The Language of Film

Ona Carbonell – Starting Over

Available for free on Rakuten TV Ona Carbonell – Starting Over is an emotional sports documentary following Spanish Olympic synchronised swimmer Ona Carbonell and her attempt to return to elite sport after the birth of her child.

The scene is swiftly set, Ona has a record haul of medals including being the first woman to win 7 medals at the World Championships. We see her give birth and despite the jubilation of having a new baby, the joy is tinged with sadness as she has to withdraw from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo … until that is the global pandemic strikes. As the world is put on hold, so too are the Olympics, but their postponement for a year gives Ona the opportunity to qualify – if she can get back to her elite performance levels.

We follow Ona’s preparation to make the Spanish Olympic team as she goes through rehab after her pregnancy to get back in shape. The filming begins with her in the hospitals, health clinics and physios before she can even dip a toe back into the swimming pool and the high performance centre in Barcelona. After a lifetime dedicated to the sport, making the Olympic team is one thing but making the Olympic team after giving birth and whilst breastfeeding is something even Ona may struggle to do. The sleepless nights aren’t helping as she pushes to regain her fitness but it is clear to see she has lost none of her agility.

Did I mention breastfeeding? There is a lot of breastfeeding and breast pumping and if she’s not doing it she’s talking about it, so much so there could be a separate documentary on her lactating bosoms. This of course is largely what the documentary aims to show, the practicalities involved. Is it possible for a woman to bounce back from giving birth and be able to compete as an elite athlete? As the countdown to the Olympics gets nearer, the training intensifies and so does the pressure on Ona. During her preparation she puts on the wall some of the female athletes who have returned after pregnancy to top level sport who she hopes to join as an inspiration to others.

Ona shows us some beautiful island escapes that like Menorca, a spiritual home for her where she grew up as a child, where you can see her unique bond with the water and a place she now goes with her husband and child. There is even a moment for a quick environmental lesson under the sea in Formentera too.

As a video diary of Ona’s pregnancy and return to the Olympics, it also includes some interviews with other sports people and celebrities from Spain who join Ona in conversation to give her some encouragement and share their stories of their struggles and the negative perceptions of motherhood and even fatherhood faced in the workplace – although by the end this becomes a mixed message as much about the impact of the pandemic as to the sacrifices of having a family and career.

It’s a very intimate behind the scenes look at motherhood and elite sport with an interesting insight into the unusual world of synchronised swimming and their training methods, which Ona gives remarkable behind closed doors access to, in a lifting story to come out of the pandemic.

Film: Ona Carbonell – Starting Over

Director: Adàn Bonet

Genre: Documentary, Sport

Stars: Ona Carbonell

Run time: 1hr 34min

Rated: U

Rating: 3/5

Sideshow

When two inept criminals break into the home of a washed-up psychic in search of hidden loot, they get a lot more than they bargained for. In UK Cinemas from 11th March & available on Digital Download from 21st March. Pre-order here.

Written and directed by Adam Oldroyd who has put together a British comedy caper starring 80’s TV entertainer Les Dennis as Stuart Pendrick ‘the All Seeing Stupendo’. He’s an ageing mystic stage performer whose magical heyday is now a distant memory. Now performing to practically empty theatres with his tired old routine of mind tricks and contacting the spirit world, he’s become a twisted cynic passing on crude sexual messages from the afterlife to his diminishing audiences.

There’s a mysterious subplot where all his fellow mystics are being bumped off one by one (with the mystic’s gag being that these deaths are all the stranger because none of them saw it coming). Gerald (Anthony Head) is Pendrick’s slightly less beleaguered show business agent who is trying to keep both of their career’s going, as he deals with the complaints coming from the theatre manager and the general public over his client’s performances, as well as dealing with his client’s own scathing comments.

When Pendrick finishes his show and returns home one evening he is followed by two people in a car, Eva (April Pearson) and Dom (Nathan Clarke), two youthful looking cat burglars who we find out are intent on stealing his hidden fortune. April is the bossy female instigator of the break-in, sleekly dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans, who hides an ulterior motive, whilst Dom is her juvenile delinquent accomplice, who speaks in a funny street slang patter and has some mind problems of his own.

Of course their break-in doesn’t go totally to plan and the duo find themselves trying to persuade their kidnapped victim to tell them where the loot is whilst Pendrick tries to convince them of his mystic powers.

It doesn’t really justify its 15 rating except for a few risqué sexual references and Les Dennis’ character’s attempts at some British toilet humour, it would be far better suited for children. Dennis is much more in his comfort zone sending himself up as a performer in the twilight of his career rather than shocking with any adult humour but there is the occasional good comedic exchange like when Gerald finds Dom wearing a tiara and imagines him to be an intimate friend of his client’s.

Some other notable touches include the music score which has an Eastern European orchestration full of mystery and intrigue fitting of a mystery caper and there are some intriguing chapter headings throughout of words associated with the entertainment industry, which although lacking any obvious connection, have their literal and metaphoric meanings explained.

Comedies are never likely to win Academy awards and this one is no different. As a low budget British comedy it tries hard to blend the old with the new and is more farce than mystical that even 80s TV favourite Les Dennis could have foreseen would be hard to pull off.

Film: Sideshow

Director: Adam Oldroyd

Genre: Comedy, Crime

Stars: Les Dennis, Anthony Head, April Pearson, Nathan Clarke

Runtime: 1hr 34min

Rating: 15

Rated: 3/5

February Worksheet

In The Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand

Click for film review with film language worksheets & audio:

In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand Worksheet Download

In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand Listening

In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand Pronunciation 1

In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand Pronunciation 2

In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand Pronunciation 3

Language content and exercises including reading, comprehension
questions, vocabulary, discussion questions and pronunciation exercises

Jules et Jim (1962)

Part of the François Truffaut: For the Love of Films season at the BFI, Jules et Jim is a black and white French classic from one of the most influential directors of the French New Wave that brings a fascinating mélange of love, romance and friendship to the screen.

Set around 1912 before the outbreak of war it follows the friendship of Jules (Oscar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) bohemian writers who strike up a friendship living in Paris. Jules is a fair haired Austrian who has adopted France as his homeland whilst Jim is his newly found friend, taller and slightly more refined, who introduces Jules into the Parisian society. They very much enjoy each others company sharing similar interests in language and literature and most notably the pursuit of female affections.

Their various dating experiments lead them to Catherine (Jeanne Moreau) who they become completely captivated by with her looks and her charismatic behaviour. Jules ends up marrying her but it’s not before too long that the three of them move in together and it’s clear Jules and Jim have shared more than just friendship.

The third feature film from François Truffaut it’s a fascinating observation of love’s relationships and the affairs of the heart shown through the free spirited love adventures of Jules and Jim. Truffaut whilst showing a good command of classic film storytelling technique, expertly put together by cinematographer Raoul Coutard using cinescope, also experiments with the occasional break from convention making unusual edits like freezing the frame and there are further eccentricities throughout like the parodying of action films for their over use of guns and violence, even back then in 1962.

The film score is charmingly composed by George Delerue that brings together the emotional highs and lows amongst the conviviality, joie de vivre and passionate rivalry. There’s a cameo appearance from famous French crooner Boris Bassiak who also plays another love interest of Catherine’s in a film that openly subscribes to the bed hopping promiscuity of relationships.

Truffaut’s depiction of this ménage à trois is inspired by the semi-autobiographical novel from Henri-Pierre Roché, which compelled him to attempt to make such a film. Packing a lifetime of romance and passion into a story that is a curious ode to friendship and the fleeting changes of the heart.

Film: Jules et Jim

Director: François Truffaut

Genre: Drama, Romance

Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Oscar Werner, Henri Serre

Run time: 1hr 36min

Rated: 15

Rating: 4/5

In The Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand

In The Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand is an award winning Greek roadtrip comedy about two guys and their obsession with a 90s porn star, available across all major digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon and Google.

Antonis and Christos are two down on their luck friends, who are both infatuated by 90s porn star Laura Durand who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. They’re unemployed and their only escape is performing with their ageing synth rock band, playing to a similarly ageing crowd. Antonis has discovered he has a serious health condition after having an MRI scan so when their obsession leads them to look through the memorabilia of their favourite porn star they discover, amongst the newspaper clippings and magazines, an old VHS tape with a secret message they are compelled to act upon.

Realising they don’t have much to lose, except for Christos’ collection of old vinyl, which he is rather emotionally attached to, they decide to pack up everything and hit the road in their little camper van on a mission to find their favourite porn star as they stumble across and follow more mysterious messages.

Their desktop research online to find some clues leads them to a meeting with the head of Laura’s film production company. The boys have two very different approaches to the meeting but they eventually get the result they are looking for as they are handed a map of all the sites Laura was last seen at. So with their cryptic map they get back on the road in search of her.

Filmed in Greek with questionable English subtitles, the sound track is a nice eclectic mix of tracks from 70s disco porn, synth rock to traditional Greek folk guitar woven into the sound design. The places and the escapades get wackier and wackier from desert discos, to hippie retreats and haunted houses and there is a steady flow of gags that maintain a light hearted feel throughout like the confusion over the pronunciation and purpose of a photometer and when they spike the old lady’s soup with a pill they found at the hippy commune and think they’ve killed her, which is much in the style of 21 Jump Street but for grannies.

It’s a feel good comedy with lots of goofy gags that raises a smile and even the occasional belly laugh. There are some old film cliches put to good use like the horror film organ sound and lightning, which is all very tongue in cheek but there is also a heartfelt message and call to action amongst all its silliness and stupidity.

Film: In The Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand

Director: Dimitris Bavellas

Stars: Makis Papadimitriou, Michalis Sarantis, Anna Kalaitzidou

Genre: Comedy, action

Run time: 1hr 38min

Rated: 15

Rating: 3/5

January Worksheet

Home

Click for film review with film language worksheets & audio:

Home Worksheet Download

Home Listening

Home Pronunciation 1

Home Pronunciation 2

Home Pronunciation 3

Language content and exercises including reading, comprehension
questions, vocabulary, discussion questions and pronunciation exercises

South (1919)

SOUTH is screening at BFI Southbank and in selected cinemas from 28 January and out on Blu-ray/DVD on South and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film, released by the BFI on 28 February.

A black and white silent documentary with music showing unprecedented footage from one of the very first Antarctic expeditions during ‘the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’. This is the story of the ship “Endurance’s” fateful mission led by the intrepid explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, a colleague of “Scott of the Antarctica”, and a man of similar standing in the field of Antarctic exploration, filmed by the ship’s very own cinematographer, Frank Hurley.

On July 1914 a crew of 28 men left the UK shores to attempt to cross the yet unconquered seas of the great Antarctic Continent. On board were not only a cinematographer and a banjo player (a “vital mental tonic” for the sailors) but also an incredible 70 husky dogs required to pull sledges. The boat finds the going not unsurprisingly difficult through the ice floes before it finally gets stuck and despite their best efforts to free it the boat is eventually pushed up out of the sea like a toy ship by the shifting icecaps, and is marooned on the ice with the crew and dogs having to abandon ship.

Having to camp on the moving icebergs, remarkably the crew seem quite jovial throughout their predicament stuck in the polar regions with what must have been limited resources in freezing conditions. There were no signs of panic and no doubt this was down to a highly experienced crew led by Sir Ernest and supported not least by what must have been a formidable banjo player. In the process of filming seals were killed, allegedly for dog food, which may not placate any animal rights activists but survival here was clearly a priority at a time when the world’s view on such things was evidently different.

It’s a true story of great British exploration where even the ability to film in freezing conditions over two years is an incredible feat in itself (although they do manage to bring along a new petrol powered sledge invention. Crudely sponsored by Shell – a sponsorship scoop not to be missed even back then).

Commemorating the centenary since Sir Ernest’s death the documentary, despite its antiquated black and white imagery, is an incredible account of the expedition with some striking pictures of the old sailing boat, the frozen landscapes and wildlife. How different it is now to think this once impenetrable landscape is now rapidly disappearing before our eyes.

The wildlife is captured to such a degree that three quarters of the way through, the film becomes a fully dedicated natural world programme with the stars of the film switching from the husky dogs to the penguins. Compared to today’s Ultra High Definition cameras the footage may seem some what pedestrian without the thrills and spills of “The Blue Planet” style of series but that would take away from what is an invaluable piece of archiving, that still burns brightly with a sense of wonder and discovery.

Film: South (1919)

Director: Frank Hurley

Genre: Documentary

Run time: 1hr 21min

Rated: U

Rating: 3/5

Home

Available on Apple TV from 24th January, a man returns home after spending almost 20 years in jail to face up to his past in a small Californian town where not everyone is happy to see his return. From first time female director Franka Potente, starring Jake McLaughlin (Warrior) and Kathy Bates (Misery) it is a bittersweet tale dealing with bereavement.

It’s been almost 20 years for 40 year old Marvin (Jake McLaughlin) who is returning home to his mother’s after a long stretch in prison. Within the first 5 minutes he’s skateboarded across half of California, turned down a quickie with a waitress, waited the longest time possible for a supermarket coffee and wrestled his mother’s home help to the floor. It seems a peculiar backwater part of the world and Marvin is no different. A tall athletic looking guy who looks physically intimidating in his sports tracksuit with tattoos on his arms, hands and neck, and his hair slicked back and shaved at the sides. Having spent so long away things must be pretty strange for him as he discovers what he’s missed in the world and reminisces with his old druggie loser friend Wade (Derek Richardson), hanging out at a few of their old haunts like the skate park.

He catches up with his mother (Kathy Bates) and when he finds out she is terminally ill their time becomes especially poignant as they play cards at home, drinking and smoking together despite her being on an oxygen tank. Not everyone is pleased to see him though. The brother and sister who lost their grandmother are holding major grudges and are not going to make life easy for him insisting, “We can’t do nothing…I want to let him know he’s not welcome here.” This much they do but perhaps surprisingly the sister becomes close to Marvin and they begin to build a relationship despite their differences.

Written and directed by Franka Potente known for her acting in Run Lola Run and the Bourne series she achieves the small town feel of an arid part of California using some good local locations like the diners, the backyards and the alleyway. The camera shots are quite simply put together that can drift in and out of focus on occasions but with a mix of close up shots and some quick editing, especially for the alley scene, the slightly dirty framing is easy to follow.

Well cast, Jake McLaughlin plays the man child anti-hero who’s straight out of prison probably still wearing the same shiny tracksuit he went in with and bearing the burden of his guilt. Kathy Bates plays the mother with plenty of vim in spite of her condition and is seen sat on the porch with shotgun in hand and collapsing on the porch with equal grace delivering some beautifully droll lines along the way in her languid Tennessee accent, “Prison ain’t supposed to be fun anyway.”

The story comes across incredibly twee considering its dark nature but this is probably as much to do with its likeable cast. Don’t expect any major surprises as the only real surprise is that we don’t fully understand the reasons behind Marvin going into prison and without knowing any of his backstory we are left unsure whether he deserves any kind of redemption at all.

Film: Home

Director: Franka Potente

Stars: Jake McLaughlin, Kathy Bates, Aisling Franciosi

Genre: Drama

Run time: 1hr 40min

Rating: 3/5

The Last Thing Mary Saw

The Last Thing Mary Saw is available on horror channel Shudder, it’s a supernatural horror that goes easy on the horror whilst still managing to provide a chilling account of a young girl’s interrogation after the sudden disappearance of her grandmother from a repressively religious household.

Set in the puritan town of Southold, New York in 1843 the film begins with the interrogation of the young farm girl Mary (Steffanie Scott) who is sat with blood trickling from behind her blindfolded. She is under suspicion regarding her grandmother’s disappearance and the hostile manner in which she is made to read the Lord’s Prayer by her interrogators is a clear indication of her guilt, certainly for the town’s law enforcement. The interrogating constable (Daniel Pearce) has a somewhat incongruously sympathetic ear for her story in comparison to the other bible wielding figures in the baying community, as he intriguingly clutches a book which plays a central role in Mary’s interrogation.

We flashback into the events leading up to the disappearance, beginning with Mary’s relationship with the maid (Isabelle Fuhrman), which has come to the worrying attention of her parents who are in religious hysterics and despair over their daughter’s carrying ons with the maid, “They long for one another’s touch and they do so in bright sunlight,” her mother cries. As a result the parents have turned to the wisdom of the household’s matriarch, the grandmother (Judith Roberts) for guidance, who cuts a foreboding figure.

Because the family’s relatives refuse to take the maid on themselves the matriarch decides “correction” is the only way forward before the girl can be moved. The grandmother administers a painful punishment to the ‘sinful’ girls who have to kneel on dried rice whilst reciting prayers for prolonged periods. This proves to be just one of the callous measures used to intimidate the inhabitants into conforming behaviour and to understand there is no escape.

From first time feature film director Edoardo Vitaletti this is a well-crafted film that atmospherically captures the period. Set on location at an imposing wooden farmhouse the candle lit scenes by night and the overcast shots by day give a sense of a harsh puritanical time assisted by the remarkably dour costumes and funny looking chin strap beards. The cast convincingly draw you further into this world with the angelic looking girls wishing to explore their feelings for each other but their secret liaisons are never far from prying eyes. They are up against the might of the matriarchal grandmother played with a disturbing puritanical presence and each supporting actor brings an additional righteous or non righteous quirkiness to the proceedings.

What is impressive from the writing and direction is the way in which Vitaletti leads you to water without forcing any graphic detail upon you and still manages to maintain a gripping edge. There are one or two surprising moments which seem to have caught even the director by surprise. They may be there by design as a way of portraying the higher forces at work but there is also what seems to be a significantly large plot hole unreported but regardless of this the story still holds together carrying a claustrophobic menace throughout.

It’s an interesting period of American history for the story to indulge in playing with the religious and moral themes that must have been relevant at the time and adding its own supernatural twist. Horror fans may come away disappointed if they are expecting to be hiding behind their seats as this has a much slower insidious manner and has as much in common with a Romeo and Juliet tragedy for an LGBTQ audience than as an out and out horror.