Time to blow away the cobwebs. Rather strangely I’ve had a couple of weeks film hiatus. A mix of general fatigue and January blues, compiled with lockdown have somewhat curbed my enthusiasm. Despite the seeming nothing to do, I’ve had a few things going on which have been keeping me busy and my mind switched on, thus the lack of blog writing. Things must change. South West London’s fourth best film blog has started to up their game in the hunt for third and we can’t let SurbitonRebelWilsonFanClub.org get on the podium, anything but that. So to celebrate the end of the month, when you finally go back to eating regular pork sausages and leave my preferred vegetarian options alone (huzzah), I thought I’d share some of my selects for the month, all of which I consider above average. (Note: They’re in alphabetical order)

The Battle of Algiers

The opening frame of The Battle of Algiers is a note which says that all of the shots were not real. The level of effects and set pieces in this film make that a necessary sign, as especially near the end I was fairly convinced this was news footage. Shot very much like a fly on the wall documentary, the film focuses on the rebels against the French in the Algerian war in the 1950s. There are times when both parties do terrible acts, yet the balance of the film showing both sides gives enough to make you empaphise with these characters. It doesn’t try to be melodramatic. Morricone’s understated score adds some tension, but is not used for emotional development and that helps this film feel much more legitimate. Some of the sequences are really very good, such as the point where three women plant bombs. You feel their struggle, then you see where they plant them and are left questioning their actions. It’s a really interesting, fantastically made nuetral recent historical war film which you should definitely check out. It’s available on Amazon Prime, MUBI and BFI Player. (It can also be found on Youtube)

The Celebration/Festen

Another Round is one of my most anticipated films this year due to Thomas Vinterberg & Mads Mikklesen’s The Hunt being fantastic. Another star of that film, Thomas Bo Larsen starred in an earleir work of Vinterberg’s being Festen. Over the course of a rich man’s birthday party night, this dysfunctional family and their guests are thrown into chaos once one of the sons, now grown up, makes an allegation against their father, which links to his sister’s suicide the year before. Alongside this, other things unravel as we get this fascinating and very dark character study. This film was part of the Dogme 95 Movement, which required no music, no special effects, handheld cameras and no actions which wouldn’t happen in real life. This required the script and acting to be the main focus, and both of those elements were absolutely incredible. The film is available on MUBI and BFI Player and you can find it for free on Youtube.

Life Is Beautiful

After Jojo Rabbit received a best picture nomination last year, there was a debate around whether you could have humour and joy in a film around WWII and the holocaust. While at times, I felt Jojo fell flat, Roberto Benigni’s masterpiece used humour as a brilliant tool for many reasons. The first half of the film is set in a small Italian town where Jewish goofball Guido (played by Benigni) falls in love with his Princess and ends up in a funny set of scenarios as he tries to win her heart. However, in the background there are murmurs of anti-semitism which increase as this act goes on. The primary story is really sweet and funny and is one of the best rom-coms you could see.

The second act however takes a darker turn, as Guido, his son and his wife are transported to a concentration camp. This is where the humour becomes somewhat more experimental. As Guido has a young child, he tells him that this is a game and the first one to 1,000 points will get a tank. He is using his optimistic spirit to protect his child from the horrors that go on around him. You fear for the whole family as you, like Guido, know exactly what’s going on and understand why everyone is acting like they are. It’s not humour for humour’s sake. It is there for a reason. The film is wonderful. Sadly, it’s not on any streaming services, however the DVD will probably be cheap at this point and it’s worth picking up.

Moolaade

One of my side film projects is to tick off a film from each country in the world, much easier said than done. This month, I ticked off Lesotho, Algeria and Tanzania amongst others. However, the one I want to discuss the most is my Burkina Faso entry. The drama focuses on a woman who takes 4 girls under her protection who have ran away from a female genital mutilation ritual. Soon their mothers come along and demand them back, however the protagonist Colle casts a spell which will not allow them in. The religious men of the village all soon band together and take away women’s radios and make life difficult for Colle. However, she remains determined that these girls will be safe. It’s a film which looks at religion, the influence of the outside world and politcs, negatively shining a light on a barbaric practice. It’s a strong emotional watch which becomes a battle between men and women. It’s fascinating and well worth a watch. I couldn’t find many streaming offers, but you can find the film with English subtitles on Youtube.

North By Northwest

There are very few directors who can come up with such a mind bending and intriguing story as Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho is brilliant, Vertigo was incredible and North By Northwest is just as well made. Roger Thornhill, unsurprisingly played by Cary Grant, is mistaken for another individual and is abducted before a gang try to kill him. He is later framed for murder and is stuck running away from gangsters and intertwined with the FBI. While running away, he meets and falls in love with the mysterious Eve Kendall (Eva Saint Marie). Thronhill must work out what is going on and try to save himself and Eve before it’s too late.

This film really was iconic. The plot was intriguing and full of twists as most Hitchcock films are. The soundtrack transcends time and you get to see that iconic airplane scene. A true masterpiece. It’s currently not available for free on streaming services, but as a 60 year old film, it should be fairly easy to find cheap.

Yojimbo

This isn’t me shouting to one of the Simpsons bullies, but it’s the name of one of Kurosawa’s masterpieces. The black and white Japanese film focuses on a town ruined by two crime lords hell bent on using their gangs to destroy one another. Both try to recruit the Samurai who remains largely neutral, although his conscience makes him want to help the victims of this gang war. The film is really helped by the characters and the plot. Kurosawa really helps give a sense of the environment and of each character’s motivations. Not his greatest work, but this samurai piece remains a really interesting watch. Yojimbo is available to watch on BFI Player.

Honourable Mentions: Boy, Departures, The Big Sick, This is Not a Burial It’s a Resurrection, Pili, One Night In Miami, The Secrets Of Kells, All the Presidents Men are all good films worth your time