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Film
07
THE HATEFUL EIGHT dir. Quentin Tarantino Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russell Quentin Tarantino has never been one to make things easy for himself. If anyone thought the backlash and boycotts caused by 110 uses of 'the n-word' in Django Unchained was enough to change that, The Hateful Eight proves them wrong. Though littered throughout with the same offender, this time it's the frequent and graphic violence inflicted upon the sole female lead, Daisy Domergue (who’s played to perfection by Jennifer Jason Leigh) that have forced the director and key actors to speak out against accusations of misogyny. Tarantino explains, somewhat paradoxically, that it would have been anti-feminist not to beat the shit out of Daisy given the behaviour of the male cast towards each other. Grizzled bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) is heading for Red Rock to trade in captive Domergue when an abrupt blizzard forces him to 'Minnie's Haberdashery' for an overnight stay, unexpected travel companions and extant cabin occupiers included. But – wait – all is not as it seems, and over three hours a convoluted tale unfolds as the occupants threaten, exhort and mercilessly butcher each other. Shot on 70mm, and featuring an original, Oscarnominated score by Ennio Morricone, it is worth going to see for these features alone. Lower your expectations and steel your stomachs; it may not be Tarantino’s best work, but it’s a bloody good story. !
Tamsyn Aurelia-Eros Black
JOY dir: David O. Russell Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Bradley Cooper
06
Joy would like you to believe it’s a fairy tale. Every shot sparkles with crystal snowflakes and burning studio lights, soap opera characters bleed from television screens with Cinderella messages and, despite not needing a prince, the search of Jennifer Lawrence’s titular character is resolutely one for a happily ever after. Yet, beneath this veneer of ostensible romanticism, this is a film about commerce, industry and invention – in the case of self-made millionaire Joy, who creates the Miracle Mop. Yes, it’s about having a dream and pursuing it, but make no mistakes, that dream is profit. It’s this push and pull, between the overtly sentimental presentation and ruthless fiscally minded subject matter that makes Joy a strange sort of success. It doesn’t always work, however. There are heavy-handed reminders that this is a morality tale of sorts, and there’s also an argument for saying that the Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro triumvirate is a lot less exciting this many turns down the line. Certainly a tale for now, if a little lacking in invention. ! Angus Harrison
THE DANISH GIRL dir: Tom Hooper Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard Tom Hooper’s catalogue includes Oscar-winning films such as Les Misérables and The King’s Speech – movies with a tested formula of striking camera work, Romantic interiors and lavish costumes. But in comparison to Hooper’s previous works, The Danish Girl is his deepest and most emotionally complex to date. It tells the story of Lili Elbe, the Danish trans woman who underwent a highly-publicised process of sex reassingment surgey in 1930. What is perhaps the most striking element of the film is the bond between Einar Andreas – Eble’s name before her transition – and her wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander), who offers her husband unconditional support. But what Hooper possibly rushes is the shift from the couple’s seemingly erotic love to something more platonic: it’s only a couple of scenes which separate Gerda being ‘the love of Einar’s life’ to Lili kissing another man. And while physical transformation from Einar to Lili is clear, the mental transformation is somewhat overlooked, making the film feel less sincere than other recent on-screen portrayals of transgender stories (Tangerine, Orange is the New Black). What cannot be denied, however, is the story’s warmth and its stunning visuals – which Hooper delivers with style. ! Gunseli Yalcinkaya
08
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS dir. J. J. Abrams Starring: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer, Daisy Ridley J. J. Abrams’ valiant, technically brilliant and somewhat cautious takeover of the Star Wars series was met with a sense of relief. After 11 months of global mania, fuelled by a relentless marketing campaign, curtailed by a sexist toy company and racist Chinese film poster – The Force Awakens finally landed with an opening orchestral blast and a camera tilt downwards. Abrams was going to get shit no matter what he did. But he succeeded in taking us back. And by applying contemporary production values while staying loyal to the aesthetic of the original trilogy, there’s no doubt he captured the feel of the Star Wars universe, and so the The Force Awakens fits seamlessly in the saga’s timeline – something the prequels failed to do. Harrison Ford’s reprisal as Han Solo adds an air of authenticity, while lead characters Finn (John Boyega) and Rey (played by the relatively unknown Daisy Ridley), share a genuine chemistry that breathes believability into a whirlwind of pastiche and expectation. Overall, a major success. ! Tim Oxley-Smith
07
THE REVENANT dir. Alejandro G, Ińárritu Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhall Gleeson Come on guys. What does Leonardo DiCaprio have to do to get a bloody Oscar? Did you not see him in The Departed? The Wolf of Wall Street? Inception? Surely you've seen What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? What more could he possibly do!? A lot, as it turns out. With its two and a half hour running time, Alejandro Iñárritu’s latest offering The Revenant acts as a sort of endless, gruelling endurance test for DiCaprio’s character Hugh Glass and viewer alike. Fortunately, it’s a rewarding experience. As the film wears on with its steady, deliberate pace, you find yourself lost in the trance-like, revenge-focused tunnel vision of the film’s protagonist, strengthened by the resolve of a man to whom pain is nothing more than an abstract entity, a man so hell bent on revenge he’s willing to eat raw bison liver and sleep in the mutilated corpse of a horse to achieve it. If you think about The Revenant too much, it might begin to look like a sort of absurdist caricature of the standards of stoicism men are supposed to aspire to in a patriarchal society. You might start to find the slow-motion shots of DiCaprio's long lost wife whispering inspiring, reverb-coated proverbs clichéd. You might think they could have edited it down by half an hour or so. But to treat these ideas as the main takeaways of the film would be unfair – on the whole The Revenant is a gripping, poetic, beautifully rendered vision of one man’s endurance in the wilderness. ! Francis Blagburn