ALAN McGUIRE welcomes a biography of the French semiologist and philosopher
Film round-up: January 5 2018
The Star's critics ALAN FRANK and MARIA DUARTE review this week's releases: Hostiles, Brad's Status, All the Money in the Word, Jupiter's Moon, and Walk with Me.
ALEX HALL is frustrated by a book that ducks a clear definition of terrorism and fails to perceive the role of the state in sponsoring it
JOE GILL wholeheartedly recommends an eloquent manifesto: how to change the world one local project at a time
Inspired by a photograph, a unique memorial in Michigan immortalises US true labour heroes. MICHAL BONCZA recalls a great story rarely told
MARIA DUARTE, LEO BOIX and ANGUS REID review Brides, Dead of Winter, A Night Like This, and The Librarians
MARIA DUARTE is entertained by a wry portrait of befuddled resistance to US authoritarianism
Hostiles (15)
Directed by Scott Cooper
5/5
WESTERNS, a cinematic staple until the mid-1960s, have largely disappeared — shot down John Wayne-style by TV saturation and the rise of special effects-driven spectaculars.
Hostiles writer-director Scott Cooper has always wanted to make one but, he's said, “I wanted to make it on my terms and I wanted it to have real relevance to what’s happening in America today with race and culture.”
His film is set in 1892, when US army Captain Blocker, compellingly played by Christian Bale, faces danger and death as he escorts dying Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) from New Mexico to be buried in his Montana homeland. He's joined on the way by Rosamund Pike’s traumatised massacre survivor Rosalie.
More from this author
