FILM | REVIEWS
BIOPIC – KITCHEN SINK DRAMA RAY & LIZ (15) 108min ●●●●●
Nominated for Outstanding British Debut at this year’s BAFTAs, this kitchen sink memoir is the cinematic calling card of Turner Prize-shortlisted photographer Richard Billingham. With grisly fascination and no shortage of humour, he recalls an unhappy childhood spent with a physically imposing, fearsome mother and a scrawny, drunkard father, lived first in a rundown end-of-terrace, then climbing the walls of a council high-rise.
Set in the West Midlands, it recreates both Billingham’s
upbringing during the Thatcher years and his father’s rank, ignominious existence in a single room decades later. At first, he eyes his feckless parents (played in their younger years by Justin Salinger and Ella Smith) and their squalid surroundings as if they are grotesque exhibits, before giving us glimpses of frailty and regret. The film makes its obsession a level of griminess that seems
quintessentially British, as stained net curtains flutter over dirty window sills, fag-ends abound and naff wallpaper peels. Working with ace cinematographer Daniel Landin (Under the Skin), Billingham hones in on the whiskers on his father’s chin, the clenched fist of his bruiser of a mother, a wedge of tattered, unopened mail, the way a budgie hares back and forth on its perch. Black comedy comes courtesy of acts of mischief and rebellion: the reckless hijinks of a cruel lodger, chintzy ornaments dropped from an open window onto passers-by. Although Billingham takes a backseat in these memories, they
manifest his turmoil in a way that’s artful, endlessly compelling and no doubt cathartic. Funny, and brimming with colour, character and eventually compassion, Ray & Liz represents film at its most painstakingly personal. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Selected release from Fri 8 Mar.
DRAMA GIRL (15) 106min ●●●●●
BIOPIC – THRILLER LORDS OF CHAOS (18) 118min ●●●●● MYSTERY DRAMA EVERYBODY KNOWS (TBC) 132min ●●●●●
Issues of identity lie at the heart of Girl. Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s poised debut focuses on 15-year-old Lara (Victor Polster). Born male, Lara identifies as female and dreams of becoming a ballerina. She is accepted by a prestigious ballet school, embarking upon rigorous training at the very point her body is changing and rebelling against her wishes. The constant repetition, bending, arching and shaping of her sylphlike frame edges the film towards the febrile territory of The Red Shoes and Black Swan. The camerawork becomes noticeably more agitated as Lara pushes herself to the brink of collapse.
Dhont’s approach favours discretion. We don’t know much of Lara’s life prior to the point at which we meet her. We only witness her tangled feelings and growing frustration. The result is a thoughtful film with a star-making performance from cis actor Polster. He has a willowy, fawn-like presence and captures a sense of the turmoil in a young woman eager to experience her desired life and rubbed raw waiting for it to begin. Transgender reviewers have been more critical but, on an emotional level, it is a tough, compassionate drama with a performance that convinces in both body and soul. (Allan Hunter) ■ Selected release from Fri 15 Mar.
68 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2019
Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund (Spun) is known for his music video collaborations with Madonna and Beyoncé but here he takes the helm of a disturbing story of music and murder. Unfolding in the early 1990s, it follows the formation of an obscure sub- genre: Norwegian black metal. As its centre is Øystein Aarseth – aka ‘Euronymous’
– played by the excellent Rory Culkin, the creative force behind the band Mayhem. After their self- harming vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin (Jack Kilmer) kills himself, Euronymous uses his death for promotional material. Mayhem are on the rise, and when his parents front the cash for Euronymous to open a record store, he and his followers have a base. Things really heat up when he meets Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes (Emory Cohen), a fan and fellow musician whose actions are even more extreme. With a penchant for burning churches, something that soon alerts the authorities, Varg becomes an insider in Euronymous’s world, setting up a rivalry that will only end one way. Some will undoubtedly be disgusted by the violent,
nihilistic subject matter but Åkerlund’s dead-eyed direction and Culkin’s compelling performance keep you hooked throughout a strange, often horrifying story. (James Mottram) ■ Selected release from Fri 29 Mar.
The location may have changed but the themes are strikingly familiar in the latest from Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation). Everybody Knows unfolds in the piercing light and dusty backroads north of Madrid but, once again, the focus is on emotional ties prised apart by secrets and lies. A family wedding returns Laura (Penélope Cruz) to the small town where she was born. Her former boyfriend Paco (Cruz’s real-life husband Javier Bardem) now owns and runs the vineyard that once belonged to Laura’s family. She has returned from Buenos Aires with her teenage daughter Irene (Carla Campra) and young son. The fact that her husband Alejandro (Ricardo Darín) is not with her may be significant. At the height of a boisterous wedding reception, Irene is kidnapped. Although there are thriller elements relating to her ordeal, much more important are the skeletons it rattles in the family closet. The soap opera-style revelations and character flaws are a little too predictable, the attempts to wrongfoot us a little too strained. The stellar cast and careful craftsmanship mean that Everybody Knows remains perfectly watchable, but it is never as gripping as you might have hoped. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 8 Mar.