'The Last King' had me gripping my seat for all sorts of reasons. Nicholas, the young newly qualified doctor who spurns domestic practiser in Scotland for self fulfilment in another world meets cuddly psychotic demagogue with extraordinary results in a colourful and vibrant 1970's impoverished and confused Uganda. Forrest Whitaker just has what it takes, and the actual footage of Amin in the credits just highlighted the colossus this actor is in getting inside the dictator's skin. In blending affability and charm with paranoid instantaneous turning and brutality, I wanted to back into my cinema seat and hide.He deserves all the awards he will get.James MacAvoy is harder in some ways to fathom. He is full of youthful fun,sincerity and passion, but what naivety ! Having lived through those years with friends from Uganda, and remembering the unspeakable horror of hearing that Archbishop Janani Luwum had been killed for opposing Amin still fills me now with shivers. Yet here Kevin MacDonald portrays both characters with immense sensitivity and honesty. He does not spare the gore but won't dwell on it unnecessarily, either. He offers a taste of the environment, the beauty and the threat, rather like 'The Constant Gardener' with which I personally find myself comparing this film. This film is not about the past, it is about world politics today with all the cross-cultural tensions, and also about Africa,with a not dissimilar scenario only a stones throw from Uganda. In all he offers us a treat not to miss. It isn't comfortable, but it is gripping. You may like me, still be thinking hard about all you have witnessed the following morning !
Reviews
4 Reviews
The Last King of Scotland
(2006)
The follies of youth in a country desperate for stability
18 January 2007
Red Road
(2006)
Rawness, despair and resurrection in Glasgow
1 November 2006
I saw the trailer of this a few weeks ago and some of the mysterious and bleak nature of the shorts clips prompted that little voice inside me, saying " you won't be comfortable with it, but see it." I wasn't and I did.
The plot unravels slowly with little hints as to its central theme dotted about sensitively. It has you asking the question, what has happened to Jackie? How does this figure Clyde she has recognised and recoiled from on the CCTV monitors at work impacted on her lonely and monochrome life ? The answers come quite slowly as she puts her head into the lion's jaws of proximity to this danger man. A bit like the pantomime responses I felt like saying, " No, don't go any closer,he's behind you; you'll be recognised.", failing to recognise myself that something in her wants exactly that. In fact she receives from him perversely, what no viewer might possibly expect, but then she has us asking, is this payback time ? I'm not telling you, see the film ! The unfinished business Jackie has with Clyde is what this film is about.
The raw,down-at-heel, desperate, littered, high rise and windy Glasgow streets and housing estates as the backdrop. Ordinary everyday people get on with their lives oblivious of the drama being enacted in Jackie's life and culminating in an protracted showdown. But this is not the end. No, for all the unresolved grief, anger, erotic fascination and damaged lives, there remains a hope born of the unlikely. The film leads you away from the possibility, but ultimately there is life after death in Red Road. No cheering music soundtrack intrudes to romanticise what cannot possibly yield to only to the mawkish. There is just silence, sounds of the street, machinery, public transport and some well chosen tracks to create mood when required. This is what the vintage among us identify as continental cinema, no wonder they loved it at Cannes. This is not a film for audiences to remain detached from; the sheer intimacy of the camera work and the evolving personal destinies involved get you involved too, uncomfortably. A home grown vignette of humanity wrestling with the s..t that regularly happens !
The plot unravels slowly with little hints as to its central theme dotted about sensitively. It has you asking the question, what has happened to Jackie? How does this figure Clyde she has recognised and recoiled from on the CCTV monitors at work impacted on her lonely and monochrome life ? The answers come quite slowly as she puts her head into the lion's jaws of proximity to this danger man. A bit like the pantomime responses I felt like saying, " No, don't go any closer,he's behind you; you'll be recognised.", failing to recognise myself that something in her wants exactly that. In fact she receives from him perversely, what no viewer might possibly expect, but then she has us asking, is this payback time ? I'm not telling you, see the film ! The unfinished business Jackie has with Clyde is what this film is about.
The raw,down-at-heel, desperate, littered, high rise and windy Glasgow streets and housing estates as the backdrop. Ordinary everyday people get on with their lives oblivious of the drama being enacted in Jackie's life and culminating in an protracted showdown. But this is not the end. No, for all the unresolved grief, anger, erotic fascination and damaged lives, there remains a hope born of the unlikely. The film leads you away from the possibility, but ultimately there is life after death in Red Road. No cheering music soundtrack intrudes to romanticise what cannot possibly yield to only to the mawkish. There is just silence, sounds of the street, machinery, public transport and some well chosen tracks to create mood when required. This is what the vintage among us identify as continental cinema, no wonder they loved it at Cannes. This is not a film for audiences to remain detached from; the sheer intimacy of the camera work and the evolving personal destinies involved get you involved too, uncomfortably. A home grown vignette of humanity wrestling with the s..t that regularly happens !
Little Miss Sunshine
(2006)
Quirky, dark and funny look at American dreams and nightmares
20 October 2006
This film will not appeal to everyone. As a graduate of the National Lampoon series with Chevy Chase, I now feel ready to move on after seeing this film. Here we have a worthy successor to the slightly forced humour of American Vacation and its celluloid siblings. By the end I was so enthralled that I spontaneously clapped. I was so warmed by the conclusion I forgot myself,and to my surprise the largely student auditorium followed suit. Was this a Pavlovian sheep response or does Miss Sunshine truly touch buttons for all ages ? I think the latter. The reason, I believe, is that much has echoes of we live we live and observe. Dysfunctional families like little Olive's Hoover family actually exist. We all know that element of quirkiness and the crumpling under pressure in our own - be honest ! From this film we will recognise the over conscientious mum trying to hold it all together and the strident dad, largely in denial of all that is going on around him. We know, and have been, the moody teenager. then there's the slightly worrying relative and the outrageous crinkly grandparent, who lets the side down. Each character is given a twist to send them slightly over the top. then there's little Olive who probably wouldn't notice if a bomb went off in her own back yard, so charmingly ensconced is she in her own little world. Part of her world world is the doubtful aspiration of being a beauty queen.
Not wishing to spoil your experience of watching this - and this is a DVD film, the big screen is not absolutely necessary - the majority of the film is about journeying. It is about journeying in every sense of the word.Behind the humour there is the deeper reality of experiences that change you as a person.Developing from the sudden 'all up in the camper van and go' beginnings to the race against time across several states, laughs and perils mark the way. Some are unlikely and challenge credibility, some are plausible. It doesn't matter because this film does not say 'take me seriously', but 'understand the principles'. For the most part the situation humour is subtle and dark, but for me personally, chuckle-funny.
The characterisation is well developed. Frank,my favourite,is a brilliant but sombre gay academic who is rehabilitating in his sister's family after a suicide attempt. He softens up in time and helps to draw out Dwayne the teenage Nietsche loving son who has taken a vow of silence to escape his family. Richard Hoover, the dad is driven and success orientated, but hits a brick wall.His journey ends in his trading being a 'winner' to being an celebrator of life. Edwin his father, the hippie grandfather, a rather far-out Victor Meldrew, and well...you'll see. Sheryl, the mum comes out as the most normal; stressed out and exasperated but recognisably human. Olive as mentioned before is homely, innocent and wonderfully unselfconscious.
Grandfather Edwin's legacy is to leave his granddaughter Olive a 'dance routine' to perform at the contest. It blows the mind of the Beauty Contest audience and the anally retentive judges panel in different ways but provides the catharsis for the journey and their lives. The journey ends with American warm glow life changes, new values, the opening of eyes to new ways of being, and that liberating feeling that simply makes you want to clap in appreciation, probably wishing you could be as transformed as this redeemed Hoover family setting off in their yellow camper van for the journey home at the end.
Not wishing to spoil your experience of watching this - and this is a DVD film, the big screen is not absolutely necessary - the majority of the film is about journeying. It is about journeying in every sense of the word.Behind the humour there is the deeper reality of experiences that change you as a person.Developing from the sudden 'all up in the camper van and go' beginnings to the race against time across several states, laughs and perils mark the way. Some are unlikely and challenge credibility, some are plausible. It doesn't matter because this film does not say 'take me seriously', but 'understand the principles'. For the most part the situation humour is subtle and dark, but for me personally, chuckle-funny.
The characterisation is well developed. Frank,my favourite,is a brilliant but sombre gay academic who is rehabilitating in his sister's family after a suicide attempt. He softens up in time and helps to draw out Dwayne the teenage Nietsche loving son who has taken a vow of silence to escape his family. Richard Hoover, the dad is driven and success orientated, but hits a brick wall.His journey ends in his trading being a 'winner' to being an celebrator of life. Edwin his father, the hippie grandfather, a rather far-out Victor Meldrew, and well...you'll see. Sheryl, the mum comes out as the most normal; stressed out and exasperated but recognisably human. Olive as mentioned before is homely, innocent and wonderfully unselfconscious.
Grandfather Edwin's legacy is to leave his granddaughter Olive a 'dance routine' to perform at the contest. It blows the mind of the Beauty Contest audience and the anally retentive judges panel in different ways but provides the catharsis for the journey and their lives. The journey ends with American warm glow life changes, new values, the opening of eyes to new ways of being, and that liberating feeling that simply makes you want to clap in appreciation, probably wishing you could be as transformed as this redeemed Hoover family setting off in their yellow camper van for the journey home at the end.
Jane Eyre
(2006)
A powerful version of Bronte classic with some continuity flaws
19 October 2006
Having read the book and seen numerous versions,two captivating aspects of this one was the powerful acting of Ruth Fisher, and the uncharacteristic beast into rather needy Rochester from Toby Stephens.Jane brought out the intense pain of being a misjudged orphan, whilst Rochester seemed a bit hyperactive and prone to sweeping out of any encounter that touched on his troubled soul. Slowly both discover in each other that missing piece of the identity and empathy jigsaw. The locations were slightly mix and match, but the effects of bleak grandeur were effective. The disappointment was that Jane left her aunt's in winter landscape and, hey presto ! - it was high summer the next day. The seasons continued to rotate randomly which I found distracting. As a triumph of love and commitment over cruel circumstances had the Romeo and Juliet about it except for a happier ending.For me the abiding image is the portrayal of feelings - never overdone, that Ruth Wilson manage to give.
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