THE WHISTLERS
I first saw this hugely enjoyable Romanian thriller at last year’s London Film Festival and on a second viewing, I still found it as engaging and unpredictable.
The original title of Corneliu Borumboiu’s highly original film is LA GOMERA, one of the Canary Islands and the destination of Christi (Vlad Ivanov), a police inspector from Bucharest on a trip to meet Gilda (Catrinel Marlon), a fellow Romanian and associate on a dangerous heist. The purpose of his visit is to learn a secret whistling language called “El Silbo”, so that he can communicate with Gilda from afar…
The early scenes on this beautiful island where Christi first meets Gilda on an exotic villa surrounded by Spanish thugs is suitably suspenseful and once he begins to learn the whistling language these sequences become genuinely funny in their absurdity. The action moves back and forth to Bucharest where Christ is playing a double game along with his fellow officers where it is difficult to know whom to trust.
Borumboiu made an impression a few years ago with 12.08 EAST OF BUCHAREST and he now confirms his reputation as one of the most original talents to emerge from the recent Romanian New Wave. A terrific combination of thrills and laughs worth catching! (Curzon Home Cinema)
THE WRETCHED
The promising opening of this intriguing horror follows a young babysitter as she goes down the stairs to the basement, where she is forced to confront unspeakable terror. 35 years later, a troubled teenage boy called Ben (John-Paul Howard) goes to live with his father for the summer. He starts work at his father’s marina and begins to make new friends including a boy living next door. But when the boy suddenly disappears Ben is convinced that his strange family have something to hide…
It is atmospheric and spooky and blessed with a charismatic lead performance from Howard who effortlessly carries the film. However, it treads familiar ground with no real shocks or surprises until the clever twist at the end. (VOD from Vertigo)
THE FAMILY WAY
This delightful film made in 1966 is based on Billy Naughton’s play “All in Good Time” and tells the story of Jenny Piper (Hayley Mills) and Arthur Fitton (Hywel Bennett), two Lancashire youngsters very much in love and excited about their forthcoming wedding and honeymoon. But once their trip abroad is cancelled things get even worse especially when they begin to live under the same roof as Arthur’s parents…
The pairing of Mills and Bennett is adorable- they repeated their winning chemistry in two subsequent films THE TWISTED NERVE and ENDLESS NIGHT but here they incarnate love and innocence at its purest. The supporting cast is also excellent – John Mills and Murray Head are the father and brother of the groom but it is Marjorie Rhodes as Arthur’s mother who has the best lines and steals the show. Priceless and the icing on the cake is Paul McCartney’s melodic soundtrack. (Amazon, iTunes, Google, Sky, DVD and Blu-Ray from StudioCanal)
MORE BEAUTIFUL FOR HAVING BEEN BROKEN
This is clearly a labour of love for writer/director Nicole Conn, whose passionate film comes from the heart. She tells the story of FBI Agent Max (Zoe Vantoura), who gets suspended following her volatile behaviour soon after her beloved mother’s death. She now wants a fresh start and arrives in a small town where she soon befriends little Freddie (Cale Ferrin), a young boy on a wheelchair with special needs and with a rare disease called Fanconi Anemia. His mother Samantha (Kayla Radomski) is inevitably overprotective but soon warms up to Max’s presence…
The acting is strong but the real revelation is Ferrin, a highly competent young actor, who provides the heart and soul of this touching story. “Hugging Freddie is like hugging God” his mother lovingly says. It is probably too long and it occasionally threatens to sink into sentimentality but worthwhile! (VOD from Independent)
CAMINO SKIES
El Camino de Santiago is the historic 800 kilometre Spanish pilgrimage that attracts thousands of visitors each year from across the globe. The opening caption of this inspirational documentary suitably quotes “Walking is man’s best medicine” by Hippocrates. The film follows six pilgrims from New Zealand and Australia including Sue Morris a 70- year-old suffering from arthritis and back problems but still determined to reach her destination despite the odds. “The camino is life” one pilgrim proudly says while another adds “the camino is part of healing.”
Emilio Estevez’s film THE WAY (2010) told a fictional story of the same pilgrimage starring his father Martin Sheen – a perfect companion piece to this terrific film! (Curzon Home Cinema)
IN SEARCH OF GREATNESS
In this engaging documentary director Gabe Polsky examines the roots of brilliance when it comes to sport and interviews many great athletes including Pele, who fondly remembers playing football as a child in the streets of Tres Coracoes in Brazil, before he refined his art and became the greatest soccer player in history. “Balance between freedom and control is very important. You want to give the greatest show ever – that’s why we play the game” American football player Jerry Rice claims with confidence while Ice Hockey veteran Wayne Gretzky talks about dedication and commitment before one reaches greatness.
There is also terrific archive material of the brilliant tennis champion Serena Williams learning her craft as a child along with her sister Venus under the eagle guidance of their father. (Independent)
ENEMY LINES
A familiar premise for this World War II adventure which takes place in November 1943 to be exact. A group of British commando squad led by an American officer (Ed Westwick) are sent on a mission to Poland in order to liberate Dr Fabian (Pawel Delag) from the Germans. They land on a harsh snowbound landscape behind enemy lines but time is running out as a Russian squad disguised as Nazis attempt to kidnap the scientist for themselves…
Westwick delivers an intense performance as the American and there are some strong action sequences well-choreographed but the over-orchestrated score which switches between the heroic and the sentimental gets in the way. (DVD and Digital from Signature)
