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SAINT MAUD (2020) FILM REVIEW

10/28/2020

*****

15, 84 Mins

Morfydd Clark is electrifying in Rose Glass’s sexuo-religious horror.

The best British horror film of the year arrives on UK screens this month. First premiering at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2019 (how long ago!), ‘Saint Maud’ (2020) was originally scheduled for release in May of this year. Delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the film now couldn’t be a more timely release in the month of Halloween. Anchored by an electrifying performance from Morfydd Clark, it is genuinely scary and intelligent; forgoing cheap genre tricks like jump scares for ideas about religion and female sexual jealousy, escapism and liberation.

‘Saint Maud’ begins in a gothic hilltop mansion that could easily double for Satis House in ‘Great Expectations’. This is the home of Amanda (Jennifer Ehle) - a terminally ill retired dancer. Amanda’s private carer is Maud (Morfydd Clark) - a staunchly Christian nurse. Maud performs menial duties such as cooking, cleaning and administering medication. However she grows increasingly infatuated with Amanda and believes she has been sent by God to save her from sin…

In the titular role, Morfydd Clark has some of the scariest facial features ever put to film. Her beetle eyes, crooked teeth and matted hair almost look like they were auditioning for the part of Miss Havisham. Hence the Dickensian Satis House connection. It’s interesting too that she played Dora Spenlow in another Dickensian adaptation - Armando Iannucci’s ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ (2020).

The theme of sexual jealousy manifests itself in a scene where Amanda is visited by a sex worker named Carol (Lily Frazer). When Maud tells her to stop seeing Amanda, Carol says she can’t work out if Maud is “a bigot or if she’s just jealous”.

Maud uses sex as an escape from the traumas of her previous life. There’s a sex scene intercut with shots of a violent operation. At another moment, she offers a handjob to a guy in a bar. A devout Christian, we are expected to believe that Maud’s sexual conquests are a source of freedom. Freedom from the orthodoxness of a God-fearing life.

This film is perhaps slightly confused about its religious compass. Sometimes it takes an anti-religious stance. In one scene, Maud quotes the writings of William Blake. “Organized religion is an agent of social control instead of a source of life and liberation” she reads. A line which backs up Blake’s view that the Christianity of his day was a distortion of true spiritual life.

At other times, the film seems pro-religion. In the climactic moments, Maud has an encounter with the Devil. With scissors to the neck, she is purged of him for life.

Above the guise of its critique on religion and sexuality, ‘Saint Maud’ is firstly a populist piece of horror; designed to shiver your timbers and make you wet your bed. It does this not through generic conventions like a bogeyman in a closet. But rather through a gradual build-up of atmosphere, suspense and tension built into the narrative.

And underwriting it all is Adam Janota Bzowski’s ethereal soundtrack which beautifully blends Inception-y BRUUMS with wolf howls and sirens singing. Add to this Clark’s unhinged performance and this is a future classic in the making…

‘Saint Maud’ is in cinemas now.

A version of this article appears in LeftLion and can be found at:
https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2020/october/saint-maud-review/

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ROCKS (2020) FILM REVIEW

10/19/2020

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*****

12A, 91 Mins

A riotous riot of pure girl power.

‘Rocks’ (2020) is a tragicomic fable that really captures all the glories and grotesqueries of growing up. Directed by Sarah Gavron (‘Brick Lane’ (2007), ‘Suffragette’ (2015)) and co-scripted by playwright Theresa Ikoko and Film and TV writer Claire Wilson, the film combines the bare-knuckle brutality of East End deprivation with the kindred spirit of pure girl power. It has a genuine sense of light and dark which is essential for any film about childhood and adolescence.

‘Rocks’ takes its title from the cartoony nom de guerre accorded to its teenage East Londoner protagonist Shola Omotoso (Bukky Bakray). She’s 15, half Nigerian, half Jamaican and hangs out with a group of girls - Sumaya (Kosar Ali), Agnes (Ruby Stokes), Khadijah (Tawheda Begum), Yawa (Afi Okaidja) and Sabina (Anastasia Dymitrow).

Rocks lives on a council estate with her single mother Funke (Layo-Christina Akinlude) and younger brother Emmanuel (D’Angelou Osei Kissiedu). One day, Rocks comes home to a pathetically apologetic note from her depression-suffering mother saying she has left because she needed to “clear her head”.

Desperate to avoid being put into care, Rocks and Emmanuel find themselves shuttling endlessly between chintzy hotels and friends’ houses. Meanwhile the arrival of a prim and pretty new student from Nottingham named Roshe (Nottingham-born Shaneigha Monik-Greyson) provokes violent jealousy amongst the girls…

Shot on shaky and seemingly hand-held lenses, everything about ‘Rocks’ smacks of authenticity. Its induced documentary style is amplified by Snapchat posts of the girls singing along to Shirley Caesar’s ‘You Name It’ on a train.

The dialogue is an eclectic blend of Multicultural London English and regional pronunciations. For example, Roshe is mocked for using the word “buum” (insert East Midlands vowells) for “nice”. Simultaneously the opening sequence - featuring the five girls upon a rooftop - mimics real-life by having multiple characters talking over each other.

The film’s soundtrack is minimal and absent throughout a vast majority of the runtime. However music plays an integral part in emphasising the movie’s darker moments. During the scene where Emmanuel is taken into care, the piano amps up Rocks’s tears, anger and pain at separation.

On the strength of this scene, Director Gavron matches Ken Loach’s ‘Cathy Come Home’ (1966) for gritty social realism. Yet ‘Rocks’ doesn’t wallow in miserablism. A classroom Malawah fight has the slapstick silliness of a Buster Keaton caper. Then a sunny day at the beach calls to mind the more joyous elements of Celine Sciamma’s ‘Girlhood’ (2015).

Born out of a monopoly of TV and Film workshops, the young cast is simply superb. Bukky Bakray encapsulates Rocks’s anguish and heartbreak and her scenes with Emmanuel are guaranteed tear-jerkers.

Other standouts include Nottingham’s very own Shaneigha Monik-Greyson who is always handsy for a fight as Roshe. It’s interesting too that the roughest girl on the block should come from Nottingham. A subtle nod to the city’s reputation as the gun capital of the UK? The statistics that once dubbed us “Shottingham”.

‘Rocks’ firmly establishes Sarah Gavron as the mistress of British “feelgood realism”. As she did with her excellent women’s suffrage drama ‘Suffragette’, Gavron has an eye for making social justice accessible. And this warm, witty, wonderful film does exactly that...

‘Rocks’ is in cinemas and on Netflix now.

A version of this article appears in LeftLion and can be found at:
https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2020/october/rocks-film-review/

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THE TRAITOR (2020) FILM REVIEW

10/12/2020

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***

15, 153 Mins

As long and lavish as ‘The Godfather’, but not nearly as subversive.

I do love a good gangster saga and Marco Bellocchio’s film most certainly is that. ‘The Traitor’ (2020) is a two and a half hour tale of a mobster’s unravelling that’s as long and lavish as ‘The Godfather’ (1972), but not nearly as subversive.

The film begins at the height of an all-out war between Sicilian mafia bosses over the heroin trade of the early 1980s. Real-life mobster Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) has fled Palermo for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Back home, his sons and brothers are being killed in action. Meanwhile Buscetta is extradited back to Italy by the Brazilian police. Here he becomes “pentito” - the Italian word for a member of a criminal organization who has collaborated with a public prosecutor.

Buscetta does this by meeting with Judge Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi). Thus betraying the generation-standing vow he made to the Cosa Nostra...

‘The Traitor’ is a violent movie in the manner of Brian De Palma’s blood-splattered ‘Scarface’ (1983). There’s a raunchy sex scene - with bare boobs and buttocks - that’s interrupted by a police raid. And a man’s arm is slashed off by a machete.

Director Bellocchio clearly understands that a Mafioso is a profession of violence. And yet still finds beauty in it. For example, a shootout amidst a hall of mirrors is a particular cinematographic treat. Later, expert special effects are called for during a car crash on a rollercoaster road. As glass shatters, there is physicality, heft and most importantly pain.

The costumes and sets are immaculate. Especially in the opening party scene which just explodes with tuxes, white robes and maxi dresses. ‘The Traitor’ unfolds over three decades and Bellocchio’s succulent costume design reflects the changing fashions and attitudes of the eras. In scene 1 set in 80s Palermo, Buscetta looks dapper in a white suit and black shirt. Moving the setting to Fort Collins, Colorado, he is considerably more sombre in a tweed jacket, thick jumper and comfy scarf.

Bellocchio also exercises a stunning eye for location and scenery. A scene where Buscetta has a smoke by his balcony overlooks Rio’s romanticized skyline, for instance. Elsewhere, a helicopter’s landing in Palermo moistly photographes the sapphire colour schemes of the Tyrrhenian.

‘The Traitor’ isn’t a youthful kind of gangster film. There’s no utterance of the line “as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” from ‘Goodfellas’ (1990). This is not a story of a kingpin’s rise and fall from grace. More a mournful, late-life reflection on the highs and lows of gangsterdom. Very similar to ‘The Godfather: Part III’ (1990) or, more recently, ‘The Irishman’ (2019).

But I can’t help, but wonder whether we’ve seen this done before and frankly done better. The film tips its hat to surrealism in a bizarre fantasy sequence where Buscetta is nailed into a coffin by his family. This is supposed to symbolize Buscetta’s declining mental state. And the concept of a mobster with mental health issues is similar to ‘The Sopranos’ (1999-2007).

The problem is Pierfransesco Favino is no James Gandolfini. He didn’t intimidate me every time he entered the way Tony Soprano did with his hulking 6ft1 height and pot belly.

What Bellocchio has here is style. This film is really good at filming the glamour and the pizzazz that comes with the Mafia lifestyle. What it leaves behind is the subversion and the commentary. ‘The Traitor’ has very little to say about the lives lost to a life of crime…

‘The Traitor’ is in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema now.

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AUGUST CINEMA RUNDOWN: PART 2

10/3/2020

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*Babyteeth (in cinemas) - ****
*Hope Gap (in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema) - ***
*Spree (in cinemas) - **

You’ve got to feel a wee bit sorry for Eliza Scanlen. Specifically because cinema seems to really enjoy killing her off at the moment. First as Beth March in ‘Little Women’ (2019) and now in ‘Babyteeth’ (15, 118 Mins) where she plays a terminal cancer patient. In Scanlen’s favour, the best thing I can say about ‘Babyteeth’ is that it avoids ever feeling polemical.

Like ‘Saint Frances’ (2020) did for abortion and menstruation, Shannon Murphy’s film approaches a potentially upsetting subject through the facade of a coming-of-age family drama with romantic inflections. Scanlen plays Milla - a 16 year old girl about to begin chemo and whose family houses a drug dealer named Moses (Toby Wallace) when he is kicked out of his house.

Milla’s orthodox parents (Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis) disapprove mightily of Milla and Moses’s increasingly touchy-feely friendship. Particularly due to the fact that Moses is 23 and they catch him stealing from their kitchen. That’s not to say mum and dad Anna and Finlay don’t have serious issues of their own. Anna self-medicates with prescription pills to cope with her daughter’s illness. Meanwhile Finlay is cheating on her for a younger neighbour (Emily Barclay) who has now become pregnant.

The schmaltz and sentimentality of many YA cancer dramas are justly avoided. In their place are sensitive themes about identity, sexuality and sexual experimentation. “That boy has problems!” Anna screams at Milla in reference to Moses. “So do I!” Milla answers explosively before growling and pulling a tiger face.

This idea about Milla being something of a wild animal is evident in her Princess and Pauper relationship with Moses. Despite him being a druggie and a thief, she still loves him. It’s as though she sees an element of her own premature desire for rebellion in him. He’s an escape for her from the expected conformities of being a woman.

Milla’s rebellion and escapism extends into her sexual orientation. In one pivotal scene, she dances with a male cross-dresser in a nightclub. The soundtrack weaves, whirs and woozes in and out of all Milla’s greatest hopes, doubts and aspirations. Is Milla bisexual? Her dilated pupils gliding across the female bodies on the dancefloor certainly have an air of seduction. But I don’t think Director Murphy is particularly interested in exploring LGBTQ culture or identity. Just as cancer provides the backdrop for a domestic saga, this subplot is secondary to Milla’s introduction into womanhood and adulthood which has a much more universal appeal.

‘Babyteeth’ isn’t perfect. The storyline involving Finlay’s pregnant girlfriend feels tacked-on and underdeveloped. But the film does boast powerful performances from Scanlen and most significantly from Ben Mendelsohn. Usually a go-to bad guy in Hollywood, he’s just a joy to watch here as the disciplinarian dad who begins to mellow with news of his daughter’s condition. Mendelsohn is also the only person who can make the line “you threatened my wife with a meat prong?!” sound funny as f**k!

‘Babyteeth’ is a funny and moving account of the glories and grotesqueries of growing up that just happens to have a tumour growing in its breasts…

Screenwriter William Nicholson steps behind the camera for the 2nd time in ‘Hope Gap’ (12A, 100 Mins). A bit of a career blind alley for the man who penned ‘Gladiator’ (2000) and ‘Les Miserables’ (2013). There’s no sword or sandals in sight on the chalk cliffs of East Sussex. The film’s basic premise is ‘Marriage Story’ (2019) meets ‘Summerland’ (2020), but more able to house real drama and real characters.

It takes its title from the real-life cove Nicholson played under as a child and the marital breakdown at the centre of the film is based on his own parents’ divorce. Thus Josh O’Connor (so fantastic in ‘God’s Own Country’ (2017)) is a semi-autobiographical version of Nicholson, returning to his pristine hometown of Seaford to find his parents’ marriage in disarray.

Bill Nighy’s Edward is cheating on his wife Grace (Annette Bening) for a mostly unseen younger woman. The revelation of the affair brings an end to the couple’s 29 year marriage. ‘Hope Gap’ resists the temptation to cast the adulterous husband as the villain of the picture. Much is made about his age being out of touch with the times (he uses coins rather than contactless to pay for an ice cream), but Edward is overall the more sympathetic side to the marriage. A meek, docile individual given to the temper tantrums of his off-kilter wife.

Grace, on the other hand, is a selfish, manipulative and occasionally abusive woman. There’s a scene where she slaps Edward during a heated argument at the dinner table. This scene kept my cuticles chewed as much as when Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson were screaming profanities at each other in ‘Marriage Story’. A nice encapsulation of the craziness of divorce.

The performances are uniformly excellent. Bill Nighy imbues his quintessential British deadpan into the part of the placid husband. Meanwhile Annette Bening appears to be channeling the matriarchal spirit of Emma Thompson. Both in her impeccable English accent and thoroughly conservative acting. The best thing about her performance is that she gets us to sympathise with a character quite so insufferable.

Some of the subplots don’t work. Grace’s love affair with the poems of Christina Rossetti reeks of pretension, for example. Especially when being recited to the clashing tides of the South East coast. And there’s a storyline about a mixed race couple (Aiysha Hart and Ryan McKen) that is underwritten.

The scenery really is stunning though. This is a film that’s sense of location and place is unparalleled. It’s also a strong portrait of the emotional and psychological impact divorce has on family and community.

Finally, a word or two on ‘Spree’ (15, 93 Mins). How many pale ‘Taxi Driver’ imitations do we need for us to realise this classic doesn’t need imitating? This one has a potentially interesting set-up. ‘Stranger Things’ Joe Keery is a social media obsessed ride-hail driver who murders his passengers, films it and posts it on Snapchat.

There’s plenty of room for commentary on the digital dangers of vesting too much faith in social media. Unfortunately this is mostly obliterated by the film’s crude and charmless violence. And, no matter how impossibly charismatic Keery might be, he is never in the slightest bit engaging in the way Director Eugene Kotlyarenko appears to think.

‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) is the greatest film ever made because it peered behind the visor of Travis Bickle. Travis may have been a misogynist, a sex addict and a homicidal maniac, but you still sympathised with him. You felt sorry for him when he was rejected by Betsy. And egged him on as a hero when he rescued Iris from the brothel. We were encouraged to identify him as a misunderstood outsider who didn’t quite fit in.

Even the recent ‘Cuck’ (2020) (a film I absolutely hated!) found reasons worth sympathising with its misanthropic lead character. For example, the woman at the bus stop who told him to “f**k off” really was rude to him. Meanwhile his racist spat with a group of black youths was set off by them loitering on his property and calling him “OP”.

In the case of ‘Spree’, there’s never any indication as to why its character commits these murders nor why he’s so messed-up. This makes it an entirely one-dimensional portrait of sociopathy.

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SAINT MAUD (2020) FILM REVIEW

*****

15, 84 Mins

ROCKS (2020) FILM REVIEW

*****

12A, 91 Mins

THE TRAITOR (2020) FILM REVIEW

***

15, 153 Mins

AUGUST CINEMA RUNDOWN: PART 2

*Babyteeth (in cinemas) - ****
*Hope Gap (in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema) - ***
*Spree (in cinemas) - **

Meet Roshan Chandy

Roshan's Top 5 Films of the Week

Follow Me on Twitter

The Roshanmeter

*** Jam Toast
Butter and Jam Toast
* Buttered Toast
** Bread and Butter
* Eggy Bread

Archives

DVD OF THE WEEK

Shrek Ultimate Collection (DVD)
(U, 4 Films)

TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Inside Out (2015)
(U, 102 Mins)
Sun May 9th, 3.05pm, BBC1

SAINT MAUD (2020) FILM REVIEW

*****

15, 84 Mins

ROCKS (2020) FILM REVIEW

*****

12A, 91 Mins

THE TRAITOR (2020) FILM REVIEW

***

15, 153 Mins

AUGUST CINEMA RUNDOWN: PART 2

*Babyteeth (in cinemas) - *****Hope Gap (in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema) - ****Spree (in cinemas) - **

Meet Roshan Chandy

Roshan's Top 5 Films of the Week

Follow Me on Twitter​

The Roshanmeter

***** Jam Toast**** Butter and Jam Toast*** Buttered Toast** Bread and Butter* Eggy Bread​

Archives

DVD OF THE WEEK​

Shrek Ultimate Collection (DVD)(U, 4 Films)

TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK​

Inside Out (2015)(U, 102 Mins) Sun May 9th, 3.05pm, BBC1

*Babyteeth (in cinemas) - ****
*Hope Gap (in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema) - ***
*Spree (in cinemas) - **

Follow Me on Twitter

*** Jam Toast
Butter and Jam Toast
* Buttered Toast
** Bread and Butter
* Eggy Bread

DVD OF THE WEEK

Shrek Ultimate Collection (DVD)
(U, 4 Films)

TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Inside Out (2015)
(U, 102 Mins)
Sun May 9th, 3.05pm, BBC1