Author: Rosalynn Try-Hane

United States of Love tells the overlapping stories of a quartet of women all of whom are in search of love, which means different things to each of them, in a post communist Poland. Women are firmly at the heart of this third full length feature film by writer/director Tomasz Wasilewski. United States of Love doesn’t just examine what people do with new found freedom but the avalanche of emotions that accompany that freedom.

United States of Love is set in 1990, a year after the Berlin Wall came down and a moment of tremendous change for Poland. The freedom of the west beckons and the shackles of communist life are beginning to be shaken off. The film follows the lives of four women of mixed ages and social status. There is Agata (Julia Kijowska) in her 30s who is married to a man she no longer loves or does she, anxious for change that transforms itself into a passionate, obsessive love for a local priest. Renata (Dorota Kolak), an older woman, English teacher with an unhealthy obsession in her younger, neighbour and former beauty queen Marzena (Marta Nieradkiewicz), the latter who teaches aerobics at the local gym. Marzena’s sister is Iza (Magdalena Cielecka ) the headmistress of the school where Renata works who has been having a secret 6 year affair with the father of a student.

As with other interlacing stories some characters are more fully formed than others. Iza and Agata appear to have more depth and explanation than that of Renata – who could be described as a lonely spinster with an unhealthy obsession of Marzena who appears to have it all. The beauty of this film is not only are you watching the lives of others but that the women, the male characters are tertiary, themselves can be used as metaphors of: old Poland; the promise of freedom, exploitation and change. Themes of alienation, love, desperation and freedom and how these feel inhabit every single frame of this film. The interesting point of the film comes at the funeral where the priest talks of the deceased as entering into a new life. Maybe that is what it meant to have a new life in communist Poland, one had to die to be free, but when freedom arrives how do you deal with it. The setting of the film is ideal it is non descript tower block that feels sterile and suffocating with the weight of expectation and perfectly reflects the feeling and narrative of the film. Oleg Mutu as cinematographer perfectly captures the tone and feel of the film- it is never bright nor dull just is.

This is an interesting film that develops slowly in a haze of cigarette smoke, the opening scenes capture the period exactly as it was people smoked at dinner, and all this is done without a hint of nostalgia. There are a lot of unanswered questions that remain but in some respect the viewer must answer them. The weakest character in the film is Renata, whilst the obsession can sort of be explained her actions can’t. Magdalena Cielecka is mesmerising on screen and it is her performance that gives this film its power.

However, this is definitely a film to watch to observe the effect of change and the spectrum of female emotions in post communist Poland.

United States of Love opens in cinemas across the UK on 18 November.

This film is exquisite, unoriginal but exquisite. Nocturnal Animals is latest film from writer director Tom Ford. It won the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival 2016. It’s dark, deftly shot film about revenge, loss, hatred and the chasm between perception and reality.

Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is the rich, lonely, married protagonist. Her ex husband sends her his manuscript called Nocturnal Animals – his nickname for her. It’s no wonder she divorced him. As she reads the book we see it brought to life with Laura Hastings (Isla Fisher) as her fictional self and her ex husband Tony Hastings / Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenal) playing himself. They are driving from their house to their holiday home on a lonesome stretch of road and when they have the misfortune of running into some rednecks lead by Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor Jonhson) and, stop me if I’ve said too much, rednecks terrorise rich couple and their daughter. Will they escape with their lives or will she stop reading the book?

The first half of the film is good and then it drags. It’s also unoriginal but the direction and this meta style of storytelling, an augmented reality, which was most recently seen in Clouds of Sils Maria makes it more interesting. It’s a story within a story. As only Tom Ford can do he makes the grotesque beguiling and grief positively mesmerising. The opening sequence is testament to this. The performance he elicits from Aaron Taylor Johnson is award worthy and his best since Anna Karina. As for Michael Shannon he dominates every minute of screen time given. Had Nocturnal Animals been brutally edited to 1hr 30 rather rather than the 1hr 55 current running time it would have made this film edgier, gutsier even. As it stands – it is thrilling, dark as molasses tale that leaves you shaken and stirred.

Nocturnal Animals is released in cinemas across the UK on Friday 4 November.

The Hunt is directed by Woo-cheol Lee and tells the story of a lone hunter who goes hunting every day to atone for his survival after a terrible tragedy. However on this fateful day rather than hunting for boar he becomes the hunted in a fraught cat and mouse game with gold hunters who will stop at nothing to obtain the gold including eradicating any witnesses.

The hunter’s name is Ki Sung(played by Ahn Sung-Ki). He is suffering PTSD after surviving a coal mining accident where he has to do the unimaginable to survive. After his miraculous survival after a week in the mine some 10 years before he goes hunting every day and also acts as a father figure to Kim Yang-Soon (played by Ye-ri Han), the daughter of a fellow miner who died in the cave in. However this day of hunting will not be usual – after he chances upon a group of mercenaries lead by Park Dong Geun (played by Jo Jin-woong ). Who will survive and live to tell the tale?

The Hunt not only tells the tale of a hunt in such a sophisticated manner that demands the viewer to engage all of their senses. As you watch the film everything you see and hear is a clue that will help you unpick the rather complicated sub-plots. You think you know what to expect and then Woo-cheol Lee surprises you with yet another twist. Whilst it is a taut thriller there are light moments and in one scene when the hunter appears like Rambo one of the other characters on screen says exactly that: “does he think he’s Rambo or what”. Whilst the film is neatly delivered in just over 1hr 30 mins running time and is engrossing the sub-plots are just a little convoluted and distract from the central narrative. This is a disappointing. If only, The Hunt had just kept its eye on the main prize it would be a far superior thriller. As is The Hunt is a good thriller. With unnecessary additions such as the Park character’s twin brother who serves little to no purpose than to confuse the viewer. By the end of the film you almost forget about the hunter and start to try and decipher the meaning of the various sub-plots. However, The Hunt is still worth watching before it is made there is a terrible Hollywood remake lacking tension and narrative.

The Hunt will be shown as part of the London Korean Film Festival 2016 which runs from 3 – 27 November 2016.

Starfish written and directed by Bill Clark shines an important light on a much misunderstood condition of sepsis or blood poisoning. This film biopic based on a true story shows the life altering impact it has on a young couple and their family when the husband contracts sepsis.

Tom Ray (played by Tom Riley) and Nicola Ray (played by Joanne Froggatt) appear to have it all – a lovely family, house, each other and a baby on the way to make four. A seemingly innocuous act of eating out of date sausages, hands up who hasn’t eaten something past its use by date, triggers an infection that leads to Tom catching sepsis due to the A&E consultant’s lack of knowledge and attention. What follows is doubly harrowing to watch given all the events in Starfish actually happened in real life. He loses parts of each of his four limbs to sepsis. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the sepsis moves to his face and, he must lose part of that in order to stay alive. Does love conquer all? Can Nicola and Tom overcome this terrible event?

Starfish is an important educational tool for those of us not aware of how sepsis is triggered or what to do if you suspect someone has it. Does this mean it deserves to be on the big screen. The answer is no. This is the perfect film for the small screen to be shown on the BBC. However, on the big screen it’s not cinematic enough to make it engaging for the entire 96 minutes. That’s not to say that the performances are not good. Tom Riley especially captivates on screen so many of his scenes the cameras rest on his eyes and he conveys so many emotions in a blink of an eye. Joanne Froggatt puts in a fine performance but the entire film feels flat. This is a biopic by numbers in reverse order so the worse is at the beginning of the film.

My recommendation is wait for it to come to the small screen.

Starfish in cinemas across the UK on Friday 28 October.