FILM REVIEWS:
CALVAIRE (The Ordeal)(Luxembourg/Belgium/France 2002)
Click on the link for the full review on our sister website.
https://toronto-franco.com/article/21-cinema-movies/371-film-review-calvaire-the-ordeal
COCAINE BEAR (USA 2023)
Directed by Elizabeth Banks
Review embargo lifted Thursday at 4 pm ET
Trailer:
EMILY (UK 2022) ***
Directed by Frances O’Connor
EMILY is British actress Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut. She has starred before in similar pieces such as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
EMILY is a 2022 British biographical drama film written and directed by Frances O'Connor in her directorial debut. It is a part-fictional portrait of English writer Emily Brontë (played by Emma Mackey), concentrating on a fictional romantic relationship with the young curate William Weightman (OliverJackson-Cohen).
As Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) is ill and near death, her older sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) asks her what inspired her to write her novel, the classic piece Wuthering Heights.
Going back in time, and sometime in the past, Charlotte, who nearly graduated from school, returned home for a visit. Emily tries to talk to her about the fictional worlds she created while Charlotte is at school, but Charlotte tries to dissuade her from these juvenile activities. At the same time, a slightly dashing gentleman, William Weightman, a new curate, arrives. While her sisters and several other young women seem enamoured with the young man, Emily is dismissive of him. While visiting the Brontë home, Weightman partakes in a game the Brontës have invented where they take turns donning a mask and impersonating a character with the other members, guessing who the character is. When it is Emily's turn, she claims to be possessed by the ghost of their deceased mother. Charlotte, Anne and Branwell become distressed, while Weightman is disturbed by the scene.
Emily goes with Charlotte to her school to learn to be a teacher while her brother Branwell goes to study at the Royal Academy of Arts. Both Emily and Branwell return shortly after as failures, Branwell proclaiming he is now more interested in writing and Emily at a loss for what to do.
The story continues with the characters interacting with each other, which involves a few more pressing issues, such as love and death.
Director O’Connor captures several unique scenes from the English period. The best of these has the four women and three beaus off for a picnic in the countryside when rain suddenly comes pouring down. It is a simple yet gorgeous scene in which the picnickers run for cover under a practically leafless tree. They laugh and charge in the rain, with their joy rubbing off on the audience.
A fine job for a first-time director, kudos to Francis O’Connor, her acting experience obviously paying off. She elicits solid performances from all her players, who do well credibly with their roles without any overacting. Often, the actors' nuances and expressions are sufficient to get the mood of a setting.
EMILY is well worth watching, never mind that it all sounds like a feminine film, with main female characters and issues like romance, social standing, and mores as the film’s issues. But the film covers the universal issue of accomplishing what others expect of one or what one expects of oneself against what one is capable of doing.
As for prizes, EMILY has received three awards at the Dinard British Film Festival: Golden Hitchcock, Best Performance Award for Emma Mackey and Audience Award.
EMILY premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival before being theatrically released in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Pictures on 14 October 2022 and opens in local cinemas on the 27th of February, 2023, a little later.
Trailer:
EMILY (UK 2022) ***
Directed by Frances O’Connor
EMILY is British actress Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut. She has starred before in similar pieces such as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
EMILY is a 2022 British biographical drama film written and directed by Frances O'Connor in her directorial debut. It is a part-fictional portrait of English writer Emily Brontë (played by Emma Mackey), concentrating on a fictional romantic relationship with the young curate William Weightman (OliverJackson-Cohen).
As Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) is ill and near death, her older sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) asks her what inspired her to write her novel, the classic piece Wuthering Heights.
Going back in time, and sometime in the past, Charlotte, who nearly graduated from school, returned home for a visit. Emily tries to talk to her about the fictional worlds she created while Charlotte was at school, but Charlotte tries to dissuade her from these juvenile activities. At the same time, a slightly dashing gentleman, William Weightman, a new curate, arrives. While her sisters and several other young women seem enamoured with the young man, Emily is dismissive of him. While visiting the Brontë home, Weightman partakes in a game the Brontës have invented where they take turns donning a mask and impersonating a character with the other members, guessing who the character is. When it is Emily's turn, she claims to be possessed by the ghost of their deceased mother. Charlotte, Anne and Branwell become distressed, while Weightman is disturbed by the scene.
Emily goes with Charlotte to her school to learn to be a teacher while her brother Branwell goes to study at the Royal Academy of Arts. Both Emily and Branwell return shortly after as failures, Branwell proclaiming he is now more interested in writing and Emily at a loss for what to do.
The story goes on with the characters interacting with each other which involves a few more pressing issues such as love and death.
Director O’Connor captures several unique English period scenes. The best of these has the 4 women and three beaus off for a picnic in the countryside when rain suddenly comes pouring down. It is a simple yet gorgeous scene in which the picnickers run for cover under a practically leafless tree. They laugh and charge in the rain, with their joy rubbing off on the audience.
A fine job for a first time director, kudos going to Francis O’Connor, her acting experience obviously paying off. She elicits solid performances from all her players, who do well credibly with their roles without any overacting. Often the actors’s nuances and expressions are sufficient to get the mood of a setting.
EMILY is well worth the while to watch, never mind that it all sounds like a feminine film, with main female characters and issues like romance, social standing and mores as the film’s issues. But the film covers the universal issue of accomplishing what others expect of one or what one expects of oneself against what one is capable of doing.
As for prizes, EMILY has received three awards at the Dinard British Film Festival: Golden Hitchcock, Best Performance Award for Emma Mackey and Audience Award.
EMILY premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival before being theatrically released in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Pictures on 14 October 2022 and opens in local cinemas on the 27th of February, 2023, a little later.
FREE SKATE (Finland 2021) ***1/2
Directed by Roope Olenius
A promising figure skater flees from Russia to Finland to escape her inhumane circumstances.
Following a successful run on the global film festival circuit, Canadian distributor IndieCan Entertainment offers audiences the chance to experience the beauty and trauma of being a world-class athlete with FREE SKATE. FREE SKATE is from Finland, the country of origin, and tells the disturbing story akin to the #MeToo Movement, already too commonly known.
Director Roope Olenius' feature is written by lead actress Veera W. Vilo, who stars as the promising figure skater fleeing from Russia to Finland to escape her inhumane circumstances. The film is based on Vilo’s own experiences as a gymnast, her colleagues’ experiences, and disturbing stories of female athletes and dancers that have come to light after the start of the #MeToo movement.
FREE SKATE begins with a female body (Vilo) lying across an icy road in the midst of winter. It turns out that it is the body of a figure skater who then recovers fro 2 day of being in a coma. An address in her pocket allows her to be connected to her grandmother. It turns out that the country is Finland. Actress Vilo’s script is all over the place in the first half and is a tad confusing as to where each scene is taking pace. If one can distinguish Russian from Finnish, one can tell whether the action is taking place in Finland where the figure skater currently is or in Russia before her escape. Otherwise the film is difficult to follow.
Once the film’s half way mark is reached, everything becomes clear as to what is happening. The skater, after delivering a prize winning skating performance is granted an interview in the media. The skater decides to tell it all, how she jumped countries (Russia to Finland) with a story according to the interviewer, which everyone wants to know about, But with the story goes grave danger as the skater’s perpetrators are now aware of her whereabouts. It is at this point that the film starts to make sense and therefore becomes more effective and thrilling.. FREE SKATE is both a drama and thriller, a thriller because the baddies from Russia will not leave the skater alone and follows her to Finland. It is surprising that one of the villains is the skater’s father, who had been paid a sum of money to sell off his daughter. This man follows her to Finland and attacks his now mother who has put up the skater in her house. This is a difficult scene to take in and watch.
There is much to be entertained by FREE SKATE. There are excellent figure skating sequences to complement the drama and abuse faced by the skater. (The skater is unnamed).
The theatrical release, of FREE SKATE has been postponed from January owing to Cineplex Odeon wishing to prioritize Academy Award related films during the time before the Oscar ceremonies but FREE SKATE will be available as originally schedule on a number of digital and cable platforms in North America, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, iNDemand and DISH, starting February 28, 2023.
Trailer:
GOD’S TIME (USA 2022) ***
Directed by Daniel Antebi
The phrase GOD’S TIME is taken from a phrase spoken during an addiction sharing session in which an addict talks about her abusive boyfriend, Russell who has moved in and kicked her out of her apartment while keeping her beloved dog as well. She talks about killing him with a gun her dad had given her but relents saying: “pray that he will die in GOD’S TIME.” She says the same words every time she shares. On the one time she does not say those words, a fellow addict who has fallen in love with her thinks that she is going to Russell’s place with the gun to shoot him. Dev attempts to stop her from doing the murder, saves her and Russell and perhaps hopefully has her fall in love with him. This is the premise of the new film GOD’S TIME written and directed by Daniel Antebi.
Best friends and recovering addicts Dev (Ben Groh) and Luca (Dion Costelloe) are secretly in love with fellow addict Regina (Liz Caribel). At every meeting they hear her share her wild fantasy to kill her evil ex-boyfriend. But one day she changes her share; now she sounds serious. This sets Dev and Luca off on a 24-hour odyssey through pandemic-gripped New York City to stop Regina from making a life-shattering mistake. As their friendship is pushed to the brink, Dev and Luca realize their bond is unbreakable in this kinetic, vibrant debut from writer and director Daniel Antebi.
Director Antebi’s film is intense just as addicts tend to be, and his film is aided by frenetic performances by all the lead actors. There are lots of shouting, screaming and fast talk that create a film that does not let the audience rest nor take a breather. The story covers quite the few issues like addiction and recovery, revenge, friendship, romance and all blended in relatively successfully. The trouble with a story covering so many issues is, as the proverb goes: “too many cooks spoil the broth”, none of them is satisfactorily resolved, except the best friend issue, which looks like a cop-out. The credibility of the story is what makes the film ticks. It is tough to see addicts trying to recover but often failing because of human weaknesses as well as human temptations. There is a whole lot of lying going around in the film. Lying and not telling both actually mean the same thing. Every addict can lie that he or she has come clean but one cannot lie to one’s conscience. Also words will slip out that will reveal the truth as the film demonstrates.
For all the effort put in, Antebi’s feature is not half bad, credit to him and his crew for trying so hard.
The very frenetic film GOD’S TIME premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival and won a Special Jury Prize for Best Performance for Liz Caribel. IFC Films will release the film in theatres on Friday, February 24 in NY, LA and select cities and on VOD platforms. Prepare for a wild ride!
Trailer:
JUNIPER (New Zealand 2021) ***
Directed by Matthew J. Saville
The film follows a self-destructive teenager, Sam (George Ferrier) suspended from school and asked to look after his feisty alcoholic grandmother, Ruth (Charlotte Rampling) as a punishment. The story is based on the true life experiences of director Saville who also had a toxic grandmother who had broken her leg and he was forced to look after her. According to him, she was funny, angry and a force to be reckoned with. But like all exterior brave seeming people, she has a weakness. She is afraid of dying alone.
So, director Saville helms this tribute to his grandmother in this rather entertaining look at relationships and death.
Sam is forced to look after his grandmother who arrives in New Zealand from the U.K. His father (Marton Csokas) has to go the U.K. for business. They have no homie but have to leave Sam with Ruth. As the dad says: "She is the only one keeping us from going broke. We have no choice. Everything is going to be fine.” But Ruth has a nurse as well but she needs Sam when she is not around.
Ruth drinks quite a lot. Her normal is a jug half of gin and half of water with a twist of lemon.
The film’s best parts are those with Sam and his grandmother together. In one of these meetings, She pulls the plug out of the socket thus disabling her from buzzing him through the electric circuit. In anger, she tosses a glass at him but misses. Sam stands right in front of her and dares her to throw another glass at him. The glass hits him right in the temple. When he dares her to repeat the act, she remarks that she has run out of annunciation. At times Sam is so mad, he leaves her.
New Zealand is shown with its beautiful countryside with white horses galloping around. The sweetest scene has Sam dancing with her grandmother.
JUNIPER is fortunate to have as its main star the British Actress Charlotte Rampling. Rampling has starred in arthouse European films including Richard Lester’s A HARD DAY’S NIGHT and THE KNACK AND HOW TO USE IT. Though her most famous role is that of a Nazi prisoner in Liliana Cavan’s THE NIGHT PORTER, she has also starred in a number of Francois Ozon’s films including LE PISCINE (SWIMMING POOL). It is admirable that she lends her hand to first time filmmaker director Matthew J. Saville (thesis his first full length feature after making two shorts) as well as newcomer young actor the Kiwi George Ferrier. Now she has New Zealand as a place she has worked in on her resume. Rampling has also won won the Berlin Film Festival Award for Best Actress, the European Film Award for Best Actress, and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. for her recent 45 YEARS.
JUNIPER opens in Canadian Theatres beginning February 24 with a VOD release to follow on April 4.
Trailer:
METRONOM (Romania/France 2022) ****
Directed by Alexandra Belc
METRONOM is a political drama, the politics only coming forth at the halfway mark of the story. The first half of the rather disturbing film looks and feels like a teenage romance flick in which a boy and girl, very much in love with each other, are forced to separate because the boy is moving to Germany from Bucharest, Romania.
The title of the film is derived from METRONOM, a radio show clandestinely broadcast by Radio Free Europe, animated by the Romanian radio journalist and producer Cornel Chiriac from exile. Cornel got assassinated in Munich in 1975. The research conducted by the director Alexandru Belc was a personal foray into adolescence and into a teenager’s life in Romania at that time, the time of my parent’s youth. The setting is the dangerous times of the post ’68 era and the most interesting period of the communist regime, as it was the time of greatest social and cultural contradictions. Young people were all listening to Metronom that became a window to the western life.
The film begins with what looks like an innocent meeting between two young lovers, still in school, Ana and Soren. Soren has to leave for Germany and Ana is visibly upset. They are to meet one last time at a party held by a friend but Ana does not wish to go, but eventually changes her mind. Her mother does not grant her permission but her more lenient father says ok. When the time comes, mother gets her way, but Ana leaves for the party anyway. This is where and when the trouble starts - at this near half point of the film, where the film takes a strange and complete turn into a political suspense drama. That night, while partying with her friends, they decide to send a letter to Metronom, the musical program which Radio Free Europe broadcasts clandestinely in Romania. It is then that the Securitate, Ceausescu’s secret police arrive. They are brought into the police station, questioned, threatened and some beaten.
Director Belc tells this story through the eyes of the teenage girl (Ana), in love with a boy (Sorin) who leaves the country for good. The script becomes more and more a support for Ana’s inner emotions, and everything started gravitating around her. Every shot of the film is closely following her, she is the one who brings us into this innocent world of music, liberty, adolescence, and love. She is present in every scene, in every moment of the film so we can see the world through her eyes. If a scene starts without her, it definitely ends with her and vice-versa.
The film won its director, Alexandra Belc the Best Director Award in the Un Certain Regard Section of Cannes last year. It is clear to see the reason. Besides his extensive research into the authenticity of the subject, setting and atmosphere from the music, dialogue, props and performances, the film is a showcase of the meticulous care and effort devoted into a film that pays off in its delivery. METRONOM opens TIFF Bell Lightbox on Friday, February 24, 2023.
Trailer:
