’Deception’ (Tromperie)

An elegant, fractured, dialogue-based chamber piece, a perfect example of the craft of filmmaking through intimacy of performance, camera work, lighting and editing as a successful writer looks to the relationships in his life. Yet, ultimately, the result is somewhat inert and tedious.

An adaptation of the experimental novel by Philip Roth, Philip (Denis Podalydès) converses over several years with various women in his life – with the unnamed L’amante anglaise (Léa Seydoux) dominant. A luminous contrivance of sex, love and (dis)loyalty in a Notting Hill studio, Hampstead home or New York hospital, Deception is a literary and cinematic bon mot as Philip intellectualises his infidelities, his writings, his Judaism.

Directed by Arnaud Desplechin, Deception is deceptively seductive centred around a mesmerising performance by Seydoux, muse, lover and intellectual match to the writer. Less convincing is a Philip with charm but lacking the rigour and magnetism of the philanderer he is meant to be.

Rating: 59%

Director: Arnaud Desplechin (My Golden Days, The Sentinel)

Writer: Arnaud Desplechin (My Golden Days, Esther Kahn), Julie Peyr (Brother and Sister, Who You Think I Am) – adapted from the Philip Roth novel

Main cast: Denis Podalydès (Caché, An Officer and a Spy), Léa Seydoux (No Time to Die, Blue is the Warmest Colour), Emmanuelle Devos (Coco Before Chanel, Kings & Queens)

’Asteroid City’

As quirky as Wes Anderson comes as the annual junior stargazing awards are hosted in the Arizona desert and Asteroid City.

Anderson’s latest is structured around a grieving Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) and the writing of his play of a playwright traveling with his four kids to the annual junior stargazing awards in Asteroid City. The family are taking the ashes of their wife/mother to the home of grandpa Zak (Tom Hanks). But meeting actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) upends plans – as does the arrival of a UFO at the midnight ceremony hosted by Dr. Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton). Asteroid City is immediately placed under lockdown by General Gibson (Jeffrey Wright).

The usual star-packed ensemble for Anderson, bizarre moments (Rupert Friend leading a country music band and frequently bursting into song), a quirky series of narratives (some related to the overall storyline some not) along with a visual feast of intense colour saturation and cardboard cutout sets add to the sense of 1950s discombobulation. It’s an enjoyable ride even if there’s less investment in the characters than in some of the more memorable Anderson films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Rating: 68%

Director: Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox)

Writer: Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox), Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom, TV’s Mozart in the Jungle)

Main cast: Jason Schwartzman (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Hunger Games: the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit, Marriage Story), Tom Hanks (Sully, Philadelphia)

‘Land and Freedom’

Political idealism comes into contact with practical reality as a young unemployed Communist leaves his home in Liverpool to volunteer in the fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

With few prospects, David Carr (Ian Hart) makes the decision to travel to Spain and join the international Militia, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista), fighting in the rural towns and villages outside Barcelona in support of wider global socialism. But increasingly isolated by other Spanish ant-fascist groups, disension sets in. Injured during the training of new recruits, Carr travels to Barcelona where he joins in the struggle in the city – only to find socialist groups pitted against each other. He returns to the ranks of the POUM – and Blanca (Rosana Pastor) in particular.

An archetypal Ken Loach feature in its gritty portrayal of working class (and under-class) struggles, Land and Freedom is a rare foray into global issues. Spain in 1936 and its ciivl war was complex, with Loach perfectly capturing the the validity of difference within the context of the shifting sands of the war. The camaraderie, the fear, the political divisions, the disappointments, the disillusion are all writ large as Loach explores the complexities of the struggle with this deeply humane narrative.

Rating: 71%

Director: Ken Loach (I Daniel Blake, The Angels’ Share)

Writer: Jim Allen (Hidden Agenda, Raining Stones)

Main cast: Ian Hart (Enemy of the State, Mary Queen of Scots), Rosana Pastor (The Conspiracy, Mad Love), Icíar Bollaín (El techo del mundo, Rage)

‘We Have a Pope’ (Habemus Papam)

A rank outsider is elected by the Conclave as the new Pope. Taken unawares, the cardinal struggles to believe in himself with such responsibility.

At the death of the Pope, the Roman Catholic Conclave meet in the Vatican to elect a replacement. Cardinal Gregori (Renato Scarpa) is a clear favourite with the world media. But following extended voting, it’s neck and neck in a three horse race. A compromise is reached with outsider Michel Piccoli elected. With the world awaiting the announcement, il papa takes to his rooms and then slips away, reflecting on the position and his own capabilities.

An engaging, dialogue-based narrative of a single soul in crisis wandering the streets of Rome whilst his colleagues, unaware he has left the building, along with the rest of the world bide their time waiting.

Rating: 69%

Director: Nanni Moretti (Mia madre, The Son’s Room)

Writer: Nanni Moretti (Mia Madre, The Son’s Room), Francesco Piccolo (Human Capital, The Traitor), Federica Pontremoli (A Magnificent Haunting, The Caiman)

Main cast: Michel Piccoli (Belle de jour, Une étrange affaire), Nanni Moretti (Mia madre, The Son’s Room), Renato Scarpa (Don’t Look Now, Mia madre)

‘The Kid with a Bike'( Le gamin au vélo)

A quiet, compassionate rites-of-passage narrative as 12 year-old Cyril is abandoned by his single parent father.

Left at a boys’ home, Cyril (Thomas Doret) refuses to accept his father has moved on. He’s desperate for his parent’s love but also wants the return of his bike. In skipping school and travelling to the now empty former shared home, Cyril comes into contact with the kind-hearted Samantha (Cécile de France), the local hairdresser. Agreeing to help the boy find his dad at weekends, Samantha is drawn into supporting the emotional turmoil that is Cyril as he navigates the rejection by his father (Jérémie Renier) and falls in with the wrong crowd.

The quiet dignity of the every day is a trademark in the films of the Dardenne brothers resulting in a simplicity of narrative that is deceptively complex and volatile.

Rating: 81%

Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne (Two Days One Night, The Child), Luc Dardenne (Two Days One Night, The Child)

Writer: Jean-Pierre Dardenne (Two Days One Night, The Child), Luc Dardenne (Two Days One Night, The Child)

Main cast: Thomas Doret (Renoir, The Unknown Girl), Cécile de France (The French Dispatch, The Spanish Apartment), Jérémie Renier (In Bruges, November)

‘EO’

A visceral allegorical social commentary as EO, a donkey freed as a performing circus animal, travels from place to place witnessing and experiencing love, innocence and cruelty.

A film of few words, EO is removed from the circus and its owners by the Polish authorities. A peripatetic life evolves for the gentle donkey as, having been sold to a horse stable to work, he finds ways of moving on, wandering the countryside. From the gentleness of a petting farm to violence at a small town football match, from time in the forest to being tied up at a motorway truck stop, EO’s movements are juxtaposed with imagery of the animal world with and without human interaction.

An episodic narrative from director Jerzy Skolimowski, EO is in equal measure odd, playful, cute in its judgement of how the human world treats its animals both domestic and wild.

Nominated for best foreign language film Oscar in 2023.

Rating: 72%

Director: Jerzy Skolimowski (Moonlighting, 11 Minutes)

Writer: Jerzy Skolimowski (Moonlighting, 11 Minutes), Ewa Piaskowska (Essential Killing, The Palace)

Main cast: Sandra Drzymalska (Sole, Kazdy ma swoje lato), Lorenzo Zurzolo (Under the Amalfi Suń, Una famiglia perfetta), Isabelle Huppert (Elle, 8 Women)

‘The New Boy’

A meditative allegory, two cultures are forced together in 1940s outback Australia as a nine year-old indigenous boy is delivered to a remote Mission at the dead of night.

The home to a handful of (Stolen Generation) boys, renegade nun Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett) runs the Mission having kept secret the death of the Priest a year earlier. ‘Sister Mum’ (Deborah Mailman) is the only other nun with George (Wayne Blair) the live-in handyman. It’s a closed world of little joy, routine and few words – the semi-naked New Boy’s arrival upsets the balance. An extraordinary realism from newcomer Aswan Reid is caught between two cultures. With his own spiritual powers and connectivity to place, he becomes fascinated by Catholic spirituality and its heavy symbolism. But there’s an inevitablity that the one can never accept the other.

It’s a quiet, stunningly shot feature from Warwick Thornton with a haunting soundtrack from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Little happens in its arguably elusive 100 minute running time, yet The New Boy is a compassionate exploration of ritual, faith and colonialism. 

Rating: 70%

Director: Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah, Sweet Country)

Writer: Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah, Sweet Country)

Main cast: Cate Blanchett (Little Fish, Blue Jasmine), Aswan Reid, Deborah Mailman (Bran Nue Dae, Rabbit Proof Fence)

‘Moonrise Kingdom’

Quirky with wry, snappy dialogue packed with stars of screen, Moonrise Kingdom is an archetypal Wes Anderson feature but with an added emotional element.

Living on a North Atlantic island, two awkward 12 year-olds decide to elope and head into the remote wetlands. Sam (Jared Gilman) is an orphan and khaki scout, Suzy (Kara Hayward) the only daughter of odd parents. When the pair are discovered to be missing, Police Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) with Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) organise a search party. Only once found, they disappear again on the eve of a dramatic hurricane. As parents Bill Murray and Frances McDormand regale Willis to find their daughter, so Social Services (Tilda Swinton) flies in from Boston and Scout Commander Pierce (Harvey Keitel) mobilises his boys.

Stylish in its 1960s setting, oozing charm, Moonrise Kingdom radiates deadpan fun with more than a few recognisable faces among the scouts (including Lucas Hedges).

Nominated for best original script Oscar in 2013

Rating: 70%

Director: Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Writer: Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited, CQ)

Main cast: Jared Gilman (Angry Neighbours, Paterson), Kara Hayward (Us, TV’s The Shadow Diaries), Bruce Willis (Motherless Brooklyn, Pulp Fiction)

‘Chocolat’

A sublime debut from French auteur Claire Denis, a French woman returns to Cameroon and reflects upon her colonialist childhood.

Semi-autobiographical, Chocolat, a deceptively simple, nuanced film, is overtly political yet deeply sensual. In a remote outpost with her colonial administrator father (François Cluzet) frequently away, the young France (Cécile Ducasse) must entertain herself. As an adult, her strongest memories are of the family’s ‘houseboy’ Protee (Isaach de Bankolé) – a man of great nobility and beauty. But what she’s not aware of is the strong sexual attraction her mother (Giulia Boschi) has for Protee and the complexities of adult interaction in a colonial, racist society. It’s the older France (Mireille Perrier) who contemplates the tensions and ambiguity of the last years of French colonialism in West Africa.

Rating: 80%

Director: Claire Denis (Beau travail, Let the Sunshine In)

Writer: Claire Denis (Beau travail, Let the Sunshine In), Jean-Pol Fargeau (Beau travail, The Intruder)

Main cast: Isaach de Bankolé (Casino Royale, Black Panther), Cécile Ducasse, François Cluzet (The Intouchables, Tell No One)

‘Bergman Island’

A thoughtful and captivating character-driven film within a film within a film set as two married filmmakers travel to Fårö, the island home and inspiration for many of Ingmar Bergman’s features.

Arriving on the island as a guest of the Bergman Society, acclaimed film director Tony (Tim Roth) finds his time increasingly in demand to attend screenings and talks around the island. With more time to herself, wife Chris (Vicky Krieps) looks for inspiration for her latest script. As Tony attends the more official aspects of everything Bergman, so Chris immerses herself in the ever present spirit of the renowned director – with the ideas within her evolving script taking centre stage of Bergman Island. Reality and fiction blur unexpectedly as Mia Wasikowska and her thwarted love for Anders Danielsen Lie becomes the central narrative.

A slow burn of a feature that slowly creeps up on the viewer, Bergman Island is very much director Mia Hansen-Løve’s homage to Bergman himself and the seriousness in which he approached the exploration of relationships within his films (and personal life). Layer upon layer is applied that draws the viewer into a narrative of wistful nostalgia.

Rating: 74%

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve (Father of My Children, Things to Come)

Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve (Father of My Children, Things to Come)

Main cast: Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Old), Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Luce), Mia Wasikowska (Judy and Punch, Stoker), Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World, Oslo August 31st)