Category: REVIEWS

The Heritage of Love is a big-budget Russian love story. Andrey Kulikov is a lieutenant in the White Army, with Javier Bardem good looks. He falls for wide-eyed Princess Vera (Svetlana Ivanova), in the midst of the First World War and subsequent revolution.

War. Revolution. Love. If TV soap operas such as Downton Abbey or War & Peace are your cup of tea, the this one is for you. The Heritage of Love can be added to this list of nostalgic productions, yearning for the good-old-days where the aristos were in charge. It is certainly the trend at the moment to tell sympathetic stories of the kindly ruling classes: wealthy landowners and royalty. Because they have hearts, just like the peasants, and being so rich in the face of poverty is a big responsibility. We can add new Netflix fare The Crown to the list while we’re at it.

The soundtrack is made up of Eurovision-worthy ballads, which is appropriate because leading man Dima Bilan represented Russia at the 2006 contest, and won it in 2008 with the utterly forgettable ‘Believe’. This goes some way to explaining the box office success for The Heritage of Love in its native land. Bilan also plays the great grandson of Andrey Kulikov (everyone repeats his full name throughout the film, adding gravity to proceedings) who runs around present day Paris searching for a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Vera. Oh it’s just too damn romantic, and based on a true story, don’t ya know.

Director Yuriy Vasilev is apparently known for his acting in musicals and romance, but it looks like he has a flair for war as a director. The most entertaining sequences of The Heritage of Love are the battle scenes. They are explosive and spectacular, which is a relief after all of that romance and swooning.

It’s 1926. Newly arrived in New York, the rare magical creatures inside Newt Scamander’s suitcase escape into the city. With the Magical Congress of the United States of America in pursuit, Scamander enlists unlikely help in recapturing his beasts while a dark force threatens to expose the existence witchcraft and wizardry, straining the state of magical and non-magical relations.

Adapting J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally successful Harry Potter children’s books to the big screen was no mean feat in the early 00s. While director Chris Columbus could contain the first couple of adventures into a 2-hour 40-minute runtime it wasn’t until the more adept adaptations of Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell that the franchise stepped up a gear. The final three books (adapted into four films) were handed by veteran television director David Yates, who managed to tackle the more challenging aspects of condensing the source material and focus on the shift in tone and darker themes. With Fantastic Beasts, Rowling and Yates return with the first feature in a spin-off series focussing on a wizarding world decades prior to the adventures of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Following on from notable work in The Theory of Everything and The Danish Girl, Eddie Redmayne imbues the role of Newt Scamander with a quirk that is wholly different from any character we’ve seen within the Harry Potter franchise. While some may find his patter rather charming there is very little in the way of character evolution and it falls to Dan Fogler (Jacob), Katherine Waterston (Tina) and Alison Sudol (Queenie) to create a colourful and entertaining croup dynamic for the most part. The recapturing of the titular fantastic beasts provides a levity and wonder that channels some of what we’ve seen in the earlier Harry Potter films. This feature is most certainly a world-building exercise that must do a considerable amount of leg work to get us up to speed with what will one day follow.

The darker facets of the plot threads are brought to life by Colin Farrell’s Auror, Percival Graves, Samantha Morton’s religious zealot Mary Lou Barebone and her abused, adopted son Credence, played by Ezra Miller. From the opening scene onward there are many moments that I wouldn’t deem suitable for younger children as the lighter and darker aspects of the narrative are at odds with one another for the most part. On one hand, we have a fun romp with Newt and co. chasing down magical creatures with a strong conservationist message, in the other there’s child abuse, murder, political unrest and xenophobia, with these disparate threads coming together in uneasy union for the final reel.

Having recently spent some time with another user of magic in New York it’s surprising to note that while the visual effects here are not on par with the more mind-bending elements of Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the overall design, costumes and 1920s setting help create their own palette that distances Fantastic Beasts from both Strange and the Harry Potter franchise. Catching this at the BFI IMAX was by far the best way to be introduced to the gorgeous, fantastical elements of Fantastic Beasts, as the 3D and Frame Breaking effects add to the immersive experience. As is often the case with modern blockbusters, the “go big or go home” mind-set of filmmakers lends itself to the audio/ visual might of the biggest cinema screens and the best sound systems.

James Newton Howard’s score is adorned with the various trappings of John William’s original Harry Potter themes but soars when it spreads its wings and becomes its own animal. There’s a clear indication that the new motifs lay the foundation for what is to follow. In yet another year of mostly un-hummable scores it’s great to finally hear cinematic music that “feels” like something more than perfunctory orchestral noise.

Not the worst film set within J.K. Rowling’s Potterverse (I’m looking at you Philosopher’s Stone… and Chamber of Secrets), Fantastic Beasts is certainly the most conflicted tonally. This inconsistency, along with spasmodic plotting make for an uneven entry in what is set to be a five-film franchise. Luckily, the gorgeous visual design, solid performances and the magical creatures themselves should offer the fans enough fuel for the fire to keep their interest piqued for the first sequel in 2018.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is out now.

You can hear Ben and I discuss the film over on our Podcast, Sudden Double Deep this Monday!

[EDIT – The version of the film we saw was a work in progress cut.  The final sound mix, color grading and editing touches need to be completed.]

Marta and Jake are a married couple in their late 30’s. Working in senior professional positions, they are very wealthy: living together in a luxurious cosmopolitan home while spending much of their free time eating at expensive restaurants and exercising at private gyms. Their idealistic lifestyle is a grandiose means of concealing and deflecting the strains of their spousal dynamic. For Jake and Marta, communication has become an obligation; intimacy has become a rarity; and love itself has become a cliché. All of that is about to change when Andrea, their attractive and affable neighbour, asks Jake and Marta for a favour while she goes on holiday.

Exquisitely shot and measured in both tone and pace, The Girls Were Doing Nothing shouldn’t be dismissed as an exercise in style-porn. The opulence in which the lead characters adorn themselves belies the void within their relationship and the desire for meaningful interaction, closeness and connection, the driving force of the narrative. Told from Marta’s perspective we see the malignancy of familiarity and its effect on her life, while both she and Jake remain silent throughout, it’s their actions that do the talking.

An otherworldliness radiates from both Katie Alexander Thom (Marta) and Malcom Jeffries’ (Jake) performances as their carapaces armour them, keeping up appearances, only for the facade to slip in private. Picture 50 Shades if it had an actual message. The photography, reminiscent of David Fincher’s Gone Girl offers an evolution of harshness slowly bleeding into warmth, which is symbolic of Marta and Jake’s journey.

The first part in a Dekel Berenson’s The Eros Trilogy, I look forward to Borderlines and The Surface of All Things as they continue the themes and stylistic vision delivered here.

A man awakens from a coma and believes that the world he lost consciousness in is not the one in which he now inhabits. Three young, exploitative documentary filmmakers follow him down a surreal path of confusion, heartache and uncertainty in an attempt to rediscover this enigmatic man’s identity.

Shot in London and utilising the found footage format, writer/director Ed Christmas layers his amnesiac mystery with a dark, British humour, visual poetry and a creeping sense of dread as the once-intangible truths gain form in the final reel. This is (in part) a thriller that takes its cues from Christopher Nolan’s Memento and Following but with a melancholic, bittersweet tone similar in some ways to Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It may retain these elements, sadly the film overreaches with its mystery and the revelations turn out to be a bit of a let down.

Simon Dobson’s performance as the confused amnesiac/ insomniac James brings emotional core to the story. From wistfulness to rambling incoherence, his character suffers a profound loss and clutches upon moments of clarity as memories and moments fold in on each other. It is extremely difficult to discuss characters, motivations and specific elements of this film without spoiling something but I will say, Dobson makes for an impactful presence.

Richard Southgate, Daniel Ormerod and Terry Sweeney play the aspiring filmmakers (Angus, Tom and Ethan) with varying degrees of youthful awfulness. You have the domineering, alpha documentarian, his close friend the editor, and the quiet loner who owns the equipment. The majority of the humour comes from the rambunctiousness of the director and the editor. Laddish ribbing and immature conversations help flesh out these youths and isolate Ethan, making for an engaging dynamic in spite of how terrible these characters are as people.

Overall, the premise is intriguing, the performances are solid and the use of the found footage format doesn’t seem gimmicky or shoehorned in. Sadly, the weight of expectation as this competently constructed mystery is resolved forces the film’s conclusion into an unsatisfying place. There’s so much to get caught up in and so many places this story could’ve gone it felt like a shame when finally blindsided with the reveal.

In spite of this, The Man With Four Legs is worth checking out. I for one am eager to see what Ed Christmas creates next.