Movie reviews

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IMAD'S CHILDHOOD

Recommended. Shocking how badly you can corrupt a child. A 4-year-old in love of rifles and slaughtering dogs who finds killing "normal" - after two years with ISIS. Can the damage be reverted?

E STATA LA MANO DI DIO (THE HAND OF GOD)

Recommended. As usual in Paolo Sorrentino's movies, it's not about the story but stunning  images and memorable scenes. Sensual Patrizia acted by Luisa Ranieri, excellent Filippo Scotti as Fabrizio are the engines of the tale. The World Cup of 1986 enlivens the time. The scene where the director tells the boy he needs to have something to say to make movies should be shown in all film schools as an instruction tool. Stunning views of architecture of and of the Bay of Naples are entirely compelling. Cinema topography, acting, the 80s make this movie irresistible. 

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I'M SO SORRY

Watchable. I learnt that: 20 cm of top soil was removed in the Fukushima cleaning, living being severely deformed is agony, mass abortions were conducted after the Chernobyl catastrophe, people who stayed there were living alone for 30 years. But the whole thing drags badly.

THE CAVIAR CONNECTION

Recommended. It'll get you immediately interested in Azerbaijan. And Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. You'll hear of international singers who get $1m for a three-song gig, of how the rulers bribed the European Council, their dynastic presidency where the family members own the oil, hotels and major industries, foreign observers describing ballot stuffing as well as organized elections. An eye-opening, top-notch investigative documentary, with excellent cinematography and good pace. 

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ENEMIES OF THE STATE

Watchable. Who trumped up evidence? US secret service or the hacktivist? Is he a master of deception himself? Or both a hacktivist in possession of secret information and an Internet pedophile? Engaging, well-paced. A bit convoluted though and open-ended.

The file was a bit too quiet at times, I had to resort to subtitles. 

EL SILENCIO DEL TOPO (THE SILENCE OF THE MOLE)

Watchable. On the slow side. It details the work of a real life of a double agent too humdrum to thrill. Several scenes are pointless, don't bring anything to the narrative, just protract it. The film definitely could do with some trimming. Family memoirs and long passages should go.

IN HIS IMAGE

Watchable. Shocking from the start but for most of the film you trudge after widows and grieving parents. The whole process of getting the baby conceived appears only to prolong the mourning. Extracting someone's sperm after his death - possible up to three days, reaching out to a bereaved family to suggest such an extraction, having 6 children and considering it normal by the society - an effect of the ongoing war? The whole motivation to  have children is appalling as well: "otherwise what's the point of meeting each other".

החייל הטוב (THE GOOD SOLDIER)

Watchable. The film's not entirely clear and it's only gradually that you learn who the Break The Silence are and how they operate.

THE KING'S MAN

Watchable. A touching opening leads to a Bond-scale blockbuster. Some scenes render the cliffhanger term an understatement. As with previous parts, it's a comedy. Though some jokes are heavy handed, there are plenty of better little gags, e.g. with accents or the hilarious climb. Historical events are woven into the action, e.g. the attempt to poison Rasputin with cyanide. Meticulously enacted reality is seen and heard also in the period language or uniforms. Too many protracted fights didn't quite appeal to me. There's a mid-credit - luckily a sequel's on the cards.