Almanac Reviews – The British Film Festival, Week 3: Continued excellence at the BFF25

 

 

Well it’s Week Three of the BFF25 and our budget is getting squeezed, but we will forge on! It’s been another week of quality movies highlighted by this one:

 

Dragonfly

 

 

Elsie (Brenda Blethyn) and Colleen (Andrea Riseborough) live in adjoining housing commission flats in a grey and tough Yorkshire neighbourhood.

 

Elsie, a widow, has regular calls from care nurses that have been organised by her son John (Jason Watkins) who lives a couple of hours away.

 

Colleen offers to replace the nurses after Elsie struggles with the attitude of one of them and accepts Colleen’s offer.

 

Colleen is a social outcast with a dark past that on the surface isn’t immediately apparent. Her life is manageable as she shares her flat with a huge boofhead dog Sabre that is adorable but naughty.

 

After Sabre tears up Elsie’s garden, John decides to visit his mum and suddenly things get a bit awkward.

 

I can’t say anything else at this point regarding the plot other than to say that there is a finale you are unlikely to forget.

 

The acting is superb. Elsie’s character is almost a reprise to Blethyn’s landmark role thirty years ago as Cynthia in Secrets and Lies. She is as brave as ever and is one of Britain’s finest ever actors.

 

Riseborough is incredible as the edgy Colleen and is the perfect antithesis to Elsie’s trusting nature. It’s a hell of a performance and Sabre does a great job too.

 

There is an interview on line with both these amazing actors and they mention that there were no rehearsals as they wanted spontaneity in the performance. It certainly feels totally authentic.

 

The camerawork is intimate and like the masters of this genre, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, there is that claustrophobic feel to it which adds to the tension.

 

There are so many little touches here that are of note and are perfectly natural, such as scraping out the last remnants of a tomato sauce bottle!

 

Loneliness within the elderly community is sadly a scourge in the UK and Australia. Added to that is the lack of investment and resources in the care industry. Writer/director Paul Andrew Williams has addressed both issues very subtly and intelligently here. A fantastic film. 9/10

 

 

 

 

 

Urchin

 

 

 

 

Mike is a young homeless addict living on the streets of London when, in his haze of desperation, he assaults and robs someone who is just trying to help.

 

Incarcerated for eight months, he manages to get clean and has an opportunity for redemption.

 

Mike’s journey from hereon takes him on an odd but ultimately predictable path for someone with severe substance abuse problems.

 

Written and directed by twenty-nine year old actor Harris Dickinson who also plays a role in the film, this is an impressive debut and has been critically acclaimed.

 

Mike is played by Frank Dillane, a thirty-something actor who fills the shoes of the hapless addict seamlessly. The supporting cast are very good and the interactions between all the actors is raw and natural.

 

It’s a film for this generation really. Addiction to these evil drugs like ice and ketamine isn’t confined to the cities anymore. We see it in Ballarat regularly so if anything it’s a reminder to anyone to avoid being tempted by them. 7/10

 

 

 

 

 

Words of War

 

 

 

 

This is the true story of fearless Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who worked for an independent newspaper in Moscow, during Putin’s war with Chechnya.

 

Much the same as what Putin has executed in Ukraine, the civilians of Chechnya were subjected to enormous collateral damage and unfathomable war crimes.

 

Anna, played by the wonderful Maxine Peake, is determined to speak to the people of Chechnya and get their side of the story. Her reports back to the people of Russia quickly earn the ire of the government and it’s not long before she becomes an enemy of the state.

 

Anna survives a KGB poisoning attempt then takes the advice of her boss Dmitry (Ciaran Hinds) and publishes a travel column for the paper in order to stop the harassment, but it doesn’t stop there.

 

This is a very engaging film, albeit a bit strange having an entire British cast play Russians. A KGB operative with an East London accent was a bit odd but it avoided subtitles.

 

The film highlights Putin’s scant regard for anyone who challenges him. You certainly wouldn’t want to be an opposition politician or journalist in Russia.

 

Authoritarianism around the world has reached new levels, now that Trump is doing whatever he likes also. He recently hosted the Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman to the White House.

 

This is a man who ordered the kidnap, murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist and American citizen, Jamal Kashoggi. He also allegedly helped fund the 9/11 attacks. Coincidentally enough, Trump’s children have billions invested in Saudi Arabia. Who woulda thunk it?

 

If only we had more old, white, rich men in power. That’ll fix it. An excellent film. 7.5/10

 

 

 

 

 

To read more by Ian Wilson click HERE.

 

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