Monday, January 2, 2012

The Arts Desk's Most Recent Film Reviews

By Steve Alexander


The quality of the movies featured in this week's film reviews on The Arts Desk is consistently high, from heart-wrenching documentaries to outstanding 19th century dramas to delightful remakes.

French actor Daniel Auteuil has chosen to make his directorial debut by remaking the Marcel Pagnol film that first brought him acclaim, 'The Well-Digger's Daughter'. This family drama set in Provence about the fallout when the eponymous 18-year-old daughter gets involved with a young soldier is textually faithful to the original.

'Wreckers' is the promising debut feature from DR Hood, which has much to admire. David and Dawn are a happy couple who grow apart when David's brother Shaun arrives, fresh from Afghanistan and evidently suffering from post-traumatic stress. Leaving a lingering impression of relationships and ambitions turning sour, the film is bolstered by an impressive cast.

The late Ral Ruiz's 'Mysteries of Lisbon' is an epic period drama set in post-Napoleonic Portugal and is an extraordinary piece of cinema, based on Camilo Castelo's 1854 novel. It is filmed in deliberately muted tones with the odd surreal touch and is both intense and sombre.

Attempting to artistically reconstruct the life of Joyce Vincent, Nick Hasted was left haunted by Carol Morley's documentary 'Dreams of a Life'. When her remains were found in her London flat in front of the TV, the mysterious death of the 38-year-old woman made the headlines in 2006. No real answers were found and the questions surrounding how this glamorous woman came to such a sad end were manifold.

A handy Film Guide has been put together by The Arts Desk, which lists the current movie releases on offer and includes a critical overview, star rating and a link to the full reviews. A round-up of the top film box sets has also been compiled by the writers, from 'Harry Potter' to Andrei Tarkovsky, which have been released just in time for Christmas.




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