Gaugin is one of the more descriptive titles in recent cinema as it sums up much of this film. This is a dramatisation of the life of famed French post-impressionist artist Paul Gaugin or at least the part he spent in the pacific island of Tahiti painting iconic images of the locals. Set in 1891, the film sees poverty-stricken artist
Read moreDarkest Hour, the latest film for Atonement director Joe Wright is the second Winston Churchill biopic and the third Dunkirk-related film in the last 12 months. This film focuses on Churchill’s tumultuous appointment as Prime Minister, his struggle with his war cabinet and his personal demons in deciding Britain’s course as Europe succumbs to Hitler. Gary oldman, who looks as
Read moreOstensibly a biopic of notorious former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, I, Tonya is a sharp if at times overly quirky satire on the perverse culture of American celebrity as well as a disturbing expose of what, according the film, was a life of tragic abuse. In an already lauded performance Margot Robbie plays Harding as an emotionally damaged self-confessed
Read moreMaudie, which is based on the life of Canadian folk artist Maude Lewis has Oscar written all over it. A moving but often mawkish story of someone battling against the odds, it’s exactly the sort of film the academy rewards. In lead Sally Hawkins case, however, that honour would be deserved. Sallie Hawkins plays Maude a middle-aged woman crippled and
Read moreThe film Churchill often feels as if director Johnathon Teplitzky and writer Alex von Tunzelmann have taken The King’s Speech and replaced King George the Sixth with Winston Churchill. Both films are about a British leader confronting self-doubt and the crushing responsibility to their people in the dark days of the Second World War. Churchill is not a comprehensive biopic
Read moreGiven its unusual mix of genres, namely, period film, biopic, race-relations story, political drama and romance, Belle had the potential to be a fascinating film. Somehow, the whole is less than the sum of the parts as Belle, while handsome and well-made, is not the compelling story it should have been. Belle is a true story based on the early life
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