Red Joan: a stodgy film skirting issues about loyalty, betrayal and the nature of the British state
Trevor Nunn, “Red Joan” (2019) Adapted from the novel of the same name which as the film acknowledges is based on the real-life case of Melita…
British Films
British Films, North American Films
Rocketman: the rise and fall and rise again of a beloved British rock / pop icon, with no reference to social and music trends
Dexter Fletcher, “Rocketman” (2019) Rather than playing as a straight biopic – a template that felled “Bohemian Rhapsody” – this comedy drama portraying the life and…
The Great Pretender: a shallow picture of a famous rock music icon
Rhys Thomas, “The Great Pretender” (2012) The public fascination with the shy Parsi Indian boy born in a British colonial backwater in Zanzibar in 1946, who…
Peterloo: an immersive dramatic re-enactment of a significant event in British political history
Mike Leigh, “Peterloo” (2018) Made just before the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in August 1819, when British cavalry troops and foot soldiers…
Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 2): an attractive visual experience spoilt by repetitive propaganda police-state stereotypes
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 2)” (2018) In this second and final episode, Michael Palin ventures outside Pyongyang to spend a few days…
Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 1): Western insistence on stereotyping a country ruins a striking travelogue
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 1)” (2018) At least two years in the making, this 2-part travel documentary follows comedian / world traveller…
British Films, Eastern European Films
Abandoned Soviet Fairground Ride in Transnistria: where the mundane becomes exotic in a real country not supposed to exist
“Abandoned Soviet Fairground Ride in Transnistria” (Bald and Bankrupt, 2019) During his travels in Moldova in early 2019, the English vlogger known as Bald and Bankrupt…
British Films, Eastern European Films
Abandoned Europe | Road To Ratus: even searching for past Soviet-era reality ends in disappointment
“Abandoned Europe / Road to Ratus” (Bald and Bankrupt, April 2019) “Could be awesome, could be shit” … well, going to Ratus couldn’t be any worse…
British Films, Eastern European Films
Nobody Visits This Country … Find Out Why: a UK tourist finds out why in the ruin and decay of Kishinev
“Nobody Visits This Country … Find Out Why” (Bald and Bankrupt, April 2019) Bald and Bankrupt is the nom de plume of an English traveller who…
British Films, French and French-language Films
The Happy Prince: a character study of Oscar Wilde in exile and artistic decline
Rupert Everett, “The Happy Prince” (2018) A labour of love, of much research over the years on the life and work of Irish-British writer Oscar Wilde,…