Haunted by a harrowing past and faced with an uncertain future, Gholam gets involved with stranger’s demons to balance his own; but this time following it through to the decisive end.
Gholam is a slow but a powerful film whose pace extenuates every moment. Full of uncertain but timely reveals, Gholam is a beautiful reflection of hidden pasts and an inescapable sense of justice. Unable to separate himself from the conflicts in his past, Gholam begins a new fight in the present. Gholam excels at keeping the viewer in the dark while giving them just enough to keep them excited.
Gholam
Shahab Hosseni does a fantastic job of displaying an unrelenting personal pride coupled perfectly with inner conflict and restraint. Unlike your typical Hollywood hero, Gholam approaches his mission with reservation and with an introspective outlook that is unique and incredible to watch. There are times where the low budget quality and occasional amateur acting shows up, especially in a pub scene towards the end of the film which feels more village hall than silver screen, but overall Golam is fantastic piece of film.
Gholam’s character is such that there’s little dialogue throughout the film, but what is said is always poignant and full of thought. At times it’s poetry, which makes a film that could potentially drag intriguing from beginning to end.
I would invite all cinema lovers looking for a revenge thriller find a way to watch Gholam. It may be taken in slow-mo, but it works.
Illegal immigrant Billa (Nitin Parasher) scrapes a living by driving a taxi around the seedy streets of Soho. When he picks up drug-addicted prostitute Sarah (Rachel Loughran), who has just witnessed a murder at the hands of her pimp, he embarks on a dark journey of desperation and violence.
This crime drama is the debut film of writer-director Harprit Dhanoa, and is an inescapably amateurish affair. While kerb-crawling along similar streets to Taxi Driver, Drive, and Lynne Ramsay’s recent You Were Never Really Here, Immigrant offers very little originality. It dives into the grim and grimy world of drugs and prostitution yet has nothing new to say about it, and squanders the opportunity to interrogate the issues facing refugees and immigrants in a meaningful way.
The film struggles to escape from its almost non-existent production values, including cinematography that looks like it was shot on a 90s webcam, unconvincing fight scenes, and bizarrely awful dubbing for the entirety of the dialogue.
Billa is a potentially interesting protagonist, and one that is under-represented in UK film, but he’s also under-developed here, and surrounded by stock characters that include pantomime gangsters and woeful portrayals of women, who serve only as victims of mental, physical and sexual abuse.
Creating any film takes a commendable degree of dedication and effort on the part of the filmmakers, especially with no money to play with. Yet, plenty of great films made on shoestring budgets with skeleton crews have displayed originality, artistry and engaging storytelling, and we live in an era in which one can shoot a film on a phone and make it look half-decent. Unfortunately, Immigrant is no such example.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is more than just a simple love story or that of two penpals in post war Britain. This film shines a light on a forgotten part of World War 2. We’ve had the bombastic storytelling with 2017’s Dunkirk, but 2018 is now shining a light on the intimate, personal experiences of this war first with The Darkest Hour. In Guernsey Potato Peel Pie we get to see how ordinary people turned into everyday heroes and their struggle for survival. After the tears and bloodshed are gone it’s the stories that remain and remind us of the courage of others. You will be enthralled and amazed by the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is based on the adaptation of the novel by Mary Ann Shaffer finished by her niece Annie Barrows and brought to life by the director of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mike Newell. So whilst the subject matter is rather serious there is a lightness of touch and it is told at such a cracking pace that keeps the action moving.
The story is that of Juliet Ashton (Lily James), a writer living in Blitzed London who receives a commission from the Times to write a story about reading habits. At the same time, she receives a mysterious letter from Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), a farmer from Guernsey enquiring about a book since he saw her name and address written in it. So begins their correspondence, followed by her visit to Guernsey and culminating in a most unexpected scoop.
The film’s opening scene starts off in 1941 Nazi occupied Guernsey and we discover the origins of the rather inventive Potato Peel Pie. The Nazis took all their pigs from Guernsey and made the farmers grow potatoes as pig feed. When caught by Nazi soldiers after curfew, Elizabeth McKenna (Jessica Brown Findlay), the brightest and quickest thinking of the group saves them all by inventing this rather ludicrous sounding name and the postmaster and inventor of the pie, Eben Ramsey (Tom Courtenay), dutifully helps by vomiting up the said pie. They are then forced to breathe life into this made up book club and, it is the reading that does save them during their darkest hours.
The action moves to London and we see Juliet with her editor about to embark on a book tour. The film engages as the action moves between London and Guernsey. It is only when it is fully focused on Guernsey that it starts to wane. However, Guernsey Literary Society never feels glib. Yes, the eccentricities of the characters are played up but there’s a real nostalgia and pride in watching how resilient those individuals were in the face of mortal danger. The supporting cast is a who’s who of British acting but they somehow manage to truly incorporate their characters and work as an ensemble. This feels very much like a Lily James film and she does very well in carrying the film and is luminous on screen. It is beautifully shot and for the most part engrossing, however, had 30 minutes been knocked off it would have been perfect. The ending when it did come was not a surprise but might well have been had the film been that tad bit shorter!
It is an inventive mixture of courage, love and literature as inventive as Potato Peel Pie itself!
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society opens in cinemas across the UK on Friday 20 April.
I’ve never been the biggest fan of sports such as drag racing or the like. Therefore, the histories and rivalries of such a sport are lost on me. I actually didn’t know about James Hunt until I saw Rush back in 2013, that’s how out of touch with such people and events I am. It should go as no surprise then that I don’t usually watch sports-based films. I love them when they are done well, such as the aforementioned Rush or Rocky. Now I have seen Snake & Mongoose, which I had no idea what it was about until I saw it.
Snake and Mongoose follows the Drag Racing rivalry between Don Prudhomme – aka The Snake due to his quick driving reflexes – and Tom McEwen – aka Mongoose due to his inherit rivalry against Prudhomme. Set in the 1960’s, it tells the tales of how they raced each other, how they saw each other and how they both felt off the tracks as well. And how they both took the two animals, the natural enemies of each over, and applied them to their own situation.
The main reason I brought up my personal issues with sports films is because I do feel like I should take some responsibility for my own lack of enjoyment with this one. While I did find the characters and in some ways the history to be overall interesting, I just could not find the film as a whole as interesting or engaging as it would clearly like to be. As a film Snake & Mongoose is not a bad one. It does have some interesting moments in it. I did enjoy the two lead characters, and the subtle differences between them. Snake for example drives because he feels like he needs to – his life is to race and win, and he could very well loose his purpose and die if he did not drive. Whereas Mongoose sees it more as a career – he does still love racing and winning, but he’s more level-minded about it and sees the business side as being more important than Snake does. Elements like this do add to the film and do bring up some interesting conflicts.
The performances weren’t bad either, although they also didn’t stand out. They bring a decent amount of charisma and feel very natural in their actions and discussion. But there is something strange about what they say. I’m not sure if this is how they deliver their lines or if it’s a problem with the script but the dialogue does sometimes come off as preachy or trying to push some form of character-driven agenda. One scene for example features our characters discussing what it means to strive for a dream and what it means to be practical. It’s not a bad scene but the point is just hammered across it felt a little distracting because of it. There’s a scene with Tim Blake Nelson, who made me laugh – which was the intention – due to his fun delivery. This one worked because it demonstrated the art of showmanship that the sport revels in, and that it is even carried on behind the closed doors to an extent. Moments like this worked better than the overblown discussions of following a dream.
The only other stand out element was the use of real footage from drag racing. It was an interesting idea and it did give the film an almost documentary feel to it. This does conflict a little bit with the scenes where actors performed, as it feels like a different kind of film making taking place. Still, it was an interesting little experiment on the film makers part that could possibly be better incorporated into other such films.
Overall Snake & Mongoose was an interesting and fairly well-made film, with some nice cinematography and editing to boost it up. It just wasn’t for me. It already had an uphill battle with me, but I feel that people who tend to like this sort of film will thoroughly enjoy it. It’s an interesting look at a rivalry I certainly had no idea about before. And even if it hits you over the head with it, the message about dreams and practicality is a good one. Sit down and take it for a ride, you may find yourself enjoying the show.
Art Is Dead is a new dark comedy from writer/director/lead actor Luke Oliver which is now available exclusively on Amazon Prime.
The film also stars George Newton (This Is England), Alex Reid & Elika Ashoori.
“A group of actors, cast aside by the industry, concoct a plan of revenge. Ant, broke and struggling to survive, snaps when he discovers a fellow actor is about to be paid millions for his next role whilst Ant must continue to work in a dingy kitchen. Ant enlists fellow actors in a plan of revenge against the industry. First by kidnapping the famous actor and then pursuing a night of mayhem on CCB channels biggest night on the calendar. A televised night of chaos ensues with Ant and friends making a name for themselves, sacrificing all for their art.”
We follow a group of struggling and frustrated performers led by Ant (Luke Oliver); a struggling actor who dreams of landing a role whilst struggling to keep low-paid jobs at a burger van and restaurant and keeping his relationship with girlfriend (Elika Ashoori) afloat. The film plays as a social commentary that in it’s premise sits somewhere between Natural Born Killers and 9 to 5. It plays on our modern ‘cult of celebrity’ focussing on famous actor ‘Benedict Cummabund’ (a straight-up parody of Benedict Cumberbatch), talent show producer ‘Dick Mann’ (the film’s Simon Cowell) and the ‘Humans In Need’ charity event (no prizes for guessing the charity this is a parody of). While rooted in a thread of truth these parodied charecters are extremely exaggerated and twisted versions; in particular the corrupt and despicable CEO of ‘Humans in Need’. As these three strands meet for one night of exciting televison; Ant and his friends find an excuse to get a little revenge on a society which they feel has left them behind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJxgEjDjsBE
Whilst this is an interesting and topical subject matter it is to my mind not that well executed or written. The narrative can be a little jumpy and disparate with some time-jump storytelling as different threads are added and played with. However our main characters lack emotional depth and we never really grow attached enough to them to care about their apparent plight. The production value is also that of a student film in places with some very ropey sound production and dialogue through-out however it is ambitious in scope as they manage to create three fully-realised TV events. There is also a suitably ‘indie-film’ down ending which brings the film to an abrupt close.
The film perhaps outstays it’s almost 1.5 hour run-time but does create a fun parody of modern world of celebrity & fame. 3/5
