Drive My Car

Drive My Car is available to rent on the BFI Player and is part of the BFI Japanese season, based on the short story “Men Without Women” by Murakami Haruki it won the Best Screen Play at Cannes 2021. It’s about (spoiler alerts) a theatre actor / director and his sexually charged relationship with his screenwriter wife that abruptly ends after her sudden death and how his chauffeur becomes his companion and confidant in a story of interwoven and comparative lives.

It begins with a woman naked on top of a man, legs akimbo, as she tells an erotic story. The woman is screenwriter Oto (Reika Kirishima) who is married to the man, theatre director Yûsuke (Hidetoshi Nishijima). They continue the story in the car the next day remembering the sexual fantasy from the previous evening. It’s a ritual of theirs – she tells an erotic story during sex and he reminds her of it the following day fuelling her creative storytelling.

Another ritual of Yûsuke’s is learning his lines in the car with his wife’s recorded voice and he is currently learning Chekov’s Uncle Vanya whose lines become cleverly woven into the story’s narrative. He has to leave town for a show but when his plane is cancelled and he returns home unexpectedly he finds his wife in the throes of a sexual act with a young actor acquaintance Koji (Masaki Okada) but deciding not to intervene he keeps up the pretence of his not knowing by video calling her from a hotel in a somewhat muted tone.

The story takes a sudden turn when Oto is found dead after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage, which is followed by the opening credits that appear after more than an hour after the film’s beginning! Moving into the second phase of the film Yûsuke takes a job as a play director for a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima where he will be based for the next two months auditioning and rehearsing the play. But there is one unusual condition that he must abide by, he must have a young female chauffeur (Tôko Miura) to assist him – which for him is not necessarily an easy thing to agree to. As the auditions get under way we see Yûsuke is an expert in directing multilingual performances and here there is a mix of American, Japanese, Korean and also a deaf sign language user, and amongst them is the young actor, Koji, who had an affair with his wife.

Yûsuke chooses his cast and accepts their invitations for drinks and dinner to get to know them better and discover some of their idiosyncrasies. Koji asks him to join him for a drink and he goes knowing about Koji’s relationship with his wife but without letting on as they talk about sexual relationships. One of the producers asks him to dinner at his home with his wife and he discovers he is married to the deaf actor in the production but hadn’t wanted to tell him incase it biased his decision, meanwhile Yûsuke gives a gushing appraisal of his chauffeur that would normally be reserved for a leading starlet.

As the play’s opening evening draws nearer an inevitable major incident happens which results in Yûsuke and his driver, Misaki, taking time out together to visit her hometown becoming even closer as she shares her story about how she became a driver after her mother’s death and the loss of her home in a mudslide, and they are able to share in their grief together; but of course even with the play’s major disruption to its preparations the show must go.

Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Asako I & II) his play within the film adds an affirming solidity to the story that takes us on an emotional journey with conversations about love, infidelity, secrets, disclosure, grief and trauma showing a depth of emotions whilst seemingly cruising through, in stoic fashion, the 3 hours run time without ever feeling the need to stop.

The cinematography emphatically captures the urban sprawl of the everyday Japanese cityscapes and the mis en scene of the apartments, bars, homes and theatres are immaculately executed and accentuated by the POV shots for the conversations, immersing you in them, and of course there are plenty of driving shots: getting into the car, getting out of the car, starting the car, pulling away, reversing, parking, smoking and talking in the car; and in particular it’s the conversations in the car that bring a confessional type of intimacy as they drive along the highway with the engine purring in the background.

There’s a great deal to enjoy here from the peculiarities of the creative artists to the secrets and confessions people choose to hold and divulge all captured in a simplistic and yet engaging way encapsulated none more so than by the classic red Saab 900 on display.

Film: Drive My Car

Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Stars: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima

Genre: Drama

Run time: 2hr 59min

Rated: 15

Rating: 4/5

November Worksheet

Pitbull-Exodus

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Shepherd

Shepherd is a psychological horror from British director Russell Owen about a bereaved husband who takes a job on a craggy isolated Scottish island only to find there are dark forces at work and he has to fight to keep his sanity and save his own life. In UK/EIRE Cinemas from 26th November.

Eric (Tom Hughes) has had to bury his young wife who died in mysterious circumstances. On his own, with just his dog as a companion, still suffering with grief, he finds a job in the local newspaper as a shepherd on a remote island. Before leaving for the job he visits his mother Glenys (Greta Saatchi), who seems to have little sympathy. His deceased wife was clearly someone she didn’t like very much, feeling she divided their family. Eric takes the ferry to the island with the ferry attendant Fisher (Katie Dickie), a spooky looking local who doesn’t dare set foot a proper on the island. She shows him the old cottage and the lighthouse and reminds him of his job to look after the sheep, before wishing him an ominous good luck. Life on the island looks bleak. Totally isolated, the cottage is completely run down, there’s no generator or water and despite his best efforts to make a home for himself it is not long before the island and the cottage take a sinister hold on his fragile state where even the sheep begin to give him funny looks.

Written and directed by Russell Owen it’s a small but excellently cast film led by Tom Hughes as the rugged island venturer trying to escape his past. Greta Saatchi puts in a surprising turn as his weary mother wearing the most delightful aran stockings and Katie Dickie plays Fisher the one eyed ferry attendant who holds the island’s secrets and who’s unnerving gaze is enough to make even the dog cower.

The location shows the breathtaking scenery of the remote Scottish Isle captured dramatically by cinematographer Richard Stoddard and the production design from Chris Richmond maximises the horror with minimalist effort. There are some startling scenes that show great horror credentials and it’s excellently scored with some dramatic orchestration heightening the escalating tensions and bringing the island to life.

This has the ingredients of a classic British horror with the wild British Isle scenery, which is a joy on the eye, tinged with a suitable amount of grey overcast weather and a quirky little cast. Although it misses a final satisfactory appeasement in my book, maybe there will be more shepherding to come.   

Film: Shepherd

Director:  Russell Owen

Stars: Tom Hughes, Kate Dickie, Gaia Weiss & Greta Saatchi 

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Run time: 1hr 43min

Rated: 15

Rating: 3/5

Habit

Habit is a coming of age action comedy about a young party girl Mads (Bella Thorne) who finds herself on the run after her and her friends’ drug deal goes wrong and they have to take shelter in a convent. Habit will be available on iTunes Digital Download from 22nd November here.

Despite Mads’ early religious pretensions as a young child and her mother questioning why she can’t just be a normal kid, Mads grows up to be quite the wild child. Moving from Texas to California she goes from praying to Jesus in her bedroom to turning up late to her sex addicts class and scoring drugs off of a dealer in rapid time. Mads has picked up some drugs for her 2 best friends Addy (Andreja Pejic) and Evie (Libby Mintz), returning back to their house, which is the sexiest skuzzy drug den you could imagine, in time for the girls to go sell them in the club to ‘L.A’s horniest crackheads”. Since she has nothing better to do Mads joins them for a drug and sex fuelled club night with hallucinogenic episodes that leaves her throwing up the expensive drugs she’s imbibed whilst wearing a nuns uniform.

The afterparty brings about a second round of drug and alcohol intoxications until the next morning when they discover the money and drugs have been snatched. The party is well and truly over and now not only are they in trouble with their dealer (Gavin Rossdale) but they are also in trouble with their dealer’s dealer who is a slightly less sympathetic Queenie (Josie Ho) along with her heavy Tuff (Jamie Since), to the the tune of $20,000. Mads and her partners in crime Addy and Evie, who look more like glamorous supermodels than drug dealing addicts, need to find a way to get the money back, which leads them to a convent in the Hollywood Hills.

Directed by Janell Shirtcliff who wrote the screenplay along with Libby Mintz this is a film full to the brim of female sexuality and angst aiming to redress the male patriarchal balance whilst maintaining a sexy edge by wearing less clothes and being even more sexually provocative. The film has caused some fervent complaints ironically not for its unholiest of communions the girls partake in but for the barely recognisable appearance of Paris Jackson as an apparent gay female Jesus Christ.

The styling is very L.A. cool with some retro hippy outfits and Hawaiian shirts emphasised by a sun saturated grading and supported by a likeable pop soundtrack that includes songs from Duran Duran, Billy Idol and Paris Jackson. The sex and drugs paraphernalia is not for the feint hearted nor is the blasphemous religious connotations being acted out that could cause some offensive.

As an alternative chick flick it shows plenty of bad ass attitude and a youthful rebellious female angst that glamourises this particular L.A. party scene with lots of wimples that aim to raise a few titters but don’t expect too many revelations.

Film: Habit

Director: Janell Shirtcliff

Stars: Bella Thorne, Andreja Pejic & Gavin Rossdale, Paris Jackson

Genre: Comedy, action, drama, thriller

Run time: 1hr 21min

Rated: 18

Rating: 3/5

Pitbull- Exodus

‘Pitbull – Exodus’ is a new crime thriller from Polish director Patryk Vega, a genre veteran, back to his explosive best with a film showing some violent gang wars in Eastern Europe, available in UK / EIRE cinemas from 19th November.  

The film begins with the backstory of Nos (Przemyslaw Bluszcz) and how he became an expert bomb maker which brings him to the attention of the Pershing gang, the worst gang in Poland. His explosive talents are much admired and are put to good use in the waging gang wars but when he blows up a bomb disposal worker he attracts the attention of Warsaw PD Gebels (Andrzej Grabowski) and they become locked in a vengeful battle.

We then jump in time to what feels like a completely different film (largely because Gebels has taken off his wig and his moustache) to a group of polytechnic students who have decided that the only way to make money is to steal it, so they put their nerdy computer skills to good use and begin a robbing spree of rich households. But as each robbery gets them into more and more trouble their luck totally runs out when they end up robbing the wrong house with the wrong occupant, Nos, reigniting the old rivalry between Nos and Gebels. The result is some extremely violent tit for tat shootings, kidnappings and torture.

As can be deduced from the title, Exodus, there is a religious element which feeds the script and brings a biblical reference to the proceedings as a guide for Gebels’ not so moral compass. Although not all the violence looks believable the beginning segment really shows off some explosive special effects capabilities, and the big bangs and mass shootings keep the body count high. Slightly too long at just under 2 hours the tempo dips in the middle before its climatic hunt at the end, heightened by its suitably atmospheric music.

Written and directed by Patrick Vega the script is totally over the top but is full of likeable genre touches like when Nos introduces himself to his lovely looking date telling her about himself, the bombs he makes, the people he’s kidnapped and the ‘top notch amphetamine’ he produces, done in his slow deliberate Eastern European accent that is the endorsement of his gangster credentials and his affinity with evil. 

Amazingly Pitbull – Exodus was shot in English as well as in Polish for its global audience and whilst the dialogue doesn’t always ring true and the acting is far from flawless what it lacks in Oscar credentials it makes up for with some authentic Eastern European accents, menacing looking thugs and plenty of TNT.

Film: Pitbull – EXODUS

Director:  Patryk Vega

Stars: Przemyslaw Bluszcz, Tomasz Dedek, Andrzej Grabowski

Genre: Drama

Run time: 1hr 52min

Rated: TBC

Rating: 3/5

A Bird Flew In

A Bird Flew In has been officially selected for Best UK Feature at the Raindance Film Festival 2021. One of the first films shot after the pandemic and about the pandemic, it’s an emotional look into the lives of a group of people working on a film who return home to the news of the country going into lockdown.

Shot in black and white the film opens with the melancholic sounds of folk jazz musician Al Joshua whose songs set the tone throughout as we’re taken into the lives of a cross-section of different people as they deal with life in isolation. 

The assortment of characters are all going through their own peculiar lockdown experiences, there’s the producer Naomi (Kirsty Bell) and her estranged husband Drew (Bill Fellows) who has by the sound of things found himself a new lockdown partner; there’s the beautiful actress Rebecca (Camilla Rutherford) struggling with her mental wellbeing as she tries to deal with isolation whilst maintaining a social media connection; Diane is the film’s director (Sadie Frost) who needs to team up online with the editor Lucy (Morgana Robinson) discovering a flirtatious side to their relationship that sadly hits the buffers as we gather Lucy’s mum has contracted COVID; and there is Peter (Jeff Fahey – the Lawnmower Man) the narrator of the story and the writer of the film within a film, a romantic poet trying to capture the heart of the beautiful French actress Anna (Julie Dray) with his writing prowess. 

Directed by Kirsty Bell it’s a stylised approach with the black and white images, low key narration and heartfelt empathetic stories which is not unlike a Guiness advert but without the euphoria. Shining a subdued light on the crises with barely a mask, sanitiser or mention of loo roll, looking at these people’s problems happening during and brought about by a pandemic situation. Instead we see more about the relationships although there are plenty of other familiar lockdown themes like working from home, the video zoom calls, phone conversations about nature and it even manages to shoe horn in the new home abortion law passed in the UK; all dressed by some elegant home interiors where even the caravan has a luxurious feel to it – especially with the scantily clad Camilla Rutherford hopping around inside in her underwear. 

Capturing a softer artistic side to the pandemic disaster with its collection of differing characters and its transient look into their lives it never stops long enough to get too depressing and there are love hopes too. It has the warmth of an all-star cast with cameo like appearances from Derek Jacobi and Frances Barber that keep a glossy sheen on these pandemic tales of woe.

Film: A Bird Flew In

Director:  Kirsty Bell

Stars: Derek Jacobi, Jeff Fahey, Julie Dray

Genre: Drama

Run time: 1hr 35min

Rated: TBC

Rating: 3/5

#Like

#Like is a dark tale about a teenage girl looking for revenge because her younger sister commits suicide after being trolled online. Written and directed by Sarah Pirozek’s it’s a cyber noir thriller available to rent and buy on all major digital platforms from 1st November. 

Rosie (Sarah Rich) is commemorating the 1st anniversary of her sister Amelia’s (Samantha Nicole Dunn) suicide. Her sister had been an active user on social media: highly creative, posting about her activities; this would ultimately lead to her taking her own life after the trolling she received online. Rosie is looking back through her old posts and discovers the hate messages her sister was receiving and becomes determined to find the troller. Hacking into her sister’s account she manages to reactivate the troller’s creepy interests and takes her newly found evidence to the authorities only for them to refuse to investigate any further. So, she decides to take the law into her own hands and comes up with a plan to take her revenge. 

For a first feature from Sarah Pirozek it manages to pull off a convincing and empathetic story. It’s an interesting take on the cyber bullying world and a warning of the potentially harmful impact of social media for young people. The plot doesn’t always stick together and the gulf in the gap between the young teenage girl on a push bike in pursuit of a man in a truck seems a bit strange but is perhaps an indication of the size of the task ahead of her.

Sarah Rich plays Rosie who puts in a heartfelt performance as the older sister shouldering some guilt and the responsibility to do something about the situation. She shows a mixture of sadness and loss whose own youthful naivety to get revenge runs parallel with the need to continue to live a normal teenage life. Marc Menchaca plays the Man (as per the credits) who quickly ticks a lot of the macho male stereotypes as the beer swilling construction worker, which he manages without overly labouring the cliches. 

Although a feminist movie at heart it would appeal to anyone looking for a thought provoking modern day story, even for a wider teen audience, although it does justify its adult rating. A cyber coming of age thriller where even though a female victim is the catalyst of the story, the female is also the heroine too, looking to reverse the typical sexploitation in her own slightly disturbing pursuit of justice.

Film: #Like

Director:  Sarah Pirozek

Stars: Marc Menchaca, Sarah Rich, Samantha Nicole Dunn

Genre: Thriller, Crime

Run time: 1hr 33min

Rated: 18

Rating: 3/5

Seven Samurai (1954)

Opening in selected cinemas from 29th October 2021 as part of the BFI’s season celebrating 100 years of Japanese cinema, Seven Samurai (1954) is Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s own favourite film, an epic tale about a village under attack from a group of bandits that hits upon the idea to hire a group of samurai to protect them.

The film starts with one of the villagers overhearing the bandits intentions to steel their crops once they’ve been harvested. He reports back to the village where everyone falls into panic and despair. They seek out the wise old soothsayer for guidance who remembers a similar occasion when a village survived the bandit ran-sackings by employing the services of some samurai, and this is his advice to them.

A group of the villagers therefore set off into town prepared to offer what they have, which isn’t much, in return for the services of the samurai. They are looking in particular for the masterless ones, called ronin, who roam the streets unable to take menial work due to their status. The first samurai recruit Kambei (Takashi Shimur) is seen in action rescuing a hostage situation. Using his craft and guile to disguise himself as a priest he overcomes and kills a crazed kidnapper. He becomes the group’s leader helping to recruit the rest who have to pass an improvised test – basically to avoid getting clubbed over the head when they are invited into a hut. They all manage to deftly do this except for the last one, the drunken rogue Kikuchiyo (Toshirô Mifune). This wannabe samurai, desperate to join the gang, is pushed around and teased by the others because of his drunkenness and his claims to having noble parentage, but he still remains determined to join them.

As the party head off to the village to make preparations for the imminent attack Kikuchiyo continues to follow them and his perseverance finally pays off when they accept him as one of the seven samurai. In the village the tensions are high as they have to contend with having their village occupied by a group of strange samurai whilst knowing these samurai will also train them to protect themselves against the impending attack from the bandits, which will result in an epic battle and fight for their lives.

Akira Kurosawa’s visual mastery and storytelling is beautifully executed. Whilst being an action film, with a remarkable finale battle sequence in the torrential rain, it has a social and moral heart giving us a glimpse into the world of the Japanese samurai warrior placed in juxtaposition against the poor and humble village way of life.

Akira Kurosawa was himself influenced by the great Western films of John Ford and in turn he influenced other classic Western films such as the Magnificent Seven. There are some classy performances most notably from the authoritative Zen like leader Kambei (Takashi Shimur) and who could forget the clowning tics of Kikuchiyo (Toshirô Mifune) wearing one of the most famous hats in cinematic history.

At just under three and a half hours long films don’t get much bigger than this and despite also being in black and white its overall style and pacing make this essential viewing and is rightly touted as one of the best foreign films ever made.

Film: Seven Samurai

Director:  Akira Kurosawa

Stars: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshio Inaba

Genre: Action, Drama`

Run time: 3hr 27min

Rated: A

Rating: 5/5

Cop Secret

Cop Secret had its premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2021, it’s an Icelandic action-comedy parodying the high octane Hollywood police films, where two rival cops have to team up to stop a mastermind villain only to get more out of their partnership than they bargained for.

Bússi (Auðunn Blöndal) is known as Reykjavik’s super cop, he’s prepared to bend the rules to get the job done and he’s so tough he’s even got his own TV show with highlights of him beating up the bad guys. His partner Klemenz (Sverrir Þór Sverrisson) is not so super and as they go on a high speed chase after a bank robber he becomes hysterical (pointing out all the driving infringements Bússi is contravening). When the pursuit enters an off limits jurisdiction Bússi is not giving up the chase so easily and on entering the neighbouring zone of Gardabaer he goes head to head with Hördur (Egill Einarsson), a posey super-slick cop dressed in designer clothes and driving a flashy sports coupe. He’s the complete opposite to the dishevelled and unshaven Bússi and in spite of their jibing exchanges of macho bravado the two end up having to work together. Their partnership has already developed in an unexpected way bringing to the fore Bússi’s conflicting emotions as he struggles with his masculine super cop identity and his strange feelings for the openly pansexual Hördur. 

The robberies are down to a criminal gang who are seemingly breaking into banks without taking anything. The English speaking Rikki (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) is the mastermind behind the break-ins who hams up the psychotic villain cliches and is partial to dropping a strange wildlife fact into the conversation whilst mimicking a terrible baddie’s version of a Clint Eastwood accent.

The backdrop to the action is the day’s hotly anticipated football match between Iceland and England’s women in a World Cup qualify. Besides becoming a central part of the plot, it is a notable inclusion in the script from the writer and director Hannes Þór Halldórsson that is a tacit reference to his previous career as a top international footballer (incredibly he played in goal for the Icelandic national side and here he shows his great versatility).

This Icelandic version of the light hearted spoof genre parodies the small city of Reykjavik against the all action US cop films whilst flipping the traditional action hero’s sexuality on its head. It can’t match the explosive special effects of its contemporaries but for mocking silliness it delivers by the spade load.

Film: Cop Secret

Director:  Hannes Halldórsson

Stars: Auðunn Blöndal, Egill Einarsson & Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir

Genre: Comedy, Crime

Run time: 1hr 38min

Rated: TBC

Rating: 3/5