Film Reviews by mc

Olivia Colman at her best along with excellent new-comer Michael Ward, they bring out the joy and anxiety of her mind and the trials of 1960's race. relations. In and around a an Art Deco cinema in a south coast seaside town, there are both seriously tense and joyously happy moments. A very good film.. Malcolm

The Maggie delights with understated humour throughout the 'voyage' of The Clyde 'Puffer' around Scotland's West Coast. The crew endlessly avoids the wrath of a wealthy American as they try to deliver his precious cargo. Like Whisky Galore, but in my mind more subtle and Scots authentic.

This is a slow revealing of the relationship between three people in a Moroccan tailor's shop in the Souk. The master, his wife and a young apprentice. Each character is a good person but the situation between them tests their goodness. There are heart-rending tender moments and a final scene of tragedy and triumph of spirit. The whole scene play is very close within the Souk and is completely authentic. Malcolm

A colourful but repetitive introspection of the Legion. The setting is mainly in French Djibouti with occasional soul searching visits to Marseilles , where the Colonel muses over his obsession about a young recruit. Every scene is of a troop of recruits exercising, each scene is repeated over and over. There is little progression in the action until the object of the Colonel's interest disappears into the desert and is found by locals barely alive. Thats it!

This may be an 'Art Movie' but I found the snails pace and the awful endless noise of wind, the sadness of the man, the woman and their horse was too grim to bear. My hope for something to raise the viewers spirit was dashed. Some black and white camera shots were beautiful

The scene starts in Berlin with a tender gay encounter, then moves to Jerusalem where the Cakemaker seeks out the widow of his friend (killed in a car crash), he gradually finds a place in her life at her Jerusalem restaurant/cafe. Finally he returns to Berlin. The camera shots are slow and telling. At no time do the politics and international standing of the two cities detract from the sensitive nature of nationality, religion and sexuality explored. A sadness pervades the movie but the story is believable and memorable

Following Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, the pastel shades combine with a singing dancing street scene, which spills over into a cheerful tale of love lost and found. An enjoyable escape movie of the sixties.

The film jumps to and fro, between his birth on a train, the ballet academy in Leningrad and international acclaim with the Kirov company in Paris. Skillful photography and sensitive portrayal of every character. A wonderful film

A brilliantly humorous theatre of the shambles which probably occurred when Stalin was found dead. Or was he dead? The Polit-bureau in disarray, Beria plotting against everyone and Marshal Voroshilov seeing to his humiliation and execution. The madness of Stalin's son and the bumbling of heir apparent Malenkov is finally 'sorted' by Kruschev. A memorable film

The story of Tom of Finland's life is in itself a beautifully realized tale of post-war austerity, restriction and new found opportunity; then it tells what the gay community of 80's California hungrily consumed, the finely drawn characters of their dreams, and its denouement with AIDS

These eight short fictional films made by Polanski in Poland during Communist time, are nothing more than schoolboy fooling, there is no suggestion of his future ability either in Poland (Knife in the Water) or his Hollywood and later films. Dissapointing

A forgotten war in Georgia, two fruit farmers come between opposing Georgian and Russian (Chechen), Christian and Moslem fighters. There is shooting and despair but harmony finally comes to one conflict hardened soldier.

The film appealed to me because I am gay, I was a farmer (although that farm could never support the family and the foreigner) and I love such beautifully filmed landscape