list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
DRAMA CHINESE PUZZLE (15) 117min ●●●●● LOW BUDGET HORROR OCULUS (12A) 108min ●●●●●
TEEN DRAMA THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (12A) 126min ●●●●●
The third in French writer / director Cédric Klapisch’s occasional series of films following the life and loves of writer Xavier (Romain Duris) continues on from Pot Luck (2002) and Russian Dolls (2006), and is as slick, fun and ultimately insubstantial as its predecessors.
The film begins with the now 40-year-old Xavier following ex-girlfriend Wendy (Kelly Reilly) from Paris to New York so as not to lose touch with their children. The location change prompts him to ponder where his life is headed, while he struggles to write his new novel. Initially slumming it on the sofa of old friend Isabelle (Cécile De France), Xavier gets drawn into her relationship woes and then, as if this weren’t enough, his old flame Martine (Audrey Tautou) shows up, prompting him to wonder if perhaps she was the right one for him all along.
It makes for an entertaining confection in Klapisch’s able hands – the director sticking closely to his stylistic approach in Russian Dolls – but there is nothing particularly fresh here. Xavier pauses to ask a lot of big questions, but the farcical turns of plot undermine any serious attempts to suggest answers. (Paul Gallagher) ■ General release from Fri 20 Jun.
Right back to Night of The Living Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, horror has always been at its best when it stays low-budget. Take Mike Flanagan’s Oculus, from the company behind such high-hitting horrors as Paranormal Activity and Insidious. Call it ‘austerity horror’, if you like, but these claustrophobic chillers are economical in more ways than one.
Oculus plays on the age-old idea of running away from the scariest thing in the room. Karen Gillan plays Kaylie Russell, a gutsy lass determined to destroy a looking-glass that she estimates ruined countless lives – including those of her mother, father and brother. The film opens with her meeting sibling Tim (Brenton Thwaites), recently released from a psychiatric unit after being traumatised by past events, and Flanagan repeatedly flashes back to Kaylie and Tim’s childhood, when their parents first moved into the house.
If this gives the film a rather jagged structure, there are still enough bumps and scares along the way. It’s compelling to watch, even if the gruesome finale (involving a very sharp-looking pendulum-blade) can be seen a mile off. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 13 Jun.
A story about first love in the face of certain death, The Fault in Our Stars is based on the novel by John Green. At the centre is an affecting performance from Shailene Woodley – who is shaping up to be something of a star herself.
Hazel (Woodley) is a 17-year-old terminal cancer sufferer whose imminent demise has left her cynical and alienated from her peers. Her mother Frannie (Laura Dern) encourages her to join a support group where she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a young man of singular smugness who ploughs through Hazel’s resistance to sweep her off her feet.
The Fault in Our Stars purports to be a truthful
representation of a terrible predicament, yet alongside criticising the clichés of the ‘cancer genre’, it extravagantly embraces them, featuring dying teens who are the picture of health and montages with shameless sentimental music. Nonetheless, it has undeniable impact in the final act, with a visit to Hazel’s favourite author acting like an ice-bath to the movie’s maniacal optimism.
Depending on your stomach for films dealing in emotional extremes, you’ll need plenty of tissues, or a bucket. Or possibly both. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Thu 19 Jun.
HISTORICAL DRAMA BELLE (12A) 105min ●●●●●
The fact that a decade has passed since Amma Asante’s BAFTA- winning debut A Way Of Life is a stark reminder of how difficult it is for even the most talented individuals to make films in Britain. Belle is an elegantly assured, emotionally charged historical drama that illuminates a defining moment in the fight against the slave trade through a personal voyage of self discovery. It is also beautifully written, bringing the lightest of touches to a complex tale rooted in true events.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw gives a radiant performance as Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of a British aristocrat and an African slave. As a child she is placed in the custody of Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson) and raised within the protection of the family name. She is resigned to a social limbo that leaves her ‘too high in rank to dine with the servants but too low to dine with my family’.
An inheritance elevates her social prospects and her interest in the politics of the time is raised by cleric’s son John Davinier (Sam Reid), a passionate opponent of the slave trade. Belle brings a sharp clarity to a weighty range of issues, from
race and colonial oppression to the many injustices of a male- dominated society. It also creates a detailed portrait of a society that operated along strictly defined rules where appearances and propriety meant everything. Witty and well-heeled, it also boasts a fine cast of British character actors at the top of their game (Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Tom Wilkinson etc) making it easily accessible to lovers of costume drama and those with a deeper interest in the seeds of sweeping political and social change that were planted in 18th-century Britain. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 13 Jun.
12 Jun–10 Jul 2014 THE LIST 59