August 2017 media review part two

MOVIES

DUNKIRK (2017) D- Christopher Nolan.
May 1940. The British Expeditionary Force, numbering nearly 400,000 men, is being driven into the sea, literally, by an advancing and relentless enemy. I say enemy, because at no time during this exceptionally fine war film, is the word "German" ever used. Shows how times change. One soldier, cut off from his comrades, finds his way to the beach and tries to secure his place on a boat to take him home. This proves trickier than he had anticipated...
          Christopher Nolan's recent films have been characterised by intricate and sometimes labyrinthine plots (Inception, Interstellar), but here he has opted for an eminently simple story of survival. This film can be understood, and enjoyed, by a six-year-old: one guy among hundreds of thousands, trying to escape from a beach where an enemy is doing its best to kill him, and everyone else.
          There are comparisons to be made with the very good 1958 film of the same name, directed by Barry Norman's dad, Leslie. In both the focus is on the grunts, the ordinary privates, as they struggle to escape the hell of the beaches, and also on the civilians back home who mount an armada of small boats to take the trip across the Channel to rescue them. Nolan's film enjoyed a far larger budget, and we see it all on the screen, but both have a vividly authentic feel, and both do a very good job of putting us in the shoes of the soldiers on the sand, waiting, waiting, for rescue. See both if you can.

DOCTOR STRANGE (2016) D- Scott Derrickson.
A full-of-himself surgeon (Benedict Cumberbatch) is forced to re-evaluate his life when a car crash leaves him unable to operate. He seeks help from an obscure group of zen-like monks, only to find that they are engaged in a battle to the death against dark forces (led by Madds Mickelsen) who are bent on destroying everything that is good in the Universe. Will he assist them in their great struggle, or do the selfish thing and concentrate on his own career? Come on, you know what he's gonna do...
         Benedict Cumberbatch has joined that small elite of British actors (Patrick Stuart, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench for example) who are classically trained and so damned good they grace any project they're associated with, even if it's an overblown superhero blockbuster. Which this is. I saw it on TV, though it would probably have been better on the big screen (though not in 3D, which would only have spoilt it) where we could have seen exactly how all that money got spent. I thought it was all a bit too much, though my wife enjoyed it hugely, so I leave it to you to decide.

CASQUE D'OR (1952) D- Jacques Becker.
In the Paris of the 1890s, an ex-con with an array of nefarious skills is quickly recruited into a criminal gang. He is attracted to charismatic "Casque D'or" ("Golden Helmet"), a prostitute, played by an exceedingly sultry Simone Signoret, currently dallying with one of the other gang members. She likes the cut of his jib too, and he steals her, much to the other guy's ire. But the gang's leader also would like to snag her for himself, and that may be a problem...
          This film caused a storm at the time, with its amoral narrative and naturalistic feel, and some say it was the film that launched the famous "New Wave" in France which changed cinema forever. And it is certainly true that it casts its spell without any need to spend hundreds of millions on special effects. Brilliant.

MOANA (2016) D- Ron Clements and John Musker.
A young girl living on a Pacific island is selected by the Ocean itself to go in search of a precious amulet stolen from a goddess by a naughty demigod. Without it their island is cursed and all the crops begin to die. So it's kind of an urgent thing... Various obstacles stand in her way. The demigod has himself lost it, and a fire god now has it, and it isn't about to give it up without a fight.
          Computer animation, it is fair to say, has completely transformed the "cartoon movie" and today most of them use the technique, which has reached astonishing heights. Moana looks good from first frame to last, and even more importantly, the story line is strong and the voice characterisations live up to it. I have to say I was entranced.