Category Archives: Film

A film – Io Capitano (I am Captain)

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Io Capitano – A film by Matteo Garrone – in cinemas April 5

I think this film is brilliant. Watching it took me right in beside two teenagers from Senegal on their journey to Europe .

The film begins in a crowded home, from which the two restless cousins emerge. Both are keen on improving their lot, and both of the young men are sure that Europe will give them the best chance to do so.

Matteo Garrone, the director, does not pass any kind of judgement in this film – he just lets us see. I found it an emotional watch, as from the first dusty bus journey it’s evident that the extortion faced by the youngsters will only going get worse … and it does. It’s horrific in parts, but balanced with a hope that stays with the story right to the end.

The stars of the show (Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall) are themselves from Senegal, and they speak in their mother tongue from the beginning of the film, with the languages around them changing as the story progresses through desert expanses, to an unspeakable prison, and on towards the coast. It’s a vivid, desperate story – human, hopeful, brutal, built on truth, and shown from an angle I’d never seen as intensely before.

If I had awards to hand out I’d give them to this film. I hope you might get the chance to see it.

Here is a link to more about the film.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2024

This was so worth the journey – The Holdovers

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“We cannot sacrifice our integrity on the altar of their entitlement.” Mr Hunham in The Holdovers

It’s cold, it’s Christmas and five assorted students in a private boarding school are doomed to spend the holiday on campus. Mr Hunham is their reluctant babysitter, and Mary Lamb their heartbroken caterer.

The plot sounds predictable, and I thought the whole thing would be too gooey for my liking. I was wrong. I loved this. David Hemingson’s writing is delivered so completely and so physically by the three leads – Mr Hunham (Paul Giamatti), Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) – that I felt immersed from the start in the boys’ school. It’s all about personalities at the beginning and then gradually, thanks to the palette-subdued filming, the lack of mobile phones, and the occasional mention of the Vietnam War, it becomes clear that the story is set decades previously.

However, the question right at the heart of it has not changed over the decades – how will an old, and apparently unloved and boring teacher, be able to control the unhappy teenagers? The answer is revealed slowly, and made clearer by the removal of four of the group to leave only Angus, Mr Hunham and Mary. Over the rest of the film their stories emerge little by little, sometimes with a hint of ribbon and at others with a heart twanging sadness, but always the camera pulls out fast enough to keep the pace moving. Alexander Payne’s directing gives us a look at the loneliness of life, but he does not encourage us to wallow in pity for anyone, however sorry they feel for themselves … at least not until the goodbyes right at the end.

The film lasts a little under two hours. The score is gentle, and the settings simple and straightfoward. I found it an engrossing watch, my emotions flying this way and that, one minute laughing and the next minute sniffing. Thinking about it on my way home I wasn’t skipping down the street, but I did feel hopeful … and slightly stronger.

I found this article in Time magazine with more information about the film and the writer.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

We went to see a film: Fallen Leaves

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“The way I see it, the difference between a ‘movie’ and a ‘film’ is that one is scared to death of boring you for a second and the latter refuses to entertain you for a moment.” Alan Parker (Will Write and Direct for Food)

The first thing to say is that going on the Alan Parker definition Fallen Leaves felt like a film to me, not a movie.

The story is set in Helsinki, Finland, and follows the bleak prospects and lives of two lonely, low paid workers – Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) who have never met, but whose paths start to cross with increasing frequency as they fall in love, and in and out of jobs. Aki Kaurismäki is the director, and all dialogue is in Finnish, with subtitles.

It’s hard to describe how minimalist it all is. Not much talking. Not much smiling. Not much colour. No gunfights. No murders. No sex. Just day to day. Too much drink. Too much bad luck. Too much war on the radio. Not much hope. Then a dog comes along. And things change. Just enough.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. It kept me on the point of smiling, almost laughing, and hoping, all the way through. It is so pared back – such a quiet depiction of the odd luck of life, and of how love survives, despite never-ending corporate heartlessness, war and drink.

Should you go and see it? I would say a definite yes, provided you’re not craving fast-paced entertainment, crammed with sensual overload. This is gentle. It left us smiling and took only an hour and twenty minutes of our time.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023