Blitz Directed by Elliott Lester S t a r r i n g Ja s o n S t at h a m , Pa d d y Considine, Aidan Gillen Released May 20
ased on the Ken Bruen novel of the same name, Blitz is an oppressive and bleak crime thriller, which, despite its seemingly predictable formula, actually packs some unique punches. Jason Statham plays Brant, a London cop with a plays-by-his-own-rules approach to street justice and maintaining the law. Ever the benchmark for high-grade masculinity, Statham now has stubble denser than Osmium (Google it) and an accent more mockney than Christian Bale. Feared by perps, scorned and secretly admired by colleagues, and mainly ignored by women, Brant is certainly someone we’ve encountered before. We’ve seen various manifestations of his ilk in John McClane, Axel Foley and Martin Riggs, but Statham effortlessly slots alongside this kind of company – although it’s predictable, it feels right. Unfortunately, ‘right’ still doesn’t add up to original. As various police are slain by local fruit cake Barry Weiss, aka ‘The Blitz’ (excellently played by Aidan Gillen), effeminate chief cop Porter Nash (Paddy
L Quattro Le Volte Directed by Michelangelo Frammartino Starring Giuseppe Fuda, Bruno Ti m p a n o, N a z a r e n o Ti m p a n o Released May 27
Considine) takes over the investigation. The fact that he is openly gay leads to clashes with Brant. Despite the fact that Blitz is littered with clichés, offers a pretty poor critique on sensationalism in the media, terrible one-liners and some worryingly familiar characters, the story is somehow engaging. What holds the whole thing together is that all-important action movie trope: a really, really good bad guy. Aidan Gillen shines as a muttering, orthodontically challenged and bat-shit crazy villain with an authority complex. Considine and Statham are okay, but it’s Gillen who’s holding court here. Visually the film isn’t anything to lose your mind over – a few soft focus shots followed by some eye ache-inducing hard-edged ones, bustling wide pans of London and a few shaky-cam pursuits. It’s aesthetically concise, as is to be expected of a relatively inexperienced director like Elliott Lester. The themes are suitable considering the author’s metaphysical leanings: lawlessness fought
n elderly shepherd lives his twilight days in a quiet medieval village perched high on the hills of Calabria, at the southernmost tip of Italy. He herds goats under skies that most villagers long ago deserted. The man is sick but finds his medicine in the dust he collects on the church floor, which he religiously adds to his drinking water. When the man finally expires a goat is born. We follow its first tentative steps until it gains strength and goes to pasture. Nearby, a majestic fir tree stirs in the mountain breeze and slowly changes through the seasons. Based on the Pythagorean theory that each of us have lives inside us which fit into one another, Michelangelo Frammartino’s Le Quattro Volte is reminiscent of Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives in its look at the transmigration of the human soul. Offering a poetic vision of the cycles of life and nature, and the unbroken traditions of a timeless place straddling the confines between past and present – and between ancient and modern beliefs – the film, which is exacting in its visual precision, evolved from Frammartino’s desire to put man’s role in the grander scheme of things into perspective. Though refuting any direct references to other works, the director cites Samuel Beckett and Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar as references. If all this makes Le QuattroVolte sound overly dry and academic,
with lawlessness and a hopelessness innate to our nature. But Blitz isn’t a film that will blow apart your preconceptions about police dramas. It’s all been seen before and will be seen again, and again. Dominic Radcliffe
Anticipation.
A film with Jason Statham as a violent cop is going to be predictable.
Enjoyment. T h e
performance from Aidan Gillen makes it engaging, the brooding outlook keeps it in place.
In Retrospect. A t t i m e s acceptable, at times like a truly mediocre episode of Silent Witness.
Gideon Koppel’s Sleep Furiously and Raymond Depardon’s Modern Life may be more enticing points of reference in terms of the unhurried pacing and the quietly gripping study of the interaction between character and setting. Involving the Calabrian residents in the making of the film, Frammartino – a former architect who has cultivated a passion in the correlation between physical space and images – has crafted a beguiling work that feels incredibly personal, expressive and organic. Jason Wood
Anticipation. A
second feature that sounds a little obtuse but which trails acclaim from numerous international festivals.
Enjoyment. A
transcendental viewing experience that is, in i t s ow n u n a s s u m i n g w ay, q u i t e unique.
In Retrospect. M e d i t a t i v e , c a l m , a n d p r o f o u n d , L e Q u a t t r o Vo l t e offers a momentary respite from the bustle of contemporar y life.
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