The Lighthouse

 The Lighthouse 2019

• Director: Robert Eggers
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Robert Pattinson – Tenet, Queen of the Desert, Twilight, Remember Me, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Willem Dafoe – Murder on the Orient Express, John Wick, Fireflies in the Garden, Paris je t’aime, American Dreamz, Manderlay, the Aviator, Once upon a Time in Mexico, American Psycho, eXistenZ, Lulu on the Bridge, The English Patient, Wild at Heart, Cry-Baby, Born on the Fourth of July, Mississippi Is Burning, The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon, Streets of Fire
• Why? I like lighthouses.
• Seen: 27 March 2022

Two men serving four weeks as keepers of a remote lighthouse in the 19^th century. From wariness to tension and hostility to drunken hysterical friendship to violence.

It’s starkly and stormily filmed in black and white with the constant moaning of a foghorn a foreboding background. The suspense and eeriness grow, and it takes on a surrealistic nightmarish tone.

Ultimately, I don’t see the point but maybe there isn’t one. For its atmospheric harsh beauty and the strong performances of the two actors: 

3 ½ * of 5

 

The Chinese Widow

 

The Chinese Widow 2017 

• Director: Bille August
• Seen by this director: Good-bye Bafana, Les Misérables, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, The House of the Spirits
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Liu Yifei, Emile Hirsch, Fangcong Li
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Emile Hirsch – Once upon a Time in Hollywood, The Darkest Hour, Taking Woodstock, Milk, Into the Wild, Third Rock from the Sun
• Why?  Possibly interesting
• Seen: 25 March 2022 

Fate brings US bomber pilot Jack (Hirsch) together with silk producer and widow Ying (Yifei). She hides him from the occupying Japanese.

Mostly slow, it has moments of drama in this based-on-a-true-story of a little-known episode in WWII. Gripping on occasion, it was a bit too romantic and predictable to rate higher than 

2 ½ * of 5

 

Akeelah and the Bee

 

Akeelah and the Bee 2006

• Director: Doug Atchison
• Based on the book: No.
• Cast: Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Basset, Curtis Armstrong, J R Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Lee Thomas Young, Julito McCullum, Erica Hubbard, Eddie Steeples, Tzi Ma
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Matrix x 3, Mystic River, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Color Purple, Rumble Fish
• Angela Bassett – Black Panther, Music of the Heart, Strange Days, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Malcolm X, Boyz n the Hood
• Curtis Armstrong – Ray, Third Rock from the Sun, Clan of the Cave Bear
• Lee Thomas Young – The Sarah Connors Chronicles
• Julito McCullum – The Wire
• Erica Hubbard – The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
• Tzi Ma – Fringe, Battle in Seattle, Robocop 2
• Why?  I liked it the first time.
• Seen: Once before. Now 26 March 2022. 

Eleven-year-old Akeelah ((Palmer) feels like an outsider and doesn’t much like school but she’s a whiz at spelling. Her teachers urge her to take part in the school spelling bee and when she wins that to go on to the regional, then state and finally national bees. After a hostile run-in with Josh (Fishburne), a language expert, they call a truce and he becomes her coach.

Spelling bees? Seriously? Can a film be more boring?

Guess what. It’s exciting. Akeelah doesn’t just face words like synecdoche and argillaceous but also ridicule from classmates, anger from her overworked harsh widowed mother, a nasty and oppressed fellow speller, and pressure from all sides.

It’s not because I’m a language nerd myself (though not a spelling whiz) but because it’s just impossible not to love Akeelah. Yes, it’s a bit sugary in its feel-goodness but young Palmer is outstanding and everyone else is good too. 

4 ½ * of 5

 

Jalla! Jalla!

 

Jalla! Jalla! 2000

• Director: Josef Fares
• Seen by this director: Zozo
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Fares Fares, Torkel Petersson, Tuva Novotny, Laleh Pourkarim, Sofi Helleday, Jan Fares
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Fares Fares – Rogue One a Star Wars Story
• Tuva Novotny – Annihilation
• Why?  Fun film
• Seen: Once before. Now 24 March 2022 

Roro (Fares) är kär i Lisa (Novotny) men tvingas förlova sig med Yazmin (Pourkarim) av sin familj och hennes bror. Måns (Petersson) är ihop med Jenny (Helleday) men har stora problem med potensen.

Det är en slapstick romantisk komedi med lite allvar och en mild satir på svenska stereotyper. Fares Fares är helt underbar. Det är omöjligt att inte älska den.

 

In English:

Roro is in love with Lisa but is forced by his family and her brother to become engaged to Yazmin. Måns is together with Jenny but has problems with impotence.

It’s a slapstick romantic comedy with a trace of seriousness and a mild satire on Swedish stereotypes. Fares Fares is wonderful. It’s impossible not to love it. 

4* of 5

 

The Andromeda Strain

 The Andromeda Strain 1971

 

• Director: Robert Wise
• Based on the novel by Michael Crichton
• Cast: James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Arthur Hill – TV series
• David Wayne – TV series
• Kate Reid – Atlantic City
• Paula Kelly – Soylent Green, Sweet Charity, TV series
• Why?  A sci fi classic
• Seen: 21 March 2022 

Just what we need in these times of continued Corona, a film about a germ from outer space that threatens to wipe out the human race.

What it really threatens to do is bore me to death. After about half an hour I fall asleep and when I wake up nothing seems to have happened. I fast-forward a bit and nothing seems to have happened. At the end there’s a race against time. ‘There are now 30 seconds to self-destruct.’

Fewer than that before I fall asleep again.

Where oh where do all the stars in other reviews come from. What a disappointment!  

1* of 5

 

Crisis

 Crisis 2021

• Director: Nicholas Jarecki
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Lily-Rose Depp
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gary Oldman – The Space Between Us, The Dark Knight et al, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, The Book of Eli, Friends, Lost in Space, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, Léon, Romeo Is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid & Nancy, Meanwhile
• Armie Hammer – On the Basis of Sex, Hotel Mumbai, The Lone Ranger
• Greg Kinnear – Little Miss Sunshine, Nurse Betty, You’ve Got Mail, As Good as It Gets
• Michelle Rodriguez – Widows, Battle in Seattle
• Luke Evans – The Girl on the Train, High-Rise, The Hobbit et al, Tamara Drewe, Robin Hood
• Why?  Gary Oldman
• Seen: 19 March 2022 

Pill smuggling, painkiller addiction, undercover narcs, research into non-addicting painkillers. There are three stories. Two of them connect in the end. The third one doesn’t but it’s what the film is really about. Oldman is strong as the whistle-blower on the pharmaceutical company that is concealing fatal side-effects of their new miracle drug.

It’s a slow film but stay with it.  It’s very strong and doesn’t deserve its low ratings. 

4* of 5

 

120 Battments par minute

120 Battements par Minute 2017

• Director: Robin Compillo
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel, Antoine Reinartz
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why?  It sounded interesting.
• Seen: 18 March 2022 

The AIDS epidemic in Paris in the 90s. Act Up is an activist group trying to raise awareness of the disease, the pharmaceutical companies’ fraudulence and the government’s lack of action. Many of the activists are HIV positive or dying of AIDS.

It’s a strong film of what is now a historical event. The relationships between the characters are moving but there are two major flaws in the film. Sex scenes are always boring and it’s too long. Still, it’s worth seeing.

3 ½ * of 5

 

The Secret Garden (Maggie Smith)

 The Secret Garden (Maggie Smith) 1993

• Director: Agnieszka Holland
• Seen by this director: The Wire, Copying Beethoven,
• Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Cast: Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, Haydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, Laura Crossley, John Lynch
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kate Maberly – Finding Neverland, Daniel Deronda
• Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey, Harry Potter, The Lady in the Van, Hotel Marigold 1&2, My Old Lady, Quartet, From Time to Time, Becoming Jane, Keeping Mum, Ladies in Lavender, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Gosford Park, David Copperfield, Tea with Mussolini, The First Wives Club, Richard III, The Sister Act 1&2, A Room with a View, The Quartet, Oh What a Lovely War, Love and Pain and the Whole Damned Thing, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
• John Lynch – The Fall, Merlin, Sliding Doors, In the Name of the Father
• Why?  Maggie Smith
• Seen: 17 March 2022 

New try. For my summary of the story see my review of the Julie Walters version.

This one is darker in the beginning but then spring comes, the magic of nature is marvelled at, and it becomes too sweet.

Maybe I’m just too old and curmudgeonly for this happy somewhat formulaic kids’ story.

Maggie Smith lifts it of course.  

3 * of 5

 

 

Venom

 Venom 2018

• Director: Rueben Fleischer
• Seen by this director: Zombieland 1&2
• Based on the book: No, but Marvel
• Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate, Melora Walters, Peggy Lu, Woody Harrelson (in short PS at the end)
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tom Hardy – Dunkirk, Mad Max Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises, Legend, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Inception
• Michelle Williams – The Greatest Showman, Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn, Shutter Island, Brokeback Mountain, Station Agent, The United States of Leland, A Thousand Acres
• Riz Ahmed – Rogue One
• Melora Walters – Cold Mountain, Ed Wood, Dead Poets Society
• Why?  Marvel
• Seen: 16 March 2022 

A hot shot reporter (Hardy) gets infected by an alien parasite who takes over his life and gives him superpowers. I’m OK with that. What I’m not OK with is his wimpy macho nerdiness and the stupid story. C’mon, Fleischer, what happened? The Zombieland duo are great! This one is a read dud. Sorry. 

1* of 5

 

Northern Soul

 Northern Soul 2014

• Director: Elaine Constantine
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Elliot James Langridge, Josh Whitehouse, Steve Coogan, Antonia Thomas, James Lance, Ricky Tomlinson, Jack Gordon
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Steve Coogan – Philomena, In the Loop, Tristram Shandy, Coffee and Cigarettes, 24 Hour Party People
• Antonia Thomas – Sunshine on Leith, Misfits
• James Lance – The Bookshop, Late Night Shopping
• Why? Music. England.
• Seen: 13 March 2022      

       Burnsworth, Lancashire, 1970’s. John (Langridge), a disgruntled teen-ager, discovers Northern soul music and becomes friends with Matt (Whitehouse). They plan to go to America to buy records. Then they want to start a soul club. Then they get involved with drugs and violence. Their factory jobs drag them down. Their friendship stumbles.

       I was expecting another Commitments. It could have been, but it just didn’t lift. The story was thin, the characters were flat and hammy (can those two go together in a description?) and I couldn’t care less what happens to them.

       Another disappointment. The music is OK though.   

 2 * of 5

 

In the Heights

 In the Heights 2021

• Director: John M Chu
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Ruben-Vega
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Anthony Ramos – A Star Is Born
• Corey Hawkins – BlacKkKlansman, Kong Skull Island
• Olga Merediz – Remember Me, Requiem for a Dream, The Sopranos, Marvin’s Room, Evita
• Jimmy Smits – Star Wars, The Jane Austen Book Club, Hill Street Blues
• Daphne Ruben-Vega – Rachel Getting Married, Flawless
• Why?  Musical
• Seen: 12 March 2022 

Usnavi (Ramos) runs his parents’ mom’n’pop bodega in Nuevo York’s Washington Heights. This musical tells the story of the people of the heights, their loves, their lives, their dreams, their disappointments. Most of them are emigrants – first, second, or third generation – Latinos, working hard but barely hanging on economically. Many long to leave but it’s hard to leave the Heights.

It's light-hearted but there are shadows and hurts. The music is wonderful. I will definitely watch this again. 

4 ½ * of 5

 

 

Dune 2021

 Dune 2021

• Director: DenisVilleneuve
• Seen by this director: Blade Runner 2049, Arrival
• Based on the book by Frank Herbert
• Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Charlotte Rampling
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Timothée Chalamet – Lady Bird, Interstellar
• Rebecca Ferguson – Doctor Sleep, The Greatest Showman, Snömannen, The Girl on the Train,
• Zendaya – The Greatest Showman
• Oscar Isaac – Star Wars, Annihilation, X-Men Apocalypse, Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Stellan Skarsgård – Mamma Mia 1&2, Melancholia, Thor, Pirates of the Caribbean, King Arthur, Dogville, The Glass House, Dancer in the Dark, Amistad, Good Will Hunting, Breaking the Waves, Hamlet, Den enfaldige mördaren
• Josh Brolin – Hail Caesar, True Grit, Milk, No Country for Old Men, The Dead Girl
• Charlotte Rampling – London Spy, Broadchurch, Melancholia, Never Let Me Go, Life During Wartime, Lemming, Great Expectations, Georgy Girl
• Why?  Isn’t it required for sci-fi nerds?
• Seen: 11 March 2022 

It is reportedly better than the first film version. I hope so. If you don’t know the story of spice and empires, and interstellar travel and sand worms and Chosen One, read the book. Or at least the Spark notes.

It’s all very complicated and confusing and I really don’t like all this royal military pomp and circumstance stuff. The film takes itself far too seriously. Such pretension. Doesn’t anyone have a sense of humour?

A ponderous, plodding, boring film. The interesting ideas, what there are of them, are bogged down in the dragging muchness. It’s a pity because an incredible amount of work and expense went into it and the visuals are beautiful. But it’s just boring. And they’re all so American!

Because it’s so handsomely filmed

2* of 5

 

 

Maleficent

 Maleficent 2014

• Director: Robert Stromberg
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Leslie Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Angelina Jolie – The Tourist, Beyond Borders, Changeling, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Girl Interrupted
• Elle Fanning – Ginger & Rosa, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Babel, Taken
• Sharlto Copley – Chappie, Elysium, Banlieu 9
• Leslie Manville – River, Mr Turner, Another Year, Cranford, Sparkle, Vera Drake, All or Nothing, David Copperfield, Milk, Topsy-Turvy, Secrets and Lies, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Dance with a Stranger
• Imelda Staunton – Pride, The Awakening, Harry Potter, Another Year, Cranford, Taking Woodstock, Freedom Writers, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Re-Told, Vera Drake, Bright Young Things, David Copperfield, Shakespeare in Love, Twelfth Night, Sense and Sensibility, Much Ado about Nothing, Peter’s Friends, The singing Detective
• Juno Temple – Far from the Madding Crowd, The Dark Knight Rises, Kick Ass Girls 2 St Trinian’s, Glorious 39, The Other Boleyn Girl, Atonement, Notes on a Scandal
• Sam Riley – Brighton Rock, control
• Why?  Why not?
• Seen: 10 March 2022 

The other side of the Sleepy Beauty tale.

Maleficent (Jolie) is a powerful fairy, protector of the magical realm of the fairies. The bordering human kingdom threatens to invade the realm and slaughter the magical creatures who live there.

Thoughts go to Russia and Ukraine. The Russians/humans aren’t as powerful as they think they are.

As children Maleficent and the human Stefan (Copley) were in love but he left her to become wealthy in the humans’ kingdom. Now, as adults and enemies, the king sends him to kill her. Instead, he regains her trust, drugs her and cuts off her wings.

She gets her revenge.

Jolie is convincingly evil, the computer enhancement is pretty, it’s fun to see Staunton and Manville as fairies turned nursemaids. It’s a clever, entertaining and eye-pleasing revision of the classic fairy tale. 

 

2 ½ * of 5

 

Zombieland Double Tap

 Zombieland Double Tap 2019

• Director: Ruben Fleischer
• Seen by this director: Zombieland
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Zoe Deutch, Avan Jogia, Rosario Dawson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jesse Eisenberg – Night Moves, Zombieland, The Squid and the Whale
• Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Zombieland, The Glass Castle, The Hunger Games x 4, 2012, Battle in Seattle, No Country for Old Men, A Scanner Darkly, A Prairie Home Companion, North Country, EdTV, The Thin Red Line, White Men Can’t Jump
• Emma Stone – The Favourite, Zombieland, La-La Land, The Help
• Abigail Breslin – Ender’s Game, Zombieland, August Osage County, Little Miss Sunshine
• Zoe Deutch – Beautiful Creatures
• Rosario Dawson – Rent
• Why? Well, we have got to see what happens!
• Seen: 6 March 2022 

       Our zombie-killing quartet is back – older, wiser and wilier. And they’ve moved into the White House.

       I won’t tell you the story. There’s romance and jealousy and hippies and travelling and Elvis and loads of zombies.

       Yes, it’s pointless but it’s enjoyably humorously pointless. I think I’ll have to upgrade my rating of the first Zombieland to 4* so I can give this one

 

 3 ½ * of 5 (Maybe even 5*)

 

Le grand jour

 Le grand jour

• Director: Pascal Plisson
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Albert Gonzales Monteagudo, Dheegii Batjargal, Tom Ssekabira, Nidhi Jha.
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• They all played themselves
• Why? It sounded interesting.
• Seen: 5 March 2022      

Albert. 11 years old. Havana, Cuba. Boxer.

Dheegii. 11 years old. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Tom. 19 years old. Uganda. Student of wildlife conservation.

Nidhi. 16 years old. Maths student 

       Their lives are vastly different from those of European or North American kids. In some ways. In other ways not. There are economically poor kids in all countries. With loving supportive families. With homework and household chores. With dream. Big dreams. Impossible dreams.

       These four have big dreams and they work hard to achieve them. They all have a big day ahead of them, a decisive day. A boxing match for Albert to see if he can get into Cuba’s boxing academy. An audition for Dheegii to get into circus school. Final exams for Tom to see if he will qualify to become a park ranger. A maths exam for Nidhi as a step towards getting into a technical university and becoming an engineer.

       It’s quite suspenseful. They’re nervous, they’re uncertain, but they face their challenge.

        A little gem of a documentary. 

4 * of 5   

 

Forget Me Not

 Forget Me Not

• Director: Alexander Holt and Lance Roehrig
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Tobias Menzies, Genevieve O’Reilly, Gemma Jones
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tobias Menzies – The Night Manager, Doctor Who, Bonekickers, Atonement, Casino Royale, Finding Neverland
• Genevieve O’Reilly – The Fall, Young Victoria
• Gemma Jones - Rocketman, Unforgotten, Last Tango in Halifax, Merlin, Harry Potter, Wilde, Sense and Sensibility, The Merchant of Venice, The Devils
• Why? Oh, why not? A romantic film once in a while can’t be harmful, can it?
• Seen: 5 March 2022      

       Will (Menzies) sings and plays at a local pub. He’s suicidal. Eve (O’Reilly) works in the pub. She’s attacked by a drunken patron. This is the story of how they rescue each other over the next twenty-four hours.

       Oh, London at night. That’s worth a * of its own. Another one for London in the daytime.

       Well.

       A romantic comedy it certainly is not.

       Menzies is terrific. 

4* of 5.

 

 

 

Seabiscuit

 Seabiscuit 2003

• Director: Gary Ross
• Seen by this director: Hunger Games, Pleasantville
• Based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand
• Cast: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, William H Macy
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tobey Maguire – The Great Gatsby, Wonder Boys, The Cider House Rules, Pleasantville, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Ice Storm
• Jeff Bridges – True Grit, The Big Lebowski, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Last Picture Show
• Chris Cooper – August Osage County, The Tempest, Remember Me, American Beauty, A Time to Kill
• Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games, Pitch Perfect, Catch Me If You Can
• William H Macy – Room, Happy Texas, Pleasantville, Fargo, Benny & Joon
• Why?  I like horses
• Seen: 4 March 2022

Charles Howard (Bridges) is a wealthy go-getter car salesman. Red Pollard (Maguire) grows up in a loving poetry-reading family who loses its fortune in the ’29 Crash, and who has a way with horses. Tom Smith (Cooper) is an eccentric loner horse trainer. It’s a long slow build-up but eventually fate and circumstance bring them together.

Enter, after nearly an hour, Seabiscuit, a small horse who has been abused and rejected by trainers until Tom sees his worth. He talks Charles into buying him and Red into riding him. The saga begins.

Seabiscuit becomes the darling of the working class. An underdog who wins. And wins. And wins.

Two problems. Only one woman and one black, both token characters with nothing for the actors to work with. And it’s too long.

The horses, of course, are beautiful. It’s a nice story, a nice film. But I don’t love it. 

3* of 5

 

 

Nordwand (North Face)

 North Face (Nordwand) 2008

• Director: Philipp Stölzl
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Ulrik Tukur
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Florian Lukas – Into the White, Good-bye Lenin
• Ulrik Tukur – Das weisse band, Solaris
• Why?  Scary mountain climbing
• Seen: 2 March 2022 

Another scary mountain climbing film. Why do I torture myself with scary mountain climbing films?

Because I love mountains. And ‘based on true stories’. And this one is different. It’s in German. It takes place in 1936 and it’s about the Nazis’ lust for glory.

Two expert and fanatical and anti-Nazi climbers, Toni (Fürmann) and Andi (Lukas) take part in the competition to be the first to climb the most dangerous face in the Alps, Eiger’s North Face. Their childhood friend Luise (Wokalek), now a press photographer, goes to Switzerland, eager for her first scoop, to report on their climb. Toni and Andi’s main rivals are ardent Nazis whose climb is financed by the SA.

The drama of the climb is interspersed with politics, avid spectators, news reporting, and the love between Luise and Toni.

It’s the best, most complex scary mountain climbing film I’ve seen. 

5* of 5