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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Bordering on the brilliant
MARIA DUARTE sees a breathtakingly surreal Scandi-noir fantasy
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
Border (15)
Directed by Ali Abbassi
THIS is one of those rare films that the less you know about beforehand the better so that you can experience its breathtaking uniqueness and ingenuity. It’s one of the most surreal films of the year and takes Scandi-noir fantasy to a whole new bizarre level.
It’s based on the short story Grans by John Ajvide Lindqvist — who wrote Let the Right One In — and like the latter, Border plays around with the genre, providing plenty of surprises.
The film centres on Tina (an extraordinary Eva Melander), a Swedish customs guard who can literally sniff out fear and guilt on those crossing the border.
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