Light House Film Club

Director: Gus Van Sant

Cert: 15

Time: 2hrs 8mins

Acclaimed director Gus Van Sant is known for his work on quirky indie films such as Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho and Gerry.  Milk sees him move into the territory of biopic as he tells the tale of California’s first openly gay elected official.

This is a worthy portrayal of a man who, having moved from New York to San Francisco, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. The fight for acceptance amidst the prevailing view that their moral depravity would undermine American society is interesting and is particularly pertinent to the current predilection to restrict freedom of expression. One wonders if they were fighting their cause now, whether they would have succeeded in the way that they did.

Penn is excellent as Harvey Milk but the film, perhaps hidebound by the subject matter, lacks the cutting edge to make it truly great.

Rating: 3/5

Patrons: 23

CA

Director: Duane Hopkins

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 33 mins

The blurb describes this film as a multi-narrative drama about everyday life in small town England. A young couple reeling against a first love gone wrong. The funeral of a dead drug addict and her ex boyfriend, himself addicted to heroin. An elderly couple who rarely talk, because of a long held animosity.  In and of themselves these subjects have some potential but the dialogue is so sparse and the story lines so limited that we learn very little. To fill the gaps the director, Duane Hopkins, places an over reliance on arty shots of miserable people often sitting amidst beautiful countryside. The message, if there is one, is that living miserable lives is not the preserve of those in the big city.   

Never have I watched a film in which nobody ever smiles, says something kind or does something positive. From beginning to end it is dirge in celluloid form trying to be something that it is not; good cinema.   

Rating: 1/5

Patrons:  6

CA

Director: Arnaud Desplechin

Cert: 12a

Time: 2 hrs 30 mins  (French with subtitles)

For many Christmas means the joy of spending time with loved ones. Not so the Vuillard family. Estranged son Henri (Mathieu Amaric) returns home to see his cancer stricken mother, Junon delightfully played by Catherine Deneuve. Oldest daughter Elizabeth is unhappy to see her brother, he having been such an emotional and financial drain on the family that she had him legally banished for six years. Meeting him again after such a long time reignites long held hostility. But in a twist of irony Junon’s life can only be prolonged by Henri whose blood group is the most compatible to allow for a bone marrow transplant.

Given this set up, Arnaud Desplechin’s dark comedy about the idiosyncrasies that afflict all families, is long and involved.  Which is both its weakness and its strength. After two hours I was wondering when it was going to end, but by this time had gained a real insight into what made this family tick. So much so that it was entirely believable and for that reason both funny and moving.

Rating: 3.5/5

Patrons:  23

CA

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 49 mins

Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is a onetime successful wrestler, reduced to eking out a living by performing for wrestling fans in New Jersey high schools. When not in the ring he supplements his income by working in a local supermarket, a job which is understandably demeaning.  His lonely life on a trailer park only serves to heighten what is a sad existence and it is only when in the ring that he finds true fulfilment. However things take a turn for the worse when, following a particularly bloody bout, he suffers a heart attack. It is the wake up call to make him evaluate the state of his life.

Advised by his doctor that it would be foolish to fight again, Randy is forced to face the unpalatable truth that he has his fought his last bout. Denied the one thing that defines him he wallows in self pity. But, with the help of a lap dancer (Marissa Tomei) whose assets have not unnaturally turned his head, Randy attempts a rapprochement with his estranged daughter.  When this too fails he has nothing left and, ignoring medical advice, agrees to one final rematch with a long time opponent.

The cast and particularly Rourke are entirely convincing in what on the face of it is a tale of love, loneliness and regret. Unfortunately they alone cannot carry a script that is at times too sentimental.  If the intention was to make us feel sorry for Randy, then it fails. At least it dispelled the myth that wrestling is not fixed.

Rating; 2.5/5

Patrons:  10

CA

Director: Asif Kapadia

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 29 mins

Ten minutes into this film the phrase “It’s grim up north” came to mind although the north here is Svalbard on the northern tip of Norway and not the gentler climes of Yorkshire.  We are following Saiva and Anja, two women struggling to survive in the Arctic tundra after fleeing hostile soldiers.  And it is truly grim.

Into their life arrives a wounded soldier (Sean Bean) who is close to death. Against her better judgement Saiva spares him and together with Anja they nurse him back to health. But his presence disturbs the relationship between the two women.  Meanwhile a series of flashbacks reveal the horrific events that forced Saiva into her nomadic existence.

This is by any stretch is a strange film, not helped by the lack of context into which the viewer is thrust. Furthermore dialogue is sparse and at times stilted prompting an over reliance on atmospheric views and lingering shots of actors emoting, to convey feeling. Bean too appears uncomfortable as a passive warrior.  That said the bleak and rarely seen landscape is beautifully portrayed and whatever the limitations of the tale one remains enthralled as to how it is all going to end. Which it does, in the most dramatic and disturbing fashion.

Rating: 2.5/5

Patrons:  11

CA

Director: Edward Zwick

Cert: 15

Time: 2 hrs 17 mins

Were this film not based on a true story it is unlikely that one would believe it.  It begins in 1941 as the Jews of Eastern Europe are being massacred in their thousands.  Escaping certain death three brothers take refuge in the dense woodlands where they have grown up and begin a desperate battle for survival.  Daniel Craig, Liev Shreiber and Jamie Bell play the Bielski brothers who create a makeshift community for Jews escaping the ghettos in the surrounding towns. By war’s end 1200 of them had survived, in what by any standards is a remarkable tale.

Putting aside the rather cheesy end, where the director strays into fiction rather than sticking to fact, this is a fine film. So often portrayed as willing accomplices in their own demise it shows a different side of Jewish behaviour, one of resistance and at times brutal barbarity. And in the role of leader Daniel Craig makes a good fist of portraying a tortured soul trying to balance the conflicting demands of survival against the need to maintain a sense of humanity.

Moving and ultimately uplifting you will find yourself thinking about this film for some time after.  

Rating: 3/5

Patrons:  27

CA