RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
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Film round-up: February 22, 2019
The Star's critics review Capernaum, Fighting With My Family, Old Boys, On the Basis of Sex, and Cold Pursuit
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
Capernaum (15)
Directed by Nadine Labaki
★★★★★
A 12-year-old boy, jailed for a violent stabbing, sues his parents for giving him life and not living up to their parental responsibilities in this powerful and complex Oscar-nominated Lebanese drama about child neglect, abuse and poverty which makes a compelling case as to why some people should never have children.
Through the candid eyes of the charismatic Zain (Zain Al Rafeea who is a Syrian refugee himself) who survives by his resourceful wits and skills, the film also explores the plight of illegal immigrants, racism and the importance of being documented and counted in Lebanon.
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