Film Reviews by KW

I did not see the point of this film, which for me was so disjointed that I found myself thinking about other things! I may have missed a fundamental issue trying to be discussed but if I did I would like to know what it was!

A beguiling film covering the experiences of Fernando the ornithologist who gets so engrossed with his birds that he does not heed the warning sounds of the rapids and ends up going down them. He is rescued by two chinese ladies lost on a pilgrimage to Santiago De Compastella who have designs on him in a peculiar way and having escaped there clutches he meets a shepherd Jesus and things happen with as well! Then the film for me slightly loses its way as he wanders along the pilgrim trail? There is a compulsion when watching the film that draws you in, but the ending for me was its let down. Beautiful to look at and the shots of the birds are excellent.

For an Oscar Best Movie I was expecting more then I got from this film! For the me the story line got bogged down and the ending became a very big let down. Full praise to the cast for giving acting performances that were excellent with such limited options to excel!

For me the interesting aspect of the film is that the concept of three simultaneous timeline views of the evacuation, actually paid off, and did not hinder it. Agree with other reviewers that Mark Rylance was excellent as the small boat owner, and some of the facial expressions from Kenneth Branagh's said more that any script could have done as to the plight of the troops waiting to be rescued! I enjoyed it.

Interesting take on the shock to the system that Dennis receives when his lover tells him to that the days of lounging around the pool are over and its time to get a job! At times I found the film pedestrian and the concept of Dennis ever getting a job hard to believe, but circumstances force Dennis to fight for his man and in the process grow up! At times I felt the film dragged on with no real direction of travel but in the end it did unravel to provide a reasonable ending.

Interesting concept that in the lead up to the D Day landings Churchill was haunted buy the fiasco of the Dardanelles campaign which he championed during WW1! Other historians have always been split over his view of D Day and his continued push for projects in the Greek and Italian theatre! For me the standout acting performance was Miranda Richardson as Clementine Churchill!

Wonderful covering the period of Earl Mountbatten's time as Viceroy of India and the lead up to independence. How much was based on actual events is open to question but for me it was the performance of Gillian Anderson as Lady Mountbatten who for me stole the film with her portrayal of Lady Mountbatten and her concerns for the local population and the potential pitfalls the partition of India could bring.

Interesting film covering the post world war 1 conference in Paris and the machinations ongoing between the UK and France as to how they will divide up the Middle East. Complications arrive in the form of T E Lawrence (Lawrence off Arabia) and Prince Faisal who Lawrence had helped to overthrow the Ottoman Empire during WW1. Interesting film to watch but at times I found it rather tedious and the portrayal of some of the leading UK politicians and Civil Servants a little over the top! A film only if you are interested in the subject!