Landmarks (15)
Directed by Lucrecia Martel
★★★★☆

LANDMARKS (Nuestra Tierra) is the first feature documentary to be directed by Argentinian film-maker Lucrecia Martel.

In October 2009, Javier Chocobar, a member of the indigenous Chuchagasta community in Argentina’s Tucuman Province, tried to defend himself and his people from being forcibly evicted from their land by local businessmen, two of whom were former police officers. During the confrontation Chocobar was shot and killed, and two others wounded. The crime was recorded on a mobile phone, but it took nine years to bring the case to court.

Martel takes a sweeping approach, triangulating the murder trial of the three businessmen, the lives of Chocobar and his people, and the centuries-old colonialist legacy of land and property theft across Latin America.

Although a documentary, it often feels like an Argentinian version of a Twelve Angry Men-type courtroom drama, although Martel’s narrative style eschews simple chronology, having more affinity with a mural painting. She takes her time to illuminate the way of life and the history of this indigenous community.

With a ravishing, at times vertiginous visual approach to filming the natural beauty of the contested land, Martel pays cinematic tribute to people who have been systematically erased from history.

She provides a profound insight into Latin America’s history, the legacy of colonialism and ingrained prejudice towards the indigenous people by the dominant “criollo” elite.

With gigantic data processing plants being established in Argentina and Chile in the face of indigenous opposition, the film is highly topical and relevant.
JG
Landmarks is showing at Bertha DocHouse, London, from May 29.

Power Ballad (15)
Directed by John Carney
★★★★☆

Three years after his gorgeous musical drama Flora and Son, Irish writer-director John Carney returns with a joyous and hilarious comedy, set in Dublin, about a past-his-prime wedding singer and a fading boy band star, both chasing recognition and relevance.

When Rick Power (Paul Rudd) meets US popstar Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) at a wedding gig they bond over a jam session. However when Danny takes one of Rick’s songs and turns it into a number one hit, reigniting his failing career in the process, Rick decides to head to Los Angeles to reclaim the song.

“How to Write a Song” takes on a life of its own and a different meaning for both men as they stake their claim. Rick is frustrated because he knows he wrote it but neither his wife, daughter nor his band believe him. However Sandy (Peter McDonald who co-wrote the script), his madcap band member, decides to accompany him to LA and glorious mayhem ensues.

Rudd, who performs all the songs in the film himself, gives one of his finest performances to date as Rick, who feels he should have had Danny’s success and career but instead settled for his family in Ireland. And singer-turned-actor Jonas is perfect as Danny.  

Carney, who directed, co-wrote, produced and co-composed the music and the songs, delivers a moving and uplifting crowd-pleaser which will have you singing How to Write a Song by the end. This is a must see. 
MD
In cinemas May 29.

My Mother’s Wedding (15)
Directed by Kristin Scott Thomas
★★☆☆☆

 

You can’t have a wedding without some family drama, and that is the case here as three troubled sisters return to their childhood home in Hampshire to attend their mother’s third nuptials in Kristin Scott Thomas’s directorial debut feature.

It is inspired by Scott Thomas’s own family history as her father and her stepfather, both Royal Navy pilots, died in nearly identical air crashes when she was quite young, much like in the drama.

The film follows Royal Navy Captain Katherine Frost (Scarlett Johansson) and her sisters Victoria (Sienna Miller), a Hollywood film star, and Georgina (Emily Beecham), a palliative NHS nurse, as they confront their demons during their mum’s (Scott Thomas) wedding weekend. The problem is none of them are very likeable.

While it looks beautiful it feels bloated story-wise so less would have been more. 
MD
In cinemas May 29.

Fairyland (15)
Directed by Andrew Durham
★★★☆☆

THIS is a story of the Aids crisis in 1980s San Francisco, told from the point of view of the only child of a gay man, and based on a true-life memoir. Beneath the story of an unusual childhood, therefore, two fascinating themes emerge, namely: the nature of the father/daughter bond, and a troubling need for filial revenge.

There’s no doubting the authenticity of the performances. Scoot McNairy as the scraggy dad is a wannabe poet who embraces west coast gay scene and never appears to work; Nessa Dougherty and Emilia Jones play his daughter Alysia as she grows from quietly observant child to troubled teenager, and this is very much her story, framing her rebellious dad through a mixture of hero-worship and accusatory pity.

As a consequence, and despite the lovingly detailed recreation of the period, the bond never quite rings true. Why would she be so devoted to such a self-indulgent creep? The film can’t bring itself to admit that a gay man can be a good parent. So, given his neglect of her in favour of a revolving door of men, how does she develop into the well balanced, abstemious writer she becomes?

It’s a rare glimpse of an unusual family bond, but distorted by her self-pity. Intriguing, if flawed.
AR
In cinemas May 29.