film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Rosalynn Try-Hane

  • Review: Strange Heaven

    Review: Strange Heaven

    Strange Heaven is an emotional and engaging piece of filmmaking looking at the family unit from the perspective of a 7 year old. What should be a family’s heaven in a new country with boundless possibilities turns into hell for the couple and a strange heaven for their child.

    Strange Heaven tells the story of a Polish family that emigrate to Sweden and the various ways in which they struggle to adapt to their new surroundings. The couple’s precocious 7 year daughter Ula (Barbara Kubiak) adapts effortless to Swedish and picks up the language with ease in stark contrast to her mother. However, a lie and a lack of appreciation of its impact sets in motion a dramatic series of events including the removal of Ula to live with foster parents and her parents decision to do everything and anything in order to reunite the family unit.

    This film, Strange Heaven, is evocative of the 2012 film The Hunt written by Thomas Vinterberg with the central character played by Mads Mikkelsen. In that an innocent lie turns one man’s life upside down. Here, the little girl’s lie turns everyone’s world upside down. What is clever about Strange Heaven is the central core and the emotional intelligence of the film is squarely at the level of a 7 year old. One scene beautifully illustrates this when she is given the opportunity to confess but because she has always wanted a dog which her new foster has so she decides to remain silent.

    The writer/director Dariusz Gajewski directs this film with great ease and it slowly draws you in. There are times when the film could do with certain characters developed especially the social worker as she comes across as a caricature – the embodiment of the big bad State. However on the whole this is a refreshingly different take on the impact of a lie told by a child whilst deftly avoids demonising the child.

    Strange Heaven was shown as part of New Polish Cinema in the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival 7 to 28 April 2016.

  • Review: Nasty Baby

    I’m not hip enough to understand this film, Nasty Baby. It’s cliched, hubris heavy and barely drawn that just as the title suggests, nasty, baby, nasty.

    New York gay hipster couple, Mo (Tunde Adebimpe) and Freddy (Sebastian Silva) one of whom is a unsuccessful video performance artist, and their best female friend Emma (Kristen Wiig) are taking their odd, stifling friendship to the next level and are attempting to create life ie for us simple people that means they are going to donate their sperm for her to get pregnant. The film is a grotesque view of urban hipster life in Brooklyn, at times it feels as if it is supposed to be a parody but instead it drifts into the abyss. The dramatic turn when it finally comes provides a jolt to yank it back but nothing can save this film.

    The film is written and stars Sebastian Silva and my main issue with the film is there is no story evolution or fully drawn characters. The idea that a gay couple help their single friend become pregnant provides a baseline and so what. The questions would come a little faster if I actually felt engaged with this film. This film is part of the new wave of films like Frances Ha by Noah Baumbach that likes to provide an examination of life without actually saying anything of note. If you liked Frances Ha you will probably like this film.

    I enjoy watching Kirsten Wiig on screen. However, in her attempt to navigate away from comic roles she’s in danger of self typecasting in these narcissistic, psychotic unhinged female roles.

    Nasty Baby is released in cinemas across the UK on 8 April 2016.

  • Autism Friendly Screenings At Empire Cinemas As Part Of ‘World Autism Awareness Week’

    Autism Friendly Screenings At Empire Cinemas As Part Of ‘World Autism Awareness Week’

    Empire Cinemas is delighted to announce that it will once again be joining forces with the National Autistic Society to celebrate ‘World Autism Awareness Week’ by showing autism-friendly screenings of Kung Fu Panda 3 2D on Thursday 7th April. The screenings, taking place across the country (excluding Leicester Square), will welcome people on the autism spectrum, with sensory or communication disorders and people with learning disabilities to enjoy the latest Dreamworks title.

    In recent years, Empire Cinemas has been programming autism friendly screenings for their local communities. The screenings have adaptations such as reduced sound levels, increased lighting and advert-free content which allows the audience, their families and carers to be comfortable and feel fully included in the experience of a trip to the cinema.

    This year Empire Cinemas are further strengthening their support for the National Autistic Society and will be screening their latest campaign film across the country. The film forms part of the UK’s biggest ever autism awareness campaign, Too Much Information, which responds to survey findings demonstrating that the British public simply don’t understand enough about Autism. The campaign will help people learn a little more about autism, and the Too Much Information campaign film showing how an autistic person can experience ‘too much information’, will be screened in 17 cinemas and over 164 screens throughout World Autism Awareness Week from 2nd – 8th April.

    Jon Nutton, Marketing Director of Empire Cinemas, said: “Empire Cinemas has a strong commitment to social responsibility and we’re glad to be able to continue our support for World Autism Awareness Week for another year. These screenings of Kung Fu Panda 3 give autistic people, and their families and friends the opportunity to enjoy the big screen experience in a comfortable and relaxed environment. Furthermore we’re so glad to be showing the National Autistic Society’s Too Much Information campaign film throughout our cinemas during World Autism Awareness Week. It’s really important for people to be able to step into the shoes of an autistic person and understand how difficult public places like cinemas can be.”

    Tickets for autism friendly screenings of Kung Fu Panda 3 2D are on sale now at: http://www.empirecinemas.co.uk/

  • Review: The Passing

    The Passing starts off well with an ever shifting premise that leaves you thinking it is Macbeth redux and then the premise shifts again and that is somewhat engaging until it loses its nerve and in the words of Lady Macbeth “what’s done is done” and it cannot be undone.

    An enigmatic loner, Stanley (a commanding performance by Mark Lewis Jones) lives in remote rural Wales untouched by modern life happily building his well by hand. His daily routine is disrupted when a young couple, Iwan (Dyfan Dwyfor) and Sara (Annes Elwy), literally crash into his life. The more time they all spend together allows time to unravel the other’s secret that leads to an explosive end.

    The Passing is directed by Gareth Bryn. He manages to set a gentle pace and unsettling undertone. The sparse dialogue allows the audience room to draw their own conclusions during the first half of the film. Who is this mysterious couple and just what have they done. The main issue I have is the characters are not fully drawn aside from that of Stanley’s. Therefore it is hard to engage with them. You do need to engage with them somewhat in order to care what happens to them. Then comes the surprise twist and this sort of mechanism should be used sparingly as in The Sixth Sense The Others, The Usual Suspects – the moment of the reveal is crucial – one mustn’t peak too soon. What about two twists – doesn’t everyone love a bargain? Not really as it is too much and the grand finale twist came out of nowhere. Was I watching a family drama in the vein of The Dreamers or a thriller with supernatural overtones? For the grand finale twist to have worked it needed one of the character to be relaying the story to a third unconnected party sort of like the Woman in Black – the stage version.

    The attention to the detail, the fact that all the dialogue is in Welsh and the powerhouse performance of Mark Lewis Jones lifted this film to above average. It is unsettling and well paced but just lost its nerve towards the end. That is such a shame as without the big reveal at the end I might well have loved it.

    The Passing is released in cinemas on 8 April 216

  • Unpacking Flatpack Film Festival 2016

    Last Wednesday BRWC was invited to experience a taste of what the Flatpack Film Festival would be covering over its’ 6 days. For anyone not familiar with Flatpack click here to read more. The festival started 10 years ago in Birmingham and is an eclectic mix of music, feature length films, shorts and talks. One of my recommended feature film highlights to be shown at then festival is Arabian Nights. It is a surreal and thought provoking look on how the European austerity measures affected Portugal told through tales loosely based on the Arabian Nights.

    Anyway back to the launch and we were entertained by a collection of shorts that were eclectic, sometimes funny but always creative. My favourite was Mr Madila directed by Rory Waudby-Tolley an animated short about the director’s imagined conversations with a gifted African spiritual: Mr Madila. It was perfect marriage between animation, speech and story. I think Mr Madila should have his own weekly cartoon show.

    The surreal is catered for at Flatpack Festival as well with Knuckles directed by Anon and only lasting 3 minutes. Anon needs to come forward and take credit for side splittingly funny 3 minute satire. Do you want to know how to stroke your cat properly? Even if you don’t watch this short, it will have you giggling long after its 3 minutes are up. Continuing the surrealist theme is Chigger Ale that manages to combine Hitler and Beyonce in the same short. It will be shown as part of the New Features strand of Flatpack Festival 2016 and in the vein of The Producers you catch yourself laughing at the most inappropriate things.

    It may not be for everyone but the 5 minute short, Bach: The Well Tempered Clavier, as well as being one of my favourite pieces of music, it’s also aesthetically pleasing to watch. Director Alan Warburton infuses not only the imagery of the piano and lights but the tempo of the music in this short. The beauty of the music resonates throughout this 5 minute short.

    The Flatpack Film Festival runs from 19 to 24 April 2016 in Birmingham: www.flatpackfestival.org.uk