Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Roger Michell Stars: Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen, Pierfrancesco Favino. The novels of British author Daphne Du Maurier have provided a great source of material for filmmakers with their deft mix of intrigue, mystery, murder, obsession, mistrust and romance. Alfred Hitchcock captured the gothic atmosphere of her novel Rebecca, while he brought a sense of unease and menace to his adaptation of The Birds, a tale in which nature seemed to take vengeance on mankind. Nicolas Roeg turned her story Don’t Look …
ALONE IN BERLIN
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Vincent Perez Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Emma Thompson, Daniel Bruhl, Uwe Preuss, Mikael Persbrandt, Louis Hofmann, Katrin Pollitt. This WWII drama is set in Berlin in the early 1940s and is based on the novel Every Man Dies Alone, which was written by Hans Fallada in 1947 but not translated into English for another six decades. The book told the story of Otto and Elise Hampel, a German couple who embarked on an unusual campaign of resistance to the Nazis after Hans, their young soldier son, was killed on the battlefields of France. …
THE LADY IN THE VAN
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Nicholas Hytner Stars: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Roger Allam, Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Frances de la Tour, Sam Spruell, Claire Foy, Cecilia Noble. Based on the stage play written by Alan Bennett, one of most successful contemporary playwrights in England with credits including The History Boys, The Madness Of King George, etc, this is "mostly a true story" that mixes fact and fiction in an entertaining mix. The play was inspired by Bennett's encounter with Mary Shepherd (dual Oscar winner Maggie Smith), the …
RUBEN GUTHRIE
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Brendan Cowell Stars: Patrick Brammall, Abbey Lee, Alex Dimitriades, Robyn Nevin, Jack Thompson, Jeremy Sims, Harriet Dyer, Brenton Thwaites. Brendan Cowell is a likeable enough character and is a familiar face through his work on stage, on television with appearances in Love Your Way, and through his film work. He has written and starred in films like the WWI drama Beneath Hill 60 and the cricket comedy Save Your Legs, and starred in Matthew Saville's drama Noise, for which his performance won an Australian Film Critics Award. Cowell …
THE TEMPEST
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Julie Taymor Stars: Helen Mirren, Ben Whishaw, Felicity Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Alfred Molina, Russell Brand, Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, Tom Conti, Reeve Carney. Julie Taymor has a formidable reputation amongst theatre directors, particularly for her work on the live action Broadway adaptation of Disney’s The Lion King. Even her few forays into film have been imaginative and bold works. Her treatment of Titus, one of the most bloody of Shakespeare’s plays, was powerful and engrossing, and the musical drama Across The Universe …