Little Women 2019

 

Little Women 2019

• Director: Greta Gerwig
• Seen by this director: Lady Bird
• Based on book by Louise May Alcott
• Cast: Saoirsie Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Thimothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Jane Houdyshell, Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Saoirsie Ronan – Mary Queen of Scots, Lady Bird, Brooklyn, Hanna, Atonement
• Emma Watson – The Circle, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, My Week with Marilyn, Harry Potter
• Florence Pugh - Midsommar, Fighting with My Family
• Laura Dern – Big Little Lies, Wild, The Fault in Our Stars, I Am Sam, October Sky, Citizen Ruth, A Perfect World, Jurassic Park, Wild at Heart
• Thimothée Chamalet – Dune, Lady Bird, Interstellar
• Bob Odenkirk – Breaking Bad
• James Norton – Mister Turner, Doctor Who, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, An Education
• Chris Cooper – August Osage County, The Tempest, Remember Me, Seabiscuit, American Beauty, October Sky, This Boy’s Life
• Meryl Streep – Big Little Lies, Mamma Mia 1&2, Suffragette, Ricki and the Flash, Into the Woods, August Osage County, A Prairie Home Companion, Angels in America, The Hours, Marvin’s Room, The Bridges of Madison County, Postcard from the Edge, Ironweed, Out of Africa, Silkwood, Sophie’s Choice, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Kramer vs Kramer, Deer Hunter, Holocaust
• Why? The book, the cast.
• Seen: 25 December 2020      

It starts somewhere towards the end of the book, then goes back and forth in the chronology. If you don’t know the story that might be confusing but I like it.

It’s lively and beautifully filmed. The cast is excellent. The four squabbling, fighting, loving sisters are absolutely convincing. I’ll have to watch the ’93 version again soon to see which one I like better, if either of them, but for now I’ll just say that I like this one very much indeed.

4 ½ * of 5

Ultranova

 

Ultranova 2005

• Director: Bouli Lanners
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Vincent Lecuyer, Marie de Bled, Hélène de Reymaeker
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them.
• Why? Possibly interesting.
• Seen: 24 December 2022. 

       This is apparently one of those films that isn’t about anything, whose misfit characters talk little, and nothing happens. It’s almost black and white, filmed in greyish and brownish tone, most other colours muted. The setting is the dreary industrial and agricultural areas outside of Liege in Belgium. It’s sort of a love story between introverted Dmitri (Lucuyer), who is said to be an orphan whose parents and sister died in an incident when he was twelve, and Cathy (de Reymaeker) who was adopted at the age of four and doesn’t want to talk about it. They both have boring jobs. There are other side stories flitting in and out. The film has been compared to Jarmusch and Kaurismäki. That ought to give you an idea of what kind of film it is.

       I like it but I don’t love it. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anna and the Apocalypse Update 2022

 

Update 26 December 2021 + 24 December 2022

 

Anna and the Apocalypse 2017

Director: John McPhail

Based on book: no

Cast: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu, Ben Wiggins, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye

Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

Ella Hunt – Robot Overlords, Les Misérables

Mark Benton – Hustle, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Breaking and Entering, Doctor Who, Topsy-Turvy, Kiss Me Kate, Career Girls

Paul Kaye – Doctor Who, Humans, Friday Night Dinner, Hustle, Shaun of the Dead

Why? Who knows?

Seen: 19 December 2020      

       Just your normal Christmas musical with unhappy teenagers singing in the corridors and cafeteria about unrequited love and the need to escape their dreary small town in Scotland. There’s even a nerdy tyrannical headmaster.

       Until the zombies show up.

       Shaun of the Dead or The Girl with All the Gifts it is not but it’s a decent zombie film and a decent musical. Not bad entertainment for the Saturday evening before Christmas. Who knows? It may become a Christmas tradition in this Scrooge-y household. 

 3 ½ * of 5

Update 26 December 2021: nothing new to add but that it’s even better the second time. Now promoted to 4* of 5, and yes, definitely a Christmas tradition for us.

 

Update 24 December 2022: ditto from last year. Maybe even 4 ½ * . I really like it.

 

https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/2021/12/anna-and-apocalypse-update-2021.html

Just Like Heaven

 

Just Like Heaven 2005

• Director: Mark Waters
• Based on the book by Marc Levy
• Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Spywey-Waters, Ben Shenkman, Jon Heder
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Reese Witherspoon - Big Little Lies, Wild, Walk the Line, Legally Blond, American Psycho, Pleasantville
• Mark Ruffalo – Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right, Reservation Road, Zodiac, Rumour Has It, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, My Life Without Me
• Donal Logue – The Cloverfield Paradox, Zodiac, Runaway Bride, Little Women
• Jon Heder - Napoleon Dynamite
• Why? Ruffalo and Witherspoon.
• 23 December 2022      

       Elizabeth (Witherspoon) is a doctor who as the film opens has just worked a 26-hour shift and is now late for a blind date dinner arranged by her sister (Spywey-Waters). She never makes it.

       David (Ruffalo) is a grieving widower who rents her now vacant flat. Except that it’s not always completely vacant. Elizabeth’s spirit pops up now and then and she’s very upset to find a stranger in her flat.

       It’s fun. It’s sad. Witherspoon and Ruffalo are both, as expected, appealing in this unlikely rom-com (aren’t rom-coms unlikely by definition?) This one offers an old but enjoyable concept, even the silly and mushy parts. 

3½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fantasia

 

Fantasia 1940

• Director: various directors under Walt Disney’s leadership.
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: animated
• Why? I remember liking it. The music,
• Seen:  Once before. Now 26 October 2022      

       Revolutionary in the field of animation, this is no doubt Disney’s most innovative film. Putting animation to music by Bach, Stravinsky, Beethoven and others in abstract forms, cartoons or nature, humorous or dramatic, it is indeed fantastic. A bit cuter than I remember it – Beethoven deserves better than dancing romantic centaurs - but it’s still a masterpiece. 

4 * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Phillips

 

Captain Phillips 2013

• Director: Paul Greengrass
• Based on the book by Richard Phillips and a book by Stephan Talty
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tom Hanks – The Circle, Sully, Cloud Atlas, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Cast Away, Catch Me If You Can, Road to Perdition, The Green Mile, You Have Mail, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Punchline
• Barkhad Abdi – Blade Runner 2049, Eye in the Sky
• Why? Good reviews.
• Seen: 20 December 2022. 

       Richard Phillips (Hanks) is captain of a cargo ship delivering food containers to Africa. Somalian pirates led by Muse (Abde) take over the ship and escape in a life boat with Phillips as hostage.

       For being an exciting film, it’s quite boring. And far too long. Too much shouting and shooting and irritating excitement-building (supposedly) music. It’s shallow and ignores the possibility of building up background character of the pirates and the political conflicts caused by historical imperialism. Far too much American gung ho.

       It’s not Hanks’s best film, nor his best performance. In fact, Abdi as Muse is the better actor here in his first film role. 

2 * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The High Note

 

The High Note 2020

• Director: Nisha Ganatra
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Bill Pullman, Zoe Chao, June Diane Raphael, Eddie Izzard, Ice Cube
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Dakota Johnson – The Peanut Butter Falcon, Cymbeline, Social Network
• Bill Pullman – Cymbeline, Dear Wendy, Igby Goes Down, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle, Sommersby, A League of Their Own
• Eddie Izzard – Victoria & Abdul, Absolutely Anything, Treasure Island, Valkyria, Across the Universe, Romance & Cigarettes, Velvet Goldmine
• Ice Cube – Boyz ‘n’ the Hood
• Why? Music
• Seen: 19 December 2022. 

       Maggie (Johnson) is personal assistant to middle-aged superstar Grace Davis (Ellis Ross) but dreams of becoming a record producer. She starts by secretly re-mixing some of Davis’s early works and when that makes everyone angry she takes on an unknown singer David (Harrison) she found singing in a grocery store.

       It could be good. It should be good. I want it to be good. There are strong moments and some decent music but the story is too lame and the film falls flat. What a pity. 

2 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000

• Director: Ron Howard
• Seen by this director: Frost/Nixon, A Beautiful Mind, EDtv and others
• Based on the book by Dr Seuss
• Cast: Jim Carey, Taylor Momson, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jim Carey – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Peggy Sue Got Married
• Jeffrey Tambor – Paul, The Invention of Lying, Girl Interrupted
• Christine Baranski – The Big Bang Theory, Mamma Mia 1&2, Into the Woods, Chicago, Playing for Time
• Why? It’s on a double DVD
• Seen: 19 December 2022. 

       Dr Seuss was a big favourite of my childhood but that was then and this is now. I’m generally allergic to Christmas films that aren’t Love Actually or Anna and the Apocalypse and I have no high hopes for this. But I have it and to my surprise Hal wants to see it so here we sit.

       Everybody in Whoville loves and adores Christmas. The Grinch hates and loathes it.

       To my surprise, it’s funny and enjoyable. It might just become a Christmas standard for us.     

 3 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay Cool

 

Stay Cool 2009

• Director: Michael Polish
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Winona Ryder, Mark Polish, Sean Astin, Hillary Duff, Josh Holloway, Jon Cryer, Chevy Chase, Frances Conroy
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Winona Ryder – Black Swan, The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee, A Scanner Darkly, The Darwin Awards, Girl Interrupted, Alien Resurrection, The Crucible, Little Women, Reality Bites, Night on Earth, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice
• Hillary Duff – Human Nature
• Josh Holloway – Lost
• Chevy Chase – As little as possible
• Frances Conroy – Joker, Shelter, Six Feet Under, Broken Flowers, Sleepless in Seattle, The Scent of a Woman, Billy Bathgate
• Why? Winona Ryder
• Seen: 17 December 2022. 

       In high school Henry (Polish) was a nerd with only two friends Big Girl (Astin) and Wino (Holloway). Twenty years later he returns to his home town, now a best-selling author, but he and the two friends, who never left, are still nerds. No one in town has read Henry’s book.

       Is there anything worse than an American high school film? Yes, an American high school film twenty years later.

       It could have been better with better actors. Ryder does her job but Polish has the charisma of a potato. No, unfair, I like potatoes. Of a parsnip, then. Someone has suggested that John Cusack would have been better in the role and this is definitely true but I’m sure that if offered it, he would have turned it down.

       It’s mildly amusing that everyone in town starts reading his book and discovers that it’s about them. For that and Ryder it gets       

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mystic Pizza

 

Mystic Pizza 1998

• Director: Donald Petrie
• Seen by this director: Miss Congeniality, Grumpy Old Men
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor, Vincent D’Onofrio, William R Moses, Adam Storke
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Annabeth Gish – Beautiful Girls
• Julia Roberts – August Osage County, Fireflies in the Garden, Closer, Mona Lisa’s Smile, Erin Brokovich, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman and others.
• Lili Taylor – The Conjuring, Six Feet Under, High Fidelity, A Slipping-Down Life and others
• Why? I remember liking it.
• Seen: Once before. Now 16 December 2022. 

       Daisy (Roberts), her sister Kat (Gish) and their friend Jojo (Taylor) work at Mystic Pizza in a small harbour town. Kat has been accepted into Yale to study astronomy, Daisy is a cheeky flirt who feels inferior to her smart sister, and Jojo faints at her wedding because she’s not ready to get married.

       Rich, suave, good-looking Charlie (Storke) saunters into town and is dazzled by Daisy when she beats everyone at pool. Kat falls for Tim (Moses), the young Yalee, father of the little girl she babysits while his wife is in London. Jojo loves Bill’s (D’Onofrio) body but he wants to wait until they get married.

       Three young women in a small lobster town.

       It just a predictable clichéd rom-com but it’s about three working class young women trying to find their way into the future.

       I still like it.      

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Master

 

The Master 2012

• Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
• Seen by this director: There Will Be Blood, Punch-Drunk Love
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons, with small roles played by Rami Malek, Lena Endre and Laura Dern.
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Joaquin Phoenix – Joker, Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot, Two Lovers, Reservation Road, Walk the Line, Hotel Rwanda, Gladiator,
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Hunger Games etc, God’s Pocket, The Invention of Lying, The Boat that Rocked, Cold Mountain, Punch-Drunk Love, Almost Famous, Happiness, The Big Lebowski, Twister
• Amy Adams – Arrival, American Hustle, Man of Steel, Sunshine Cleaning
• Jesse Plemons – Judas and the Black Messiah, Paul
• Why? The cast.
• 14 December 2022. 

       Freddie Quell (Phoenix) suffers from war trauma after WWII in the form of erratic and violent behaviour, alcoholism and a pitiful addiction to sex. Then he encounters the Master (Hoffman) and his fanatic wife Peggy (Adams) who run a Scientology-like sect.

       The acting is so good – all three were nominated for Oscars – that it’s easy to think the film is good too. Mostly it’s puzzling and unpleasant. But interesting. 

3 ½ * of 5

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The River King

 

The River King 2005

• Director: Nick Willing
• Seen by this director: Photographing Fairies
• Based on the book: by Alice Hoffman
• Cast: Edward Burns, Jennifer Ehle, Thomas Gibson, Jamie Thomas-King, Rachelle Lefevre, Julian Rhind-Tutt
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Edward Burns – Holiday, Saving Private Ryan
• Jennifer Ehle – Zero Ground Theory, Contagion, The King’s Speech, Wilde, Pride and Prejudice
• Jamie Thomas-King – Mr Turner, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Marchlands, Like Crazy
• Julian Rhind-Tut – Lucy, Merlin, Stardust, Black Books, To Kill a King, Laura Croft Tomb-Raider, Notting Hill, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Madness of King George
• Why? I’ve liked Alice Hoffman’s novels.
• Seen: Once before. Now 13 December 2022.

        A student from a posh boarding school is found dead in a frozen river. The dean insists it’s suicide. The cops suspect homicide. So, a murder mystery.

       It’s boring. Handsome visuals and atmospheric music don’t help.

 2* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storage 24

 

Storage 24 (2012)

• Director: Johannes Roberts
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Laura Haddock, Ned Dennehy, Alex Price
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Noel Clarke – Fisherman’s Friends, Doctor Who, Heartless
• Antonia Campbell-Hughes – London Spy, Bright Star, Breakfast on Pluto
• Laura Haddock – Dancing on the Edge
• Ned Dennehy – Guns Akimbo, Jane Eyre. Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Perrier’s Bounty
• Alex Price – Doctor Who, Merlin, Being Human
• Why? Possibly good.
• Seen: 12 December 2022

        A plane crashes near Hyde Park. Charlie (Clarke) couldn’t care less. His girlfriend Shelley (Campbell-Hughes) has just left him. But then he’s trapped in a storage building with Shelley and others and an alien monster from outer space.

       Some people liked the film, many did not. In fact many hated it.

       It’s not that bad, it’s just a bit…odd. All that jealousy and heartbreak in the midst of a gory attack by a yucky alien in a storage facility? It is quite bad, I agree, but it’s also almost sort of cool. So the question is – is it really bad or really good?

       Answer: yes. Both. Neither. It’s one of the best really bad films I’ve seen.     

 3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constantine

 

Constantine 2005

• Director: Francis Lawrence
• Seen by this director: The Hunger Games, I Am Legend
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou, Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keanu Reeves – John Wick, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Scanner Darkly, Thumbsucker, Matrix etc, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, Much Ado about Nothing, My Own Private Idaho, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Tune in Tomorrow
• Rachel Weisz – The Favourite, The Deep Blue Sea, The Constant Gardener, The Fountain, About a Boy, Beautiful Creatures, Sunshine
• Djimon Hounsou – The Tempest, Blood Diamond, The Island, In America, Gladiator, Amistad
• Tilda Swinton – The Personal History of David Copperfield, Doctor Strange, Hail Caesar, Snowpiercer, Only Lovers Left Alive, Moonrise Kingdom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, Michael Clayton, Broken Flowers, Thumbsucker, Young Adam, Beach, Orlando
• Peter Stormare – Rapture, The Zero Theorem, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Brothers Grimm, Chocolat, Dancer in the Dark, Fargo, Awakenings
• Dan Hedaya – Alien Resurrection, A Life Less Ordinary and others
• Why? The cast.
• Seen: 11 December 2022 

       John Constantine (Reeves) is an exorcist, a heavy smoker with aggressive lung cancer and a burning mission to redeem himself before God who has condemned him to Hell for having committed suicide as a teenager. Angela Dodson (Weisz) is a cop whose identical twin has committed suicide.

       There are demons, the Catholic Church, Hell, supernatural powers, half-angels, half-demons, witchcraft and Satan (Stormare) himself. God is there in the background though we don’t see him. ‘God is a kid with an ant hill,’ Constantine tells Dodson.

       It teeters on the edge of ridiculous but somehow manages to be clever, intriguing and dramatic. The main problem with the film is that there’s just too much of it. A little subtlety and a smidgen of minimalism would have been a fine thing.

       But it’s entertaining.    

 3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clueless

 

Clueless 1995

• Director: Amy Heckerling
• Seen by this director: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• Based on the book: it’s a spin-off of Jane Austen’s Emma
• Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Ruud, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer, Jeremy Sisto, Dan Hedaya, Wallace Shawn, Twink Caplan, Justin Walker
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Alicia Silverstone – The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Love’s Labour’s Lost
• Brittany Murphy – The Dead Girl, 8 Mile, Riding in Cars with Boys, Girl Interrupted
• Paul Ruud – Ant-Man, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Cider House Rules, Romeo & Juliet
• Breckin Meyer – Kate & Leopold
• Jeremy Sisto – Six Feet Under, Suicide Kings, Moonlight and Valentino
• Dan Hedaya – Alien Resurrection, A Life Less Ordinary and others
• Why? A spin-off of Jane Austen’s Emma.
• Seen: 10 December 2022

        If you haven’t read Emma, at least go read the Cliff Notes.

       Cher (Silverstone) is a rich white Beverly Hills high schooler who helps people. Aka is a do-gooder, taking the clueless under her wing to turn them into a popular clone of herself. Aka a matchmaker. Aka a busybody. Aka an outrageous interferer and manipulator.

       But somehow things don’t quite go as planned. To her dismay she discovers that even more than her projects, she herself is completely clueless.

       It could be dreadful but it’s a charming, humorous parody of high school films. And it blessed us with the wondrously disdainful phrases ‘as if’ and ‘not even’.

3 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rendition

 

Rendition 2007

• Director: Gavin Hood
• Seen by this director: Eye in the Sky, X-Men Origins Wolverine, Tsotsi
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Omar Metwally, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Reese Witherspoon – Big Little Lies, Wild, Walk the Line, Legally Blonde, American Psycho, Pleasantville
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Prisoner, Life, Zodiac, Proof, Brokeback Mountain, Day After Tomorrow, Moonlight Mile, The Good Girl, Donnie Darko, October Sky
• Peter Sarsgaard – An Education, Garden State, Dead Man Walking
• Omar Metwally – Fringe
• Meryl Streep – Rickie and the Flash, Big Little Lies, Mamma Mia 1&2, Suffragette, Into the Woods, August Osage County, A Prairie Home Companion, Angels in America, The Hours, Marvin’s Room, The Bridges of Madison County, Postcards from the Edge, Ironweed, Out of Africa, Silkwood, Sophie’s Choice, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Kramer vs Kramer, The Deer Hunter, Holocaust
• Alan Arkin – The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee, Sunshine Cleaning, Little Miss Sunshine, Gattaca, Grosse Pointe Blank, Glengarry Glen Ross, Edward Scissorhands, Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming
• Why? The cast.
• Seen: 9 December 2022

        Egyptian born Anwar (Metwally) is returning to his wife Isabel (Witherspoon) and family in Chicago when he is arrested by the CIA and accused of a recent bombing in a North African city. Isabel frantically tries to find out where he is.

       It’s much more complex than that with side stories of many of those involved. Essentially it’s about how American authorities use torture against individuals in its so-called war on terrorism. So it’s not just a thriller, not just a political thriller, but a serious exposé. The US breaks its own rules and rejects its supposed belief in democracy and individual rights in its self-appointed role as global cop.

       So for an international intrigue film it’s quite good. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yol

 

Yol 1982

• Director: Serif Gören and Yilmaz Güney
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: No one I know of or recognise from other films.
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? I remember it as good
• Seen: Once before. Now 8 December 2022

       Five Kurdish prisoners are given a week’s leave from a Turkish prison. This is the story of how they make it back to Kurdistan to reunite with their families, confront old conflicts, struggle against Turkish oppression and fall, willingly or not, into the society’s oppressing gender roles. For exposing this society and struggle the film is important in cinema history but this time I find it hard to become involved in these individuals, or indeed keep them straight. It’s very slow and the moments of drama are few and far between, and most of them are unpleasant.

       Sorry, the film no longer speaks to me.

 2 ½ * of 5