americana that doesn t exist and isn t real. and here s the thing it s basically the stepford wives. the difference is the stepford wives at the beginning of the stepford wives, you think, ok, you know, is there something off kilter? you can t quite figure what s wrong with it. in the case of this, from the beginning, it is absolutely clear that this is an artificial world, that none of this can be what it seems, that somehow, they re in a bubble or an illusion. now, florence pugh works wonders making the character of alice engage you, so that even though she s in this completely artificial environment, you believe in her character and you engage with her character. harry styles, he s fine. there ve been some sort of cruel things said about his performance. it s ok. it s staggeringly unremarkable. the problem is that you very quickly figure out there s one of a number of possible scenarios that are the solution to how this is all happening, and then when it s revealed. 0k,
i mjane hill, and taking us through this week s cinema releases as ever is mark. hi, mark. very interesting week we have. don t worry darling we have blonde, which may be a marilyn monroe biopic, or maybe not. and catherine called birdy, a mediaeval tale birdy, a mediaeval tale with a difference. oh, i thought it was a biopic, but anyway, more on that later. ok, so don t worry darling, which is a new film by olivia wilde, who made booksmart, which i loved. florence pugh and harry styles are alice and jack chambers. they live in a kind of absolutely rarefied, dreamy, late 50s, early 60s americana, you know, glistening cars, mad men suits, fabulous dresses. the wives stay at home and prepare the house and cook the meals and wait for the return of their husbands, who are out doing work which cannot be spoken of when they come back. and florence pugh s character seems to think this is idyllic and wonderful. and then, one of her friends and neighbours becomes suicidal after le
Of the release. It is the story of dunkirk told by Christopher Nolan and it is the story of the evacuation told through Three Intertwining Strands that loosely follow land, sea and air. But all of the story itself is fairly straightforward, it is told over three different timescales, one of the stories lasts one day, and one last one hour and these strands. If you know anything about Christopher Nolan, you would know that he likes to play with time. The brilliant thing about this is that he does in a way that is very clear, you understand what is happening even though it is a complex structure. It is shot on large format film and you have seen from the images, they are astonishing, great big cameras, plaudits to the cinematographer, carrying around these bulky cameras and doing really extraordinary work with them. The film is available in numerous different formats and depending on where you go to see it, you can see it in digital, 70. The picture will be different and look different.
The film review on bbc news. To take us through the cinema releases, as ever, mark kermode. What have you been watching this week . A very big week, obviously. We have dunkirk, the new Christopher Nolan film, about which everybody is talking. We have city of ghosts, a very harrowing documentary from the maker of cartel land. And Captain Underpants the epic first movie, which is really funny. Everyone is talking about dunkirk. The scale and ambition of this is remarkable. It is and also the ambition of the release. It is the story of dunkirk told by Christopher Nolan who has made things like dark knight, interstellar and inception, and it is the story of the evacuation told through Three Intertwining Strands that loosely follow land, sea and air. But although the story itself is fairly straightforward, it is told over three different timescales, one of the stories lasts one week, one of the stories lasts one day, one lasts one hour and these strands. If you know anything at all about no
Here is a clip. Very intense, isnt it . It is, and you see from that, single shot, basically one shot per scene. What i love about this is, its a Perfect Blend of the personal and the political. On one hand, its a story about a father and a daughter, on the other hand its a story that social corruption is everywhere. Every conversation is, ooh, that buildings being going on for ages, yes it will be a backroom deal, well, isnt everything . Its a film in which the personalities of the characters completely draw you in, and you believe in their personal stories, but you also understand it is telling a wider story, about what it means to grow up in a society in which everything seems to be sort of slightly on the wrong side of completely honest. As is so brilliant with this director, what he manages to do is get that point across, but never sounds hectoring, you never feel like what youre watching is a political statement. What you feel youre watching is a really intense drama in which the