Light House Film Club

Director: Marek Losey

Cert: 15

Time: 1hr 22mins

A story set in a bird hide on a bleak stretch of Sussex coast line would, you might think, be the last place to stage a tense drama. Yet just like the characters in this film, you should never judge things at face value.

Roy, brilliantly played by Alex McQueen (In the Loop) is in every sense the stereotypical nerd. Needing only one more bird to complete the British List he settles down in the hide and prepares for a long stint ahead. His solitude however is soon shattered by the arrival of Dave, a suspicious fugitive whose appearance brings out the worst in Roy. Seemingly at opposite ends of the social spectrum the men soon find that they have more in common than first thought and as more information comes to light it leads to a dramatic and wholly unexpected climax.

Marek Losey’s unnerving yet clever film is at times funny, at times tense but overwhelmingly claustrophobic a feel which is heightened by the use of a sepia tinted film, the bleak surroundings and numerous close ups. Well worth seeing.

Rating: 4/5

Patrons: 3

CA

Director: Armando Iannucci

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 46 mins

Released in the midst of the Damien McBride smear saga, writer/director Armando Iannucci has touched the zeitgeist in a way he could never have envisaged when he was creating this wonderfully prescient comedy.

Those of you familiar with the TV series The Thick of It, will already be familiar with Malcolm Tucker (brilliantly played by Peter Capaldi) the foul mouthed master of control and spin who bears an uncanny resemblance to Alistair Campbell - he has seen the film but didn’t find it particularly funny.  

The story follows the political machinations which led to a US / British sponsored war in the Middle East. And in so doing it shows the depths to which politicians, their advisors and the military will stoop to climb the greasy pole and save their own skins.  All are skewered none more so than Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) a hapless British Secretary of State who, like a child seeking attention, backs the war in order to engineer a central role in the affair.  

No one escapes with their reputation intact and whilst one must not forget that it is farce I suspect that it’s closer to reality than anyone is prepared to admit.  A must if you enjoy politics and current affairs.  

Rating 4/5

Patrons:  14

CA