Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (12A)
Directed by David Hinton
★★★★

 
MARTIN SCORSESE delivers a very personal and moving love letter to two of British cinema’s greatest film-makers — Michael Powell (British) and Emeric Pressburger (Hungarian) — two mavericks who made bold and audacious trailblazing films.

This is a masterclass in film-making as Scorsese, who presents and narrates this documentary directed by David Hinton, analyses Powell and Pressburger’s most renowned works including The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and A Matter of Life and Death, which is one of my personal all-time favourite films.

Using archival footage and interviews, some not seen before, he explains his lifelong love of their work since he was a young boy and how it influenced his own films and inspired other directors of his generation.

Scorsese celebrates Powell and Pressburger’s ability to create “subversive commercial movies” particularly while working for the Ministry of Information which hired them to make propaganda films during WWII.

They pushed the envelope to its limits and no-one was any the wiser. A Matter of Life and Death, for example, was made in a bid to improve Anglo-US relations, but is an extraordinary piece of cinema.

Scorsese recounts the rise and subsequent fall from grace of  both Powell and Pressburger. Scorsese and Powell became very close friends in later years.

This is a must-see for cineastes and cinephiles alike and finally gives Powell and Pressburger the recognition they deserve.

Out in cinemas tomorrow.

Our Mothers (15)
Directed by Cesar Diaz
★★★

 
THIS powerful and heartbreaking drama set in 2018 as Guatemala confronts the country’s violent past and is immersed in the trial of the military officers responsible for starting the civil war and the genocide of indigenous people.

Written and directed by Cesar Diaz, the film is seen through the eyes of Ernesto (Armando Espitia), a young anthropologist who, on hearing the account from an old Indian woman about a mass grave which she believes is where the remains of her missing husband are, thinks he has found a lead to the whereabouts of his disappeared father, a guerilla fighter during the conflict.

As the layers of this complex film are slowly peeled away, the truth becomes too horrifying to comprehend and Ernesto does not get the closure he expected.

Raw and haunting, Our Mothers packs an memorable emotional punch.

Out in cinemas tomorrow.
 
 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (12A)
Directed by Wes Ball
★★★

 
IT is hard to imagine how or why to follow the impressive Planet of the Apes trilogy starring Andy Serkis, but by setting this new instalment several hundred years after Caesar’s (Serkis) reign, exploring his legacy and introducing new characters, the film-makers have injected some fresh life into the franchise.

Shot in New South Wales, Australia, it is visually arresting with its stunning landscapes and staggering CGI effects which bring to life a beautiful yet terrifyingly dystopian world in which apes are the dominant species while humans are living a feral existence unable to speak due to a virus which has decimated humanity.

A tyrannical ape leader Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who has misappropriated Caesar’s teachings, is building his own empire by enslaving other clans.

Meanwhile a naive young primate (Owen Teague, It) teams up with a mysterious young woman (Freya Allan, The Witcher) with her own agenda, and a learned orangutan (Peter Macon, The Orville) who knows their real history, to hunt down Proximus, to avenge his father’s death and free his Eagle clan.

It isn’t until the final act that this simian sci-fi finally comes alive, posing more questions than it answers. Sadly, being the first of another trilogy, it is a case of “to be continued.”  

Out in cinemas tomorrow.

 
The Almond and the Seahorse (15)
Directed by Celyn Jones and Tom Stern
★★

 
AN archaeologist and an architect are united in their grief at slowly losing their partners to a traumatic brain injury in a film that does no real justice to the importance of this subject matter.

Rebel Wilson, in her first dramatic role, and Charlotte Gainsbourg deliver solid performances but their characters’ blossoming relationship as their other halves begin to forget them due to their condition isn’t very convincing.

Cowritten and directed by Celyn Jones (who also plays Wilson’s husband in the film) and Tom Stern, the drama explores the emotional impact on loved ones of having to deal with someone whom they are losing day by day while there is nothing they can do.

Maybe it would have been better as a documentary.

Out in cinemas tomorrow.