Described as a Romantic Christmas Comedy starring Kris Marshall and Annelise Hesme, Sparks & Embers centres around old flames and lost love.
Tom and Ellie meet up for a final goodbye on London’s picturesque Southbank. They haven’t seen each other for a while and we are not sure why they are meeting up now. Ellie has a new partner but Tom is clearly still in love with her.
The whole film’s storyline focuses on Tom’s attempt to win her over before she gets on a train with her new partner to go and live in Paris. The clock is ticking and, with 45 minutes to go before boarding, Tom is desperate to rekindle the love they once shared, and so they dwell on their past relationship, how they met, the memories they shared.
Naturally, old memories evoke feelings that both have been trying to suppress. But will Tom win his girl back? As a rom com, you kind of know the answer already. But the film’s intention seems to make it as frustrating and as hard as possible.
Overall, Gavin Boyter’s Sparks & Embers is a rollercoaster of flashbacks between two scenes, as we see nothing else but their first and last meeting. We presume they may at some point have been happy together, as they spent 4 years in each other’s company, but we don’t really see that.
I praise the idea of the movie, exploring the end and the beginning of a relationship, delving into how perceptions and feelings change over time.
However, I feel the overall objective is not fully met. I found it very hard to follow and felt that the chemistry between the two characters seemed somewhat off, and not intentionally.
The static lift scene versus the walking along the Southbank works in principle, but dragged over the whole feature film feels way too long. Marshall’s performance as a juvenile, immature thirty-something is coherent all throughout, whereas Hesme’s performance is often inconsistent. We have all experienced at some point a break up and should be familiar with the challenges posed, yet I feel no sympathy or interest for the characters at all.
I enjoyed the setting and the Christmas spirit but as romantic comedies go, I wouldn’t rush to see it again.
Hector is the debut feature film by writer/director Jake Gavin and what a tour de force it is. A film that is pertinent and poignant especially at Christmas – but for the Grace Go I. Despite being homeless Hector tries to live with dignity and grace. A film is supposed to make you think and good art is not just something to admire and absorb but should stir or indeed activate something in the viewer to take action. Hector is such a film.
Hector (Peter Mullan) was in the Merchant Navy an done day in his own words: “fell out with life, woke up one morning and fucked off.” Maybe not the most eloquently expressed but certainly succinctly sums up how a man who still collects his pension is now on the streets. The film follows Hector, Hazel and Dougie as they make their annual journey from Scotland to the Christmas Shelter in London for 3 days of shelter, food and respite from their lives on the street.
What Jake Gavin does so wonderfully is not to give into the schmaltz. Some of the dots are joined up and there are surprising twists but there is enough space for the audience to fill in the blanks. It’s not earnest or trying to get you on side, actually, it is as funny as it is bleak and desolate. The characters are fully formed and whilst the film is carried for the most part by Peter Mullan’s powerful performance: he manages to perfectly convey Hector’s dignity, pride with a combination of humour and stoicism. He is ably supported by Keith Allen, Gina McKee and Stephen Tompkinson.
Hector is a timely reminder of the precarious nature of life and how easily everything can be lost in a moment: it is easy to fall out with life. Also, little acts of kindness can go a long way. You may not have the chance to donate your time assisting at a shelter but maybe contact those friends who are slightly vulnerable and ensure they are ok.
British independent cinema, in 2015, especially those focused on the family and couples have excelled: 45 years, The Incident, Iona and now Hector. I only hope 2016 will be an equally spectacular year.
Hector took the Edinburgh International Film Festival Hector by storm and opened in UK cinemas on 11 December.
When an aspiring actress attempts to salvage what’s left of her non-existent career, woeful love life and replace the money she “borrowed” from a family friend, she’s swept up in a world of shady talent agents and low-level espionage.
Written, directed and starring Sarah Warren (as Julie Robert), there’s a warmth and familiarity within M.L.E that comes across through her numerous quirks and self-deprecating humour. Perhaps her Améilie’esque introduction is a little too on-the-nose, but as the plot unfurls and her situation becomes all the more chaotic, Julie becomes more endearing a character. Her fish out of water observations may verge on the cartoony when focused on the film industry but her astute quips regarding London and its inhabitants never failed to raise a smile.
While it is well framed, scripted and scored there is a noticeable shift in the quality of some performances that comes close to derailing one or two of the humorous scenes. Lighthearted and peppered with comedic sincerity, M.L.E. may not be bursting with belly-laughs but it will certainly keep you smiling throughout.
MLE (‘My Little Eye’) is based on a true story – Julie Robert, (nope, not Julia Roberts, as she corrects on a daily basis) is a broke actor who just lost her only gig. Stranded in a new country with her trouble-making friend Camila, and struggling to find a sane new agent, Julie finds herself taking on spy work from a strange family. What seems fun at first turns life belly-up for Julie (spy name, Emily) – the awkward, amateur spy.
In early 20th century Britain, the cause of equality for women was ignored by media and politicians.
Desperate to get their voices heard, the ‘suffragettes’, a movement of women fighting for the right for women to have the vote, decided that as peaceful protests were not working, enough was enough and they would turn to militant tactics, which quickly escalated to violence such as window breaking, bomb making and arson.
Womens fight for equality, in 1912 and 1913, is depicted in the recently released movie Suffragette.
I greatly anticipated going to see Suffragette the movie and was disappointed that in the first few days of release there were only 4 people including me in the theatre. I tried to justify this by reminding myself that it was a week day, but still felt bemused that the public were not flocking to see a movie that portrays such an important event in British history.
In just over a century of cinema, the film promises to be the most significant account of the movement for suffrage released to a wide audience.
Suffragette is the first ever movie to have been allowed to film inside the Houses of Parliament.
The story of the suffragettes is told in a way that even those who know very little about their history, will by the end of the movie have an understanding of the desperation and suffering endured by those brave women in the name of equality.
The torture and abuse scenes are enough to shock and make you squirm in your seat, however muted enough to realise why the movie has been rated a 12A and not 16.
It was a particularly painful family scene, that for me was the most poignant and difficult to watch causing a wave of emotion that comes flooding back, when I think of the suffragettes and what they endured.
Carey Mulligan played the fictional character Maud and her initial hesitation to join the suffragette movement only added to her believability and the feeling of sympathy for the tragic circumstances she finds herself in.
Even the pivotal moment, that anyone who knows anything about the suffragettes is expecting, when Emily Wilding Davison throws herself in front of the King’s racehorse, though enough to make me draw breath and exclaim out loud, did not stir up the raw emotion I felt when Maud the key character suffers a devastating situation due to her involvement with the suffragettes.
The set, the costumes and the quality acting brought each character to life. I felt akin to the suffragettes, angry at their opponents and wished I could have lived in those times and had the opportunity to fight alongside them.
Brendan Gleeson plays Inspector Steed who kept me on tenterhooks as to his potential empathy for the suffragettes and his views on the severity of the punishments
I was struck how few early suffragettes there actually were and that they were not just fighting for the right to vote, but for the right not to be abused, the right for equal pay and the right to not be considered the property of their husbands.
Meryl Streep was perfectly cast as Emmeline Pankhurst and despite her brief few minute appearance brought Emmeline’s character to life with her commanding, charismatic portrayal of the role.
Helena Bonham Carter’s husband supported the cause of the suffragettes and reminded me of today’s ‘White Ribbon Ambassadors’ men who are not afraid of standing up for the rights of women and the right to equality for all people, whoever and wherever they are from.
Late in the film we are treated to scenes of the original suffragettes. I would have liked to have seen more , they were emotive and added to the depth of feeling I already felt for the suffragettes.
Missing were the famous scenes of the suffragettes chaining themselves to the railings outside the Houses of Parliament, however the scenes of force feeding, abuse and desperation, fuelled a personal desire, a passion to continue the fight for equality and a longing to know that in my life I have made a difference, however, small that may be.
Suffragette – a must see for everyone.
Personally, I think 12 is a little too young to take children, a few of the scenes are quite disturbing and as much as I would like to take my children and I most certainly will, I plan to wait until they are 15 and more able to deal with these kind of scenes.
Sunset Song takes its name from the book voted best Scottish book of all time. No doubt that the book is sublime but this adaptation leaves the audience in the dark for most of it as to the heroine’s motives and desire. It’s so long that by the end you’re praying for the sun to set on this a good hour before it finally does.
Terence Davies directs this adaptation of Sunset Song the story of a feisty and avant garde Chris (Agyness Deyn) who challenges the norms and restrictions put on women in her day. Her father played by the mesmeric Peter Mullan and her true love Ewan by Kevin Guthrie. This may be the story of one individual but through Chris’s story is inextricably linked to that of a Scotland through farming, the First World War and daily life.
Agyness Deyn does an incredible job as Chris and it is because of her that you actually sit through this cumbersome adaptation of a film. The main problem with the film is the direction. Terence Davies needed to decide if he wanted to shoot a linear film or flashbacks but instead of deciding he hedges his bets. The ending is a confusing mess. The story is a rich one and would be better told as a series where the characters are fully developed. The only one fully developed is that of Chris to the detriment of the love story between her and Ewan. All the characters that surround her are two dimensional and so it occasionally it is hard to care or fully engage with her plight.
Sunset Song is released across the UK on Friday 4 December.
