list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
ANIMATION THE RED TURTLE (PG) 81min ●●●●● DRAMA FRANTZ (12A) 114 min ●●●●●
POLITICAL THRILLER MISS SLOANE (15) 132min ●●●●●
An Oscar nominee in 2017’s Best Animated Feature category and co-produced by the renowned Studio Ghibli stable, The Red Turtle has a pedigree that might just make audiences curious enough to watch a wordless meditation on man’s relationship with nature. The Dutch writer, director and animator Michaël Dudok de Wit – creator of the Oscar- winning short Father and Daughter – has conjured a breathtaking debut feature, modestly drawn, rich in texture, and warm of heart. A sailor washes up on a remote island. His efforts to escape are thwarted by a mysterious turtle. After attacking the turtle, the man feels a deep remorse that leads him to nurse it back to health.
The prolific, versatile François Ozon breaks fresh ground with Frantz, a beautifully crafted tale set in the aftermath of WWI. Inspired by Ernst Lubitsch’s Broken Lullaby, it explores personal tragedies that reflect the bigger picture of a shattered Europe. In a small German town, Anna (Paula Beer) mourns her fiancé Frantz who was killed in combat. One day, she catches sight of someone leaving flowers at Frantz’s grave. He is Frenchman Adrien (Pierre Niney), who claims to be a friend of her beloved. Sorrow draws them together but others are more hostile to the former enemy in their midst and the film subtly conveys the legacy of war in attitudes and resentments that would shape the 20th century.
The shift into allegory is deftly handled, depicting Largely filmed in gorgeous black and white,
the various stages of the man’s life, with relationships formed, crises averted, and time passing as fleetingly as the white spume of the sea on the sand. This is a stunning, life-affirming animation. By seeking to capture the simplicity of a parable or fable, the story is conveyed in a manner accessible to all. Like the jolly crabs which constantly scuttle across the beach, it is a film that says so much without ever uttering a single word. (Eddie Harrison) ■ Limited release from Fri 26 May. there is a delicacy to Frantz that extends from the understated performances to the impeccable art direction and sombre mood. Ozon is especially well served by Beer, who shows Anna to be a woman gradually growing in strength as she emerges from the clouds of grief with a clearer understanding of her own worth and future. Her performance is just one of the many impressive elements in a mournful but deeply felt film. (Allan Hunter) ■ Selected release from Fri 12 May.
In its finer moments, Miss Sloane has the righteous anger and relentless drive of a Paddy Chayefsky creation as it slices into the dark heart of American politics. Yet it sometimes resembles a clunky, John Grisham-style thriller in which each revelation diminishes the overall sense of conviction. Jessica Chastain’s Washington lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane is all black power suits, high heels and tetchy impatience. She is a whip-smart, seemingly soulless professional, reminiscent of Faye Dunaway’s TV executive from Chayefsky’s Network. Showing signs of a conscience, Sloane jumps ship to an ethical lobbying company led by Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong). Their task is to drum up support for an amendment to the law on gun ownership, while the presence of a Senate investigation suggests that everything may not have gone entirely to plan. There's a lot to enjoy in John Madden’s eleventh feature which includes vicious lines exchanged at breakneck speed. As it becomes increasingly slick and contrived, Miss Sloane loses sight of the better film it might have been but it still contains some great banter, a cast of old pros like John Lithgow, and Chastain is firing on all cylinders. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 12 May.
COMEDY DRAMA THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (TBC) 98min ●●●●●
Absence makes the heart grow fonder in The Other Side of Hope, the first feature from Finland’s Aki Kaurismäki since 2011’s Le Havre. The second in his planned ‘ports’ trilogy has all the Kaurismäki hallmarks we have come to know and love: from the lugubrious, deadpan humour to the rumbustious rockabilly music choices and the tenderhearted displays of hard-won emotions. How he has been missed. Khaled (Sherwan Haji) has been separated from his sister in their flight from war-torn Syria. When he arrives in Helsinki, he immediately applies for asylum. ‘Welcome,’ says a dour cop, ‘you are not the first.’ Khaled’s naive assumption that everything will be done to help him is challenged by a grimmer reality. The film’s second strand follows Helsinki resident Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen), a travelling salesman seeking to make his own fresh start. He leaves his wife, sells his business and gambles on a new career as the owner of the ramshackle Golden Pint restaurant. Wikström has a sense of hope about his future while Khaled finds his spirit gradually worn down by the bureaucratic nightmare that marks his time in Finland.
When the two men finally meet, and an exchange of blows becomes the start of a beautiful friendship, all the carefully plotted elements start to gel. The result is a timely, bittersweet exploration of the kindness of strangers and attitudes to refugees in a society in which we are more responsive to the plight of an adorable dog than the fate of our fellow human beings.
Screamingly funny in places, gorgeous-looking, marbled with melancholy and warmed through with an irresistible sense of compassion, this is the work of a master filmmaker at the top of his game. Simply sublime. (Allan Hunter) ■ Selected release from Fri 26 May.
1 Apr–31 May 2017 THE LIST 77