Deconstructing the machinery of cinema.
Documentary filmmaker Waad al-Kateab is in the Syrian city of Aleppo when its citizens begin a civil uprising that leads to a five-year siege on the city by Russian and Syrian military forces. Through helping to establish a makeshift hospital, to finding love, facing tragedy, and giving birth to a daughter named Sama, she continues ...
April 1917, on the western front of World War I. Aerial reconnaisance by the British armed forces has revealed an apparent German retreat is a tactical withdrawal intended to ambush the British army several miles down the line. With telephone connections severed, Lance Corporals Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay) are ordered to cross ...
It takes a certain amount of nerve to attempt a new adaptation of the life of England's King Henry V. William Shakespeare has effectively had Hal's story sewn up since about 1599, with his rousing and patriotic account standing as pretty much the most famous of his history plays. It seems even braver to base ...
One of the best films I have ever seen about art is Julian Schnabel's 1996 biographical drama Basquiat, which related the brief career of its titular New York contemporary artist. The film introduced me to Schnabel - a fine artist moonlighting as a film director - as well as its brilliant star Jeffrey Wright, of whom ...
Two men, their hands tied behind their backs, flee across a beach at dawn. MacConnachie (Robert Shaw), the older of the two men heads inland with murderous intent. Ansell (Malcolm McDowell), nervous and reluctant, trails behind him. In the skies, an anonymous helicopter searches for them. Largely forgotten it seems, Joseph Losey's on-the-run thriller Figures in ...
Zak and Saraya Knight live in Norwich; part of a family of amateur wrestlers, they dream of one day joining the popular World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) organisation in America. When they finally get the chance to compete for a spot in the WWE's trainee NXT program, Saraya is accepted while Zak is not - putting ...
Jade (Vicky Knight) is a London single mother. A resentful ex-boyfriend threw acid on her face. While months of surgery and skin grafts have saved her life, the deep irreperable scarring has left her deeply traumatised. Neglecting her family and friends, Jade slips into a downward spiral as she struggles to accept her new existence. ...
