list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
DOCUMENTARY THE LOOK OF SILENCE (15) 103min ●●●●● MUSICAL LONDON ROAD (15) 92min ●●●●●
DRAMA EDEN (15) 131min ●●●●●
Documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer follows the award-winning The Act of Killing with another tremendous achievement. The location is still Indonesia but this time the focus is on optometrist Adi as he confronts death squad leaders about their brutal execution of his brother in 1965. Many of these men live close by and are still in positions of power.
Adi’s road to the truth is a dignified one. He begins with a gentle questioning session as he carries out an eye exam on a frail old man who we find out is responsible for genocide. But the deeper Adi gets, the more fearless he becomes and, in turn, the more frightening the film becomes. On more than one occasion his life is threatened. Born after the death of his brother, Adi has always lived in the shadow of carnage, and we meet his ageing mother and father who, to this very day, cannot shake the impact of the atrocities they have lived through. However Oppenheimer is mindful to not only document Adi’s struggle but to also relay his hopes for the future. Years of filming, research and gaining trust pay off impressively in this terrifying, tense and essential documentary. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 12 Jun.
Taking a remarkable approach to a real-life tragedy, the setting of stage-to-screen adaptation London Road, from director Rufus Norris, is the titular Ipswich street on which five prostitutes fell victim to serial killer Steve Wright in 2006. In the aftermath, writer Alecky Blythe interviewed the road’s residents and, with composer Adam Cork, turned the resulting verbatim dialogue – hesitation, repetition and all – into an astonishing musical screenplay.
Far from being a gimmick, the method feels fitting
for the deep-rooted social issues being explored. Visually, too, the framing and cuts replicate the organic rhythm of speech that so effectively informs the music, while the exceptional cast – including Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy – shoulder the controversial material with essential plausibility. The integrity extends to the compassionate treatment of the prostitutes themselves. Their predominant silence speaks volumes about their social exclusion and when they are finally given voice it is a sucker punch reminder of their ongoing fight for survival. A bold and inspired piece of British cinema, London Road is absolutely unmissable. (Nikki Baughan) ■ General release from Fri 12 Jun.
Mia Hansen-Løve’s fourth feature is an insightful and involving cinematic experience, focusing on the rise and fall of a French house DJ from the 1990s to the 2000s. She collaborates with her brother Sven on this perceptive journey into the electronic dance music scene that captures the highs of blissed-out club nights and the lows of come-downs. Sven’s memories of his time as a DJ struggling to achieve his dream add layers of credibility and honesty; he’s both nostalgic for times past and critical of his generation and their refusal to grow up, adapt and take responsibility. Félix de Givry turns in an excellent performance as the ambitious and talented Paul Vallée whose love of music leads him to make some bad life choices. His emotions are mirrored in Hansen- Løve’s commanding and euphoric club scenes, which eventually morph into desperately sad reminders of the good times. Although a fling early on doesn’t quite ring true, this beautifully observed slice of life glides effortlessly through the years, providing wonderful snapshots of an era of partying and youthful misdeeds. Eden is celebratory, cautionary and intoxicating. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 24 Jul.
WESTERN SLOW WEST (15) 83min ●●●●●
This whimsical western from John Maclean – formerly of the Beta Band – follows a wide-eyed dreamer and his gruff chaperone during the tail end of the Wild West. Episodically structured, it documents the close shaves and strange encounters of young Celtic nobleman Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his hired gun Silas (Michael Fassbender). They’re on the trail of the object of Jay’s affection Rose (Caren Pistorius) who has fled Scotland after a catastrophic accident. Trussed up like a 19th-century pimp, Ben Mendelsohn is the brute in pursuit.
Fassbender makes for a wonderfully laissez-faire gunslinger; cigar permanently clamped betwixt his teeth, he combines coarse ways, easy charm and discernable bemusement. And, although it offers its share of awe-inspiring Colorado vistas, Slow West largely rejects the sweep and swagger of traditional westerns, favouring the more intimate eccentricity of an odd couple road movie.
As well as pricking Jay’s love bubble, Maclean’s accomplished directorial debut humorously disabuses us of any and all romantic notions regarding the Wild West: a man’s un-wiped arse is exposed when he’s shot with his trousers around his ankles; an inexperienced tree-feller is flattened out; and our heroes strip to their long-johns, a washing line slung between their horses, after a disastrous drinking session results in sodden clothes.
Slow West is too irreverent to be instantly iconic or truly
heartbreaking, undermining its most potentially poignant moment in enjoyably emphatic style. That’s not to say that it isn’t striking or stirring. Poetically penned, and gorgeously shot by Robbie Ryan, it delivers ragged, rugged beauty as it gives life’s cruel ironies a welcome lick of wit. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 26 Jun.
4 Jun–3 Sep 2015 THE LIST 71