Nice Guys
released June 3rd, 2016
Ryan Gosling alongside Russell Crowe star as two polar opposite private investigators working together to solve the case of a missing girl.
Shane Black follows on as director from the comedy thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, with a film that looks to be its own, very over the top beast, and a very funny one at that.
When Marnie Was There
released June 10th, 2016
Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro) is a name known the world over as a producer of animated films adored by both adults and children alike.
In this story we follow Anna, who after moving to a remote coastal town to stay with relatives meets a young girl named Marnie, and is slowly drawn into a magical world.
This film received a 2016 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, and in typical Studio Ghibli fashion, this will no doubt be a beautiful and heartfelt tale.
Elvis & Nixon
released June 24th, 2016
This film is the imagined encounter, of when Elvis Presley (played by Michael Shannon) met with President Nixon (played by Kevin Spacey) to become an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
With two great leading actors delivering outrageous performances, this film looks to be as funny as the somewhat unbelievable real life story itself.
Green Room
2015
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart, Imogen Poots, Macon Blair, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Eric Edelstein
Words: N. Scatcherd
Following the quietly brilliant ‘revenge thriller’ Blue Ruin from 2013, director Jeremy Saulnier returns with another colour-coded tale of escalating violence. Green Room has a different focus from his previous film, a more visceral and intense experience, eliciting gasps and squirming in all the right places.
The set-up has a direct, B-movie simplicity: young punk band ‘The Ain’t Rights’ play a gig at a kind of skinhead commune for petrol money; one of them witnesses the aftermath of a murder; they become trapped in the titular green room with a baying mob of skinheads on the other side of the door. Saulnier is understated but confident when it comes to visual flourishes, using grimy cinematography (most of the film feels appropriately bathed in various sickly shades of its title colour), giving an atmosphere made all the more gripping by the naturalistic performances. You are placed right alongside the band (Yelchin, Shawkat, Cole and Turner, all on standout form), and each decision they make feels fraught with tension as they react to their situation with varying degrees of panic and terror. Patrick Stewart’s turn as skinhead patriarch Darcy is delivered with an unnerving methodical calm, but in fact it’s Macon Blair as a vaguely uneasy, self-conscious underling who gives perhaps the film’s best, most nuanced performance.
The bursts of violence are genuinely shocking, feeling queasily real and intense; limbs are hacked, dogs chew throats, bellies are split open, and it’s all shot with the kind of impact that real-world violence has, and films all too often sensationalise or eschew entirely. Most of the bloodletting is offhand, clumsy and almost incidental, and as the band’s situation becomes more and more dire, there’s a legitimate sense of danger and unpredictability. The film’s final twenty minutes start to stretch credulity a little – no spoilers – but overall, Green Room is the kind of breathless white-knuckle thriller that has both brains and guts (quite literally).
Net Picks: Next Goal Wins
Net Picks is your weekly digest of some of the best movies and TV shows currently doing the rounds on streaming sites such as Netflix, MUBI, Amazon Prime, Curzon Home Cinema and On Demand services such as Freeview and Sky Movies.
2014- UK
Director(s): Mike Brett, Steve Jamison
Starring: Thomas Rongen, Jaiyah Saelua, Nick Salapu
Currently streaming on: Sky Movies
Words: J. Senior
Sports documentaries are actually quite hard to choose from at the moment. There are a wealth of really strong features currently doing the rounds on Netflix but the one that really stands out is Next Goal Wins on Sky Movies. Mainly because it is about the best sport ever invented, Football. But also because it really is the most powerful of the collection of films that were considered this week.
There were other big hitters to choose from as well; The Last Gladiators the tale of the rise and fall of Ice- Hockey goon Chris Nylan, The Battered Bastards of Baseball the ultimate under dog tale in American sports, We Could be King the story of a school from a deprived Philadelphia inner city district and its American Football team and Hoop Dreams which was one of Roger Ebert’s favourite sport documentaries, were all considered but didn’t quite make the final cut.
Next Goal Wins is a stunning tale of teamwork and dedication that really reinforces any lingering doubts you may have about the human spirit. In 2001, the tiny Pacific island of American Samoa suffered a world record 31-0 defeat at the hands of Australia, garnering headlines across the world as the worst soccer team on the planet. At the beginning of the film Dutch coach Thomas Rongen is drafted in by the US Soccer Federation to train and coach the team in preparation for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. What he finds is a terrible standard of football, but a group of individuals who inspire and support each other in the face of insurmountable odds.
For a film about a team sport, Next Goal Wins is fantastic for its focus on individual stories. Take Jaiyah, the first ever trans-gender player to compete in a professional Football match, or Nicky Salapu the goalkeeper that conceded all of those 31 goals against Australia who still has nightmares about the match, there’s Rawlston Masaniai who traces his Mother’s lineage back to the island to join the team, but has never even been to the country of his ancestors before or even Rongen himself, still greaving for his deceased daughter and finding catharsis in his support of the Amercian Samoan team. What directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison do is show you how each player has their own journey to go on, and how as a team each journey reaches its resolution. It’s a clever device that invests you emotionally in the games of Football being played out on screen.
Through the course of the documentary the team improve and finally record their first ever competitive win, a news story that shocks the world of Football and lifts spirits around the camp. Even to score a goal is such a monumental achievement for these players, that you’ll find it hard to hold the emotions back at their reactions when they finally go on and win. Sadly, they don’t manage to qualify for the World Cup but they leave the qualifying tournament rejuvenated by the experience. It’s not a film that fill you with shock and awe, but it is a film about a genuine group of under dogs who play the sport they love, purely for the joy of playing. The success that they experience is just an additional benefit. With the sport being the way that it is in this country, it’s really beautiful to see how Football can build bridges between different cultures and renew old friendships and not be focused on commercial gain. For that reason alone it really is the best sports documentary you will see this week. Make sure you catch it, before it’s gone.
Ran
1985
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu
Words – Christian Abbott.
Director Akira Kurosawa was 75 when production on this film ended. At this point he was already renowned as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, with a career spanning decades of films that are profound and inspirational to audiences and others within the industry.
If this isn’t impressive enough, Ran is one of his most ambitious and visually incredible projects, and with a 4K restoration out for a new generation, proving his work to be timeless. This was his last true epic, taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s King Lear and led it to become Japan’s most expensive film at the time.
This isn’t the first time Kurosawa took inspiration from the work of Shakespeare, 1957s Throne of Blood is a reworking of Macbeth as The Bad Sleep Well was for Hamlet. This led to filmmakers such as Spielberg calling Kurosawa “the pictorial Shakespeare of time” and this is by no means an overstatement. Kurosawa was a master of cinema, utilising every facet of the art.
Aesthetically this is a breath-taking experience; a standout moment is the siege on the castle which manages being poetic rather than gratuitous. The use of colours, movement and staging within the frame here is astounding and the chance to see this displayed on the big screen is one not to miss. Everything that needs to be said is displayed visually rather than verbally, this is true cinema and something modern filmmaking has lost.
It may appear to be intimidating to dive into; a nearly three hour Japanese film based on Shakespeare is something that may turn people away instantly. Admittedly you have to go into this with the correct mind-set, but the experience of this film is essential. Every frame is beautiful, every moment is masterful and every second is unforgettable. If you are unfamiliar with the work of Akira Kurosawa, treat yourself and begin with this film.
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