Film Shapes

The Boy and the Heron is legendary animator/writer/director Hayao Miyazaki's twelfth feature, and amazingly, his first since 2013's The Wind Rises . This takes elements of many of his earlier work and tells the story of a young lad called Mihato (voiced by Soma Santoki) who moves away from Tokyo during the war after the death of his mother. His father, Shoichi (ex-SMAPper, Takuya Kimura), had wasted little time in starting a new family with Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), the younger sister of Mahito's mum. The introduction to the new residence throws up some of the Miyazaki hallmarks - a lush rural setting, a weird encounter with nature (the heron of the title), oddly cute geriatrics, and gorgeously rendered architecture. As soon as Mahito gets to this new abode, the grey heron starts pissing about with him - flying too close; peering in his window as he's napping; tap, tap, tapping at his chamber door (or roof, to be exact). The heron (Masaki Suda) tries to convince him (y...

Justine Triet's Palme d'Or winning drama about the unravelling of a relationship is a coldly intriguing piece of work. The film starts at an Alpine cottage where Sandra (Sandra Hüller) is being interviewed about her writing. Her husband, Samuel (Samuel Maleski) is upstairs playing loud music, her son readying the dog for a walk in the snow. The music brings a premature end to the interview as the son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) heads out. On his return, his father lies dead at the front of the house. No spoilers here, this all happens in the first 10 minutes of the film. The rest of the runtime picks apart the events leading up to the fall. But did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed? The intrigue doesn't play out like a detective story, where the fun lies in the minutiae of putting the 'how' together. Rather, it focusses on the 'why', or how things got to this point. Sandra enlists the help of an old lawyer friend, Vincent (Swann Arlaud) when it appears...

Kristoffer Borgli's second English language feature is a high-key concept with low-key delivery. This is not to do it down, only to note that the film has a slightly muddy look, and an almost soporific feel to it. This is in contrast to its razor-sharp treatment of culture wars and the trauma industry in the US, crucially viewed through the eyes of a European outsider. The ace up the sleeve is the star (and producer) Nicolas Cage. He's always been a clever performer but in the last few years, he's been getting grungier, more shop-worn, possibly even less self-conscious. This is reflected in his choice of roles but it's hard to distinguish between the chicken and the egg in this respect. As Paul Matthews, an evolutionary biology professor at Osler University in an indistinct area of North America, Cage gives off an air of mundanity that you can almost whiff. The conceit of Dream Scenario is that people are having dreams, not about Paul, but with him in them, observing e...

A whole family trip to the cinema for this animated duck movie, written by Mike White (of The White Lotus fame) and directed and co-written by Benjamin Renner. It's a fairly simple storyline - mum and ducklings fancy a trip to Jamaica, risk-averse dad is reluctant. Of course, for the sake of the plot, dad comes around. The journey is physical as well as offering a chance to experience personal (duckal?) growth - the spirit of adventure is enhanced, and the kids, mainly the older lad, transition from childhood to adulthood. There are numerous POV flying scenes - through clouds, between buildings in New York, in a nightmarish kitchen, down water slides, through a jungle - seriously, it's enough to make an adult dizzy. Admittedly though, it feels kind of reductive to even talk about all this as a grown up human. The colours, sounds, Looney Tunes style sight gags, are all mechanically tooled for little grommets to lap up, let's face it, this type of film isn't for the lik...

I had to look this up, but it seems that 'May December' refers to a relationship between a young person and a much older one. The couple in question are Joe (Charles Melton) and Gracie (Julianne Moore) and it's not so much the age gap that's the issue, more the fact that Joe was 13 when their 'affair' began. The wrinkle that this is all loosely based on real events adds a sense of car-crash voyeurism to proceedings. As the film kicks off, it's been 20-odd years since the controversy and Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is sent to shadow Gracie before playing her in a movie about the tabloid romance. This is a real actorly film, shot through the looking glass of melodrama. The layers are thick and peely - the tabloid news story, which was previously made into a TV movie, is now being 'researched' by Portman for a feature. Everything feels like a show until Joe berates Portman that it's NOT a story, it's his "fucking life". Portman is supe...

Ridley Scott's latest film, following the underrated The Last Duel and the rated House of Gucci,  is a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (probably no need for the surname). It traces his rise, post Madame Guillotine, through Robespierre's Reign of Terror, to his sweeping victories in battle and finally, to his exile. All the while, his romance with Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) frames the narrative. It's basically a grand historical rom-com, if you find yourself as tickled by the ripe dialogue as I was. Joaquin Phoenix plays the general with his usual weird panache and his delivery of some of these crackers is top fun. He tells an English foreign minister, "You think you're so good just because you have boats!" And to Josephine he proclaims that, "Destiny has brought me to this lamb chop."  Phoenix is on his regular top form but Kirby is brilliant as the enigmatic widow who allows herself to be wooed by the little guy. She puts her expressive eyes to good...

So, another origin story arrives on our screens. Considering the 1971 original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is one of the best children's films ever made, it might have been wise to steer well clear of this Roald Dahl IP. Luckily, in the hands of writer/director Paul King and co-writer Simon Farnaby, Wonka justifies it's existence. Just.  Timothée Chalamet plays the young Wonka with a louche absurdism, channelling all the nuttiness of Gene Wilder but sadly, none of the edgy paedophobia. This scans in that it probably takes a long time to nurture that distaste for children that Wilder's Wonka displayed so winningly. Story goes, Wonka arrives on a ship at one of those cities that often appeared in 1960s and 70s films ( Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , the original Wonka , even Mary Poppins ) that represented American ideas of old Europe. Is it Germany? England? France? Austria? Call it Generic Europa and leave it at that. He is on a mission to sell his chocolatey wares ...

Eo is the latest film from legendary Polish director, Jerzy Skolimowski. It's also the name of the lead character, a donkey, and cripes, does this poor fecker go through some shit. He starts out as a circus donkey with a caring handler, Kasandra (Sandra Drzymalska), but is soon 'rescued' by animal liberationists and sent to some sort of equestrian complex. He's just as downtrodden here though, so he runs slightly amok, and is sent off to a donkey sanctuary in the hills. Things seem comfy here until Kasandra visits drunk one night and Eo decides (I guess) to chase her when she leaves.  The film is an extended period in the life of this donkey and how its presence affects the people around it. There are several great overhead shots of the Polish and Italian landscapes and one drone sequence that made me feel slightly woozy (in a good way). The action follows the hapless Eo from situation to situation and shines a light on the varying levels of ugly humanity that he encou...

Emerald Fennell's excoriating follow up to Promising Young Woman skewers class and privilege with louche insouciance. Barry Keoghan plays Oliver, a needy, slightly pathetic scholarship student and he's in stellar form. As a 'Johhny-no-mates' at Oxford University, an opportunity arises to ingratiate himself with the cool folks on campus, led by Felix (a surprisingly excellent Jacob Elordi). The humour in this is just one of many drawcards. It's all played with a rigidly straight bat and there's an uneasy sting to it. The first inkling of this is a perfect outburst at a common room dinner - not so crucial in the wash up, but a great indicator of things to come. Oliver's underprivileged family situation presses Felix to invite him home to his parents' estate for the summer, the evocatively named, Saltburn. Here is where things begin to ramp up. Aside from the folks, Sir James and Elspeth (played with pitch perfect timing by Richard E. Grant and Rosamund Pi...

This first film of the Perth Festival's Lotterywest screenings is a great doco about the Women's Football World Cup in 1971. After the 1970 Men's World Cup in Mexico some bright sparks realised that a similar tournament, using the same facilities and interest levels, but with women players, might turn a handy little profit. Six teams from Europe and the Americas were invited and the reception they received was amazing. As to be expected, the conservative dudes of FIFA tried many tricks to stymie the event, though a general stadium ban only forced the games into two of the largest grounds in Mexico - the Jalisco and the Azteca. Supreme own goal, dickheads. Copa 71 uses a fairly traditional documentary format, blending archival footage with modern day interviews. It balances the sport sequences and the social justice elements really well - not a typical football doco and yet not a polemic as such. The directors have form in this field. It's Rachel Ramsay's first gig ...

Who, or what, is the foe? If we assume Saoirse Ronan's wistful Hen is the focus of the film, then is it her husband Junior, played by Paul Mescal? Or maybe Aaron Pierre's shifty Terrance, an off-world development rep for a company called Outermore? Possibly the actual foe is humanity, especially those that fucked up the Earth enough to warrant living in space. There are quite a few runners and riders here for the titular prize, but this is in contrast with how many speaking parts fill the screen. Aside from Ronan, Mescal and Pierre, there are voices coming from the radio, as well as diegetic music vocals, and that's your lot, chum.  Foe is as pared back as they come, almost theatrical in tone. There is a lot to unpack here - Artificial Intelligence, the ethics of cloning, relationship breakdown, global heating, gender equality, and probably something else I missed. Ambitious is putting it mildly. I'll describe in broad strokes - Hen and Junior live in a nigh-on uninhabi...

What better film to watch on a 36 degree day than a slice of grim northern English realism from the master himself, Ken Loach. The Old Oak is reported to be Loach's final film and if so, he's left us with a rough little gem. A fading village in Durham sees the arrival of a busload of Syrian refugees, much to the disdain of several residents. It opens with one of these yobs in a NUFC shirt 'accidentally' smashing the camera of Yara, a young woman from the bus, played by Ebla Mari. Tommy Joe Ballantyne (Dave Turner) tries to calm things down and so begins an unlikely but sweet friendship. This is real heart-on-sleeve filmmaking, personal but very affecting. The slightly amateurish performances underline the naturalism, the almost documentary feel of the film. The analogous plight of the ex-miners in the town and the refugees is not accidental and Loach (and his usual writer, Paul Laverty) imbue the film with barely contained proletariat anger. But as in many of the direc...

François Ozon is a curious director. His oeuvre is pretty disparate - the last three of his films I've seen were By the Grace of God , In the House and Potiche , each one quite different from the other. The Crime is Mine sees him in a light and breezy mood, as opposed to his more elliptical and moody side. It's a proper lark, this, too. In 1935 Paris a young aspiring actress, Madeleine Verdier (played with winning brio by Nadia Tereszkiewicz) is accused of killing a Weinsteiny theatre producer. Her lawyer housemate, Pauline Mauléon (an equally excellent Rebecca Marder) convinces her to take the rap so she can defend her honour in court. The forthcoming legal success brings publicity, plus offers of theatre and film work. Things are looking rosy until the real killer, Odette Chaumette (Isabelle Huppert, having a great time) tries to muscle in on the action. This is a female-centred screwball comedy, that brings to mind a different era. Katherine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell or Je...

Sick of Myself is a jet black Norwegian tragi-comedy from writer/director, Kristoffer Borgli. It starts in a posh restaurant where Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp) is being treated to a birthday meal by her irritating boyfriend, Thomas (Eirik Sæther). He tells her to take a fake phone call outside, and is soon after seen legging it down the street with a two-grand bottle of wine, waiter in pursuit. If this makes us question where the film is heading, the next scene amps up the perplexity. Signe is at work in a cafe when a fairly shocking 'incident' occurs. This acts as the spark to what follows with Signe, and well, it's no stretch to say it's certainly a confronting film. Thomas is an up-and-coming modern sculptor, who makes shit out of stolen furniture. As the interest in his work grows, Signe finds herself being more and more sidelined. All the attention is on Thomas, even though Signe craves her share, after all "the police and paramedics all said I may have save...

This is Gareth Edwards' first film since the fantastic Rogue One in 2016 and it's certainly an ambitious prospect. If you can imagine a sliding scale of sci-fi quality with  Blade Runner  at one end and  Elysium  at the other, then  The Creator  would shuttle between the two, eventually landing closer to the former. There are aspects that feel familiar - some moments are a bit  Avatar -ish, specifically when Allison Janney's Colonel Howell is on screen - but there's a lot that feels fresh, too.  It starts with a great premise - Artificial Intelligence has been steadily developing until around 2050, when a nuclear warhead is detonated in Los Angeles, prompting the 'Western world' to ban AI. Other regions, such as New Asia, don't accept or enforce a similar ban, forcing the US into a war, nominally against the AI and those who create or harbour them (no mention of 'New Africa' or New Oceania' or other such entities). The infiltration and jungle wa...

Shayda is Noora Niasari's first feature and almost certainly won't be her last. It tells the frustrating story of an Iranian mother struggling for custody of her daughter in Melbourne, in the face of abuse and ostracism. Zar Amir Ebrahim plays Shayda with such intensity and warmth that it's near impossible to take your eyes off her. She recently won the best actress award at Cannes for Holy Spider and it's not hard to see why. Her chemistry with Selina Zahednia, who plays her daughter, Mona, is fantastic - I even had to check they weren't actually related. The semi-autobiographical story is presented methodically and with no little style. Niasari eschews the wides, focussing on the interiors, mostly of the women's shelter run by Joyce (Leah Purcell) that Shayda and Mona find themselves in. The harrowing elements are balanced by the sense of community and support that comes from the shelter and the people therein.  Shayda's husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami) pr...

Here's a taut Roman police thriller from director, Lyda Patitucci, her feature debut. Isabella Ragonese stars as Vera, a damaged undercover cop embedded within a Serbian gang. We're introduced to her as she drives her 'colleagues' to a meeting where a nasty piece of business occurs, followed later that night by a confrontation with an ex-lover and a drunken tryst with a barman. Frantic, destructive events like these seem to be about par for Vera. Her stint with the gang comes under threat when a couple of extra bodies join for an armoured car job and one of them turns out to be her younger brother, Bruno (Andrea Arcangeli). Cue a confrontation at their objectionable father's place and a plan of sorts is arranged to keep them both safe. Unfortunately, Bruno has struggles of his own in that his angelic young daughter, Marta (Carolina Michelangeli) needs extracting from her dangerously alcoholic mother, so cash is required to ferry her away.  This is quite a brutal fil...

This debut feature from Charlotte Regan is a low-key, yet ambitious drama about a 12-year-old girl, Georgie (played by Lola Campbell) raising herself on a London housing estate. It becomes clear that she has lost her mother recently but is making a fair fist of it by half-inching bikes with her mate, Ali (Alin Uzun) and selling them to a local fence (apologies for the geezer language, but the film has that effect). Soon enough, the kids spot a wide boy jumping over the back fence who turns out to be Jason, Georgie's absent-until-now father (Harris Dickinson, last seen as the twatty model in Triangle of Sadness ). The central relationship is the focus of the film, along with Georgie's method of working through her grief, and this is all sweetly done. It has slight hints of another father/daughter film from this year, the superior  Aftersun. I've been attempting to work out why I didn't really gel with Scrapper since seeing it a few days ago and I think it may be the ton...

This perfectly-tuned biopic of the father of the atomic bomb has the Nolan stamp of assuredness upon it. The opening gives us scenes of a young-ish Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) getting to know himself and quantum mechanics, intercut with a couple of hearings - a congressional one with Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr) attempting to become U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and a more secretive one to decide on Oppenheimer's security clearance. Sounds pretty dull, to be fair, but Nolan seems to realise the potential for yawns, so he keeps this whole first act zipping along, with constant, escalating music (by Ludwig Göransson) and tight editing (by Jennifer Lame). Oppenheimer breezes through this flurry and arrives at the central driver of the story - the recruitment of scientists to the Manhattan Project, run by Matt Damon's General Leslie Groves. It's around this time in the story that Oppenheimer starts to realise the potential for destruction that his work entails - he j...

An unexpected freebie turned up (thanks to Merv) for this little Swedish thriller at the Scandinavian Film Festival . It's from a first-time writer/director called Johan Storm, and it's probably just be a coincidence that a load of this film occurs during storms. Our protagonist, David (Johan L. Heinstedt), finds a box full of his dead dad's old documents at his mum's house and this prompts him to shoot off to an island in the Arctic Circle, where his old man was doing some meteorological research. Or was he? David sets up in the North lighthouse and soon encounters Sarah (Hanne Mathisen Haga) in the South lighthouse - first on shortwave, then later in person. Curious to find out what his dad was up to, David stumbles upon various things, from non-creepy mystery letters to a very-fucking-creepy dungeon inside a cave! Double your phobia pleasure right there. Oh, and they may not be the only living things on this murky, wind-swept island of fun. It's a pretty neat sce...