Following on from the original 2011 BBC documentary You’ve Been Trumped, Anthony Baxter’s sequel carries on his narrative on the struggles faced by some Scottish residents whose life has been turned into misery by US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Back then, Trump, who was depicted as a ruthless businessman, looked set to do whatever it took to get his way over the people of Scotland by building his luxury golf course with no regard for environmental or ethical issues.
Fast forward to 2016 and, against all odds, Mr. Trump could become the leader of the most powerful country in the world in just a few days. Baxter’s timely film aims to be a cautionary tale drawing parallels between what happened to the residents in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire with what potentially could happen to the American people.
The documentary centres around a stern 92-year-old Molly Forbes and her farmer son Michael’s lives, whose property overlooks Trump’s International Golf Links. Back in 2006, Trump purchased land in the area and tried everything his team could to intimidate and get the pair off their land, intimidations that made them even more determined to stay where they’ve lived all their lives.
Several years on from its original dispute, life for the two has been far from easy, as Molly and Michael have had to endure an existence without running water, since Trump’s construction builders broke a pump and severed a pipe that delivered water to their property.
Despite promises from the Trump team to fix the problem, five years on, nothing has been done. And what comes across as rather worrying, is how police and politicians appear to facilitate Trump’s bullish behaviour, enchanted by his promises of investments in the region and the empty promise of the creation of 6,000 local jobs (only 95 where actually created).
As the documentary takes a Michael Moore-esque turn, we see Baxter talking to ordinary Americans trying to turn them against Trump by sharing the Scottish story, while Michael Forbes flies over to the States with his wife Sheila and attend the Republican National Convention.
However noble You’ve Been Trumped Too’s cause is, the film repeats some of his crucial points over and over and, regardless of how unfair or how spectacularly scary and bullish tactics are used by some of Mr. Trump and his entourage, it doesn’t seem to deliver a great deal. With repetitions of points and campaign footage we are already familiar with, the documentary doesn’t do that much investigating.
However, threats the film-maker has been subjected to, makes it all the more worthwhile to watch, as Baxter explained that Trump’s legal team “issued a statement that threatened to sue anyone who repeats the allegations made in the film. They threatened to sue the people in the film. They threatened to sue me” – explains the filmmaker – “It’s all a bunch of threats that are part of the Trump bullying machine. The important thing is to stand up for what’s right and to believe that telling the truth is part of our job as filmmakers”.
I wouldn’t call You’ve Been Trumped Too an eye opener as much of what is portrayed is already public knowledge, but if you’re sitting on the fence on Donald Trump, it may still be worth a watch.
You’ve Been Trumped Too is released on demand on iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, Journeyman VOD and Vimeo from 18th August.
Greed: Another Review: Michael Winterbottom’s excellent latest movie couldn’t be more current if it tried as it mixes together unscrupulous business procedures exploiting third world countries with the pleas of refugees, and it even features a posthumous appearance of TV presenter Caroline Flack, who tragically took her own life just last week.
Look at any business papers and you’ll see how inclusive capitalism now seems to be at the forefront of most senior corporate leaders’ minds and Greed’s timings, whose storyline focuses on the rise and fall of a crooked and bully billionaire, couldn’t be more apt to spark and move forward a conversation about a better distribution of wealth and best practices.
And the film’s satire is also a look at other aspects of our modern life, from our obsession with reality TV and the worshipping of celebrity culture to the sobering reality of exploitation and the challenges of immigration.
Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan) is a fictional British fashion tycoon approaching his 60th birthday and getting ready to host one hell of a party on the Greek island of Mykonos. The movie details the lavish party’s arrangements while his team tries to do all they can to uplift his smeared public image.
Sporting a blindingly white set of teeth, Sir Richard has recently been the subject of a very public scrutiny in front of a parliamentary select committee over his business affairs (reminds you of anyone? Although, I am assured, this is an entirely work of fiction and not based on any real life fashion industrialist). His birthday was meant to be the most prestigious calendar appointment of the year but his recent PR disaster threatens to overshadow his efforts as celebrities begin to pull out of his celebration.
Teams of builders and assistants flock to the island trying to make the party happen while Sir Richard’s biographer Nick (David Mitchell) tries to piece together his life story, offering the viewer a behind the scenes look at what this billionaire’s life and career look like.
As the party day approaches, preparations seem to mirror his ill ventured businesses; over worked contractors throw in the towel as they try to recreate an amphitheatre for a Roman themed costume party and Sir Richard takes things into his own hands by convincing a group of Syrian refugees (played by real life refugees) to work for him for free, just as Nick is shown to meet Sri Lankan’s sweatshop workers who have been exploited by Sir Richard’s high street fashion brands.
A bit of a mockumentary sharp satire dotted with laugh out loud moments and an impressive cast list, Greed offers a first class view of the super rich, their lives and preoccupations and the extravagance of those who have more money than sense. And, the ending is just as dramatic as its Greek backdrop. Because sometimes it’s only when you open yourself up with a belly laugh that the moral punch really hits home.
A controversial Dutch-Belgian drama, originally titled Wji, We is the adaptation of Elvis Peeters novel depicting the story of eight teenagers over a summer that will change their lives forever. According to the movie, this is a story based on real events, which makes it all the more troubling; split into four narratives, it is punctuated by streetlights depicting one of four characters name telling their side of the story over a judicial tape recorder as they recall the events of that fateful summer.
It is an unusually hot summer and a group of middle class, privileged teenagers are desperately bored and looking for something to do; they are unable to ‘feel anything’ as everything feels ‘fake’. They snigger at their parents’ generation, they refute conformity and view everything as meaningless and restrictive.
They are essentially thrill seekers stopping at nothing in their quest to push boundaries and experience for ‘real’. Soon their depraved games escalate in pure, brutal violence, throwing in the mix prostitution, assault and extortion along the way. Their remorseless attitude makes the story even harder to stomach.
Rene Eller’s movie has been on the festival circuit since its completion in 2018, as it enjoyed screenings in Rome, Rotterdam and the Raindance Festival, collecting various nominations and awards along the way. And, notably, it won Best Director at the 2018 Raindance Film Festival, possibly because of its ability to translate such a shocking read into an even more disturbing visual experience.
We is also beautifully shot and superbly edited, earning Wouter van Luijn, the film editor, an award and understandably so, as a monumental scene depicting a turning point when one of the teenagers finally, and tragically, feels ‘alive’ is superbly put together. The youngsters’ skilful ability to portray their characters, together with a haunting soundtrack, makes it a compelling watch.
Eller’s not only directed the movie, his first, but co-produced it too and I would be interested to understand how he went about to manage to capture so brilliantly the essence of the perception of Generation Z and its boredom; above all, that’s what captured me, his ability to translate beyond dialogue a generation with so much at its disposal and yet so painfully bored and lost in itself.
Let’s be clear, though, as a (nearly) middle aged woman, I found We truly painful to watch – striking and obscenely graphic violent scenes had me covering my eyes, feeling queasy and hoping for it to come to an end as quickly as possible. I spent hours in a daze after watching it and it disturbed my sleep that night. Maybe I’m not as desensitised as I would like to be, or maybe I am becoming too vulnerable to violence as we live in a society where violence against other human beings has become the new normal and watching gratuitous ferocity is simply too much for me.
Nevertheless, it is an outstanding picture in its ability to shock, challenge and frustrate its audience, and praise is certainly due.
Artspoitation Films announced its release on DVD and Blu-ray February 18th.
A long awaited cinematic portrayal of media tycoon and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his contemporaries directed by Paolo Sorrentino (The Young Pope, Oscar winner The Great Beauty) and initially released in Italy in two parts last year, Loro has been given a makeover and a fresh cut for its international release, out in the UK on the 19thof April.
Set in the mid to late 2000s, Loro at first portrays a variety of businessmen and politicians all desperately attempting to ingratiate themselves with Silvio Berlusconi (Toni Servillo). In the second part, it suddenly switches gear to focus on the billionaire himself and his private life.
The word Loro is an Italian pronoun to describe ‘them’ and, in this case, it is also intended as a play on words; l’oro (same pronunciation) literally translates as ‘the gold’, aptly titled for a movie that’s a depiction of abundance, debauchery, greed and ambition to strike gold at all costs.
Sorrentino has chosen to depict a crucial time in Berlusconi’s life, where his legendary parties at his villa in Sardinia and his separation from his long suffering wife made headlines nationally as well as internationally, and gave birth to the now infamous ‘bunga bunga’ parties, an expression now used to reference ‘an orgy involving powerful leaders’.
But Loro is also a fascinating interpretation of what has driven Berlusconi to such feverish success, that desperate need to constantly underline his accomplishments and his status of an undisputedly powerful and virile man. Tellingly, despite his wealth and power, a remarkable scene shows the elderly tycoon on the phone trying to sell an apartment that’s never been built, to prove himself that he’s still got the touch of the narcissistic, self made salesman and entrepreneur, that skill and blind determination that had bewitched investors and voters alike.
Loro’s first act opens with a character called Sergio Morra (Riccardo Scamarcio), a determined businessman from Puglia who bribes local politicians and lures them with his army of young escorts to get his way, ready to do anything to ingratiate himself to the billionaire politician. And this opening scene sets the tone for what’s to come, as the film is constantly dotted by wild, drug fuelled parties within extravagant and luxurious settings and stunning, half naked women orbiting around power mad, greedy and corrupt men.
Often an uncomfortable watch as women are used to manipulate and obtain favours, yet Sorrentino’s irony comes through beautifully when a young girl turns down the most powerful man because his breath reminds her of her grandfather. The tycoon’s beatific smile appears to temporary dampen and shows an old man trying to fight back to stay in the spotlight, to be loved by everyone, with his touching yet pathetic efforts to win back the wife who’s about to leave him.
As it was originally shot and devised as two separate movies, this new condensed version still feels like two films in one, where the switch from one chapter to the next happens so suddenly, it makes it hard to see it as one film altogether.
I struggled to follow its plot and its unrealistic dialogues, despite brilliant performances by Toni Servillo and Elena Sofia Ricci as Veronica Lario. It felt as though the overall structure and narrative has been lost in this edit. And yet, despite a variety of negative reviews, there’s something quite appealing about Sorrentino’s latest film.
Loro, in its 145 min cut, is out in cinemas across the UK this Friday.
She’s a household name within the Italian industry as she’s been active since the mid Eighties. Elena Sofia Ricci has performed on stage, on the big screen as well as a part of a variety of Italian TV series. Her most recent role in Paolo Sorrentino’s movie Loro sees her impersonating Veronica Lario, former wife of ex Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
We managed to speak to her on the phone shortly after her London appearance at the Made In Italy’s festival at the Ciné Lumière in South Kensington.
You’ve recently wrapped up a round of press conferences and interviews in London, what was the film’s reaction, how did it go?
Really well. They adored the movie in London, just as they have done anywhere abroad for Paolo Sorrentino’s films. London’s reaction was beautiful, very alert, the public has welcomed those ironic, playful references made by the talented hand of Paolo Sorrentino’s, and has welcomed the human side of this story. He was interested more in the human aspect of the character.
His story has been told in many ways and by other film directors, whereas he was interested in the intimate, personal side of this man, of his story and of his phenomena, of the reason why they have all orbited around him. It can be said that all of it was truly appreciated, the film was understood properly, including the final theme of his solitude, which at some point seems to become the protagonist of this movie. In the end, all there’s left are these poor souls, it’s like a Greek tragedy, it’s that sort of vibe. I come from classical theatre, it’s easy for me to create a comparison..
Yes, I found it quite theatrical indeed, and I really enjoyed this digging into his human side, the reasons driving his actions, his solitude, and so on. So, let’s start with your role, where you interpret Veronica Lario, Silvio Berlusconi’s wife (at the time), not that well known outside Italy…
And not that well known in Italy also, she’s always been ten steps behind her husband. When I was looking for videos of hers, to see for example how she walks, how she moves, I found nothing..
That’s what I wanted to ask you… what did you make of her as a person while researching and preparing yourself for this role?
Well, for example not having found anything about her on video, and noticing how much this woman lived in the shadows, says a lot about her character.. On the whole, one imagines someone who’s very discreet, reserved, silent, quiet. And yet, this doesn’t mean she is not capable of deep feelings and profound considerations, including those made in that famous letter for us Italians published in daily newspaper Repubblica, when she said ‘I close the curtains on my life with this man’. I actually met her 5 years ago, way before I had any idea that Sorrentino would call me for this film and for this particular role. If someone had told me at the time, I would have said… that’s just an impossible thing to happen!
And yet…
Yes, and I’ve met her in a hotel, we were both staying at this sea resort. She was there on her own, quite secluded, quiet, incredibly kind with everyone, very reserved. She used to come down, eat, read something and go away. She was always very polite, very discreet, not at all showy. This image I had of her also gave me a way in on my interpretation, of how to go about this character. I then also studied her biography. There’s a biography by Maria Latella, who’s Veronica’s dearest friend, a book called Tendenza Veronica which I read very carefully. I was surprised to find how much common ground we had, despite taking different paths, different situations. There were often some overlapping of our lives that have often coincided.
Can I ask you for some examples…? Or is it too personal?
Oh no, some things can be said, they are in her biography, it’s nothing that’s not already been put out there. For example, she lost her father very early on, and therefore she’s learnt early on not to disturb, not to bother her mother, who was already coping with this profound pain, therefore she wasn’t to upset her mum. It was like learning to tip toe. Now, I found my father again when I was 30, I didn’t have a father at all growing up, because my parents had a bad breakup and as a result I had to be the girl who didn’t cause any trouble, that didn’t upset her mother who had already endured plenty of suffering.
So this attitude of walking on tip toes, to avoid upsetting people, is something that affects me profoundly. So we had this aspect in common. As well as other much more ‘friendly’ aspects, like having a high school teacher that one didn’t particularly love at school but that ended up becoming mine and her close friend. I mean, it wasn’t the same teacher, but both of us had this great love for a teacher who, at the time, we both felt like we wished her to have a minor car crash while we were at college! (laughs).
Or, for example, the fact that she didn’t want to do her Holy Communion when she was 8, whereas I wanted to do it all costs because I wanted to dress up like a bride, with the big white dress and so on. And my mother, who was not a religious woman but had a profound respect for religion, asked me ‘why do you want to do it? Is it because you want to dress up like a bride and have a big party or what? I mean, you can do it if you really want to, but not dressed like a bride, you’ll have to dress normally’. And so, I didn’t end up doing it. So neither of us ended up doing the Holy Communion when we were eight! (laughs)
I wonder what she will think about this movie..
I know she’s seen the first part of the movie, I think she’s loved it, I think she’s appreciated Tony Servillo’s performance and mine, too. I’m not sure she’s seen the second part, because it could be quite painful for her to retrace some stages. I mean, this is my theory, I’m not sure, but I don’t think she’s seen the second part. There will be a willingness to get to know each other, but perhaps the time is not right yet. Over there, the film will come out in one whole section… Over there, you will see the reduced version, the one that’s been sold abroad, about to launch in the UK and in the US. It’s already come out in France, in Spain.. I think it’s been sold all over the world.
Now, what message would you give to a British cinema-goer with an average knowledge of Italian affairs about this movie? In a few words, how could you describe Loro and why they should watch it?
Sorrentino’s cinema is a type of cinema making that throws you in a sea of question marks. Whether you’re talking about Berlusconi or you’re talking about a certain way to go about life, about one’s social life, one’s political life, it doesn’t matter if it’s Berlusconi, what’s interesting are those dynamics that are behind some men and some women’s actions towards some existential places.
Elena Sofia Ricci
Therefore if one comes to the cinema to see Loro and sets about to see something that’s about human beings in general and not that particular human being, it could happen that they go to see them (‘loro’) and to come out and see ‘us’ because ‘those’ who populate Sorrentino’s movies seem to have come straight out of a Dante’s round, of course Dante’s Inferno (Hell), but then the film ends and… this is an important message I want to give to all who are going to watch this film. Do not leave before the end of the credits because in the very last part, right at the end, you’ll find the real ending of that movie.
Because that film ends on a tracking shot of other them (‘loro’), who hopefully inhabit all of our lives. So if one can see it as a metaphor, of other meanings, and if one doesn’t fall into the trap of wondering who are those people, who’s who, that we don’t have a Silvio Berlusconi, … well, the other side of the ocean there is a Trump who’s not that dissimilar… Anyway, there are these characters who we kind of carry inside, in our soul, in our history.
And thankfully, there are those ‘them’ (‘loro’) who make it to the end, because in the end, good people, people who help others… and that Christ stored there is, after all, a bit of all of us, us poor normal people who at some point in our lives have had to carry some kind of cross on our shoulders. And we will all end up, up there eventually.
