list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
ANIMATION MARY AND THE WITCH'S FLOWER (TBC) 102min ●●●●● PERIOD DRAMA ZAMA (TBC) 115min ●●●●●
Studio Ponoc came about after the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, announced his retirement from feature i lmmaking. Two of the studio’s alumni, producer Yoshiaki Nishimura and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, mark a new beginning for the iconic hand-drawn animation style we’ve come to know and love. Their i rst endeavour is an energetic adaptation of British author Mary Stewart’s novel The Little Broomstick.
Mary (Ruby Barnhill) is helpful, awkward and shy around boys. Exploring the wilderness surrounding her new home, she comes across a magical l ower that enables her broomstick to take l ight. When she is whisked away to Endor College, a school of witchcraft, on i rst look it seems charming. However, as Mary continues her tour with Madam Mumblechook (Kate Winslet) and Doctor Dee (Jim Broadbent) things take a sour turn. There are shades of Laputa: Castle in the Sky in the
opener and Yonebayashi brings a comforting familiarity from his time spent with Ghibli, but also a freshness that speaks to a new generation. Themes of transformation and passing the baton on sit nicely as subtext in a gorgeous animation that empowers its protagonist to i nd power in her weaknesses. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 4 May.
The comeback feature from Argentinean director Lucrecia Martel (The Headless Woman) takes on Antonio Di Benedetto’s novel, musing on identity, masculinity and legend. Set in the late 18th century, it finds officer of the Spanish court Don Diego de Zama (Daniel Giménez Cacho) trapped in an inauspicious South American colony, where he suffers one indignity after another as he impatiently awaits transfer. Cacho brings pathos to the plight of a man who
once may have had authority but is now powerless to the whims of others, alienated from peers and natives alike, and brought low by his own weaknesses. Cinematographer Rui Poças, who shot Miguel Gomes’ Tabu, does another marvellous job. Zama is full of exquisite compositions, ridiculing the Europeans by juxtaposing their ludicrous finery against the ragged, scorching, sometimes treacherous landscapes. It bears comparison to Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja, while there’s something of Peter Greenaway’s period-set surrealism here too. Cleverly drawing on her protagonist’s predicament, Martel offers a scathing satire of colonialism as she documents the mental deterioration of a man left hanging, existing on a diet of promises, promises, promises. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Selected release from Fri 25 May.
SCI-FI ROMANCE HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES (TBC) 102min ●●●●●
Following the success of American Gods, author Neil Gaiman must be satisi ed that his work is i nally making it to the screen with the requisite aplomb. So it’s something of a shame that John Cameron Mitchell’s messy adaptation of Gaiman’s 2006 short story rather blots his copybook. Set in 1977, Alex Sharp plays Enn, a teenager living
in not-so-exotic Croydon. With the punk scene alive and well, Enn and his mates take in a gig (where they discover Nicole Kidman’s fashion high priestess Queen Boadicea sneering away) before i nding their way to an after-party. There, Enn meets Zan (Elle Fanning) and immediately falls head over heels.
Trouble is, this gathering is populated by aliens, including Zan. Gaiman’s story stops around this point, and the screenplay by Mitchell and Philippa Goslett takes over, as Zan is allowed 48 hours to spend with Enn, as she looks to uncover more about this strange planet.
With her ethereal qualities i ne-tuned, Fanning
makes for an excellent extraterrestrial and Mitchell clearly loves the era, evocatively bringing to life late- 70s Britain. However, this culture clash romance loses its mojo in its i nal act and was clearly more fun to make than it is to watch. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 11 May.
THRILLER ENTEBBE (12A) 107min ●●●●●
The infamous 1976 hijacking of an Air France l ight, on the way from Tel Aviv to Paris, was one of the most sensational news stories of the decade, with a l urry of i lm versions appearing in the aftermath. José Padilha is the i rst director in forty years to re-examine events and would seem like the ideal choice. The Brazilian helmer i rst came to attention with Bus 174, a documentary about the hijacking of a Rio bus. He also made the Berlinale-winning Elite Squad, a semi-i ctional tale set amid his country’s military police. Here, he brings his visceral i lmmaking style to a terrifying incident which saw four pro-Palestinian terrorists take control of the plane and force it to land in Entebbe, Uganda. Of the quartet of hijackers, who are demanding the release of i fty
imprisoned Palestinian militants, the two German revolutionaries, Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl), are given the most screen-time. Wired on amphetamines, Pike’s Kuhlmann is the most distinct, and her gradual unravelling over this seven-day ordeal is intriguing to watch. Padilha switches between events on the ground at Entebbe’s
dusty airport and the ofi ces of the Israeli government, where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) and Defence Minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) debate just how to put an end to this crisis.
Written by Scottish playwright / screenwriter Gregory Burke
(‘71), there are some missteps, notably the bizarre inclusion of an Israeli dance piece that the i lm cuts back and forth to. But, with terrii c performances by Marsan and Ashkenazi, not to mention a lively turn by Nonso Anozie as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Padilha delivers an urgent and vibrant take. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 11 May.
1 Apr–31 May 2018 THE LIST 71