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| The Wife Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
The Wife, 11.15pm, BBC2, Monday, November 28, then on BBC iPlayer
Björn Runge's marital drama has a slow creep that only gradually reveals the secrets that lie within the marriage between the wife of the title (Glenn Close) and her Nobel-winning husband (Jonathan Pryce). On the surface, everything seems glossy and good, but watch their faces for a while - and Runge is very observant - and the hints of selfishness and dissatisfaction start to show. The film has a strong feminist streak that highlights the million tiny ways in which women can be sidelined, while also exploring the complex ways that relationships can operate after so many years, the mechanism so finely tuned that each half of the couple knows how to achieve maximum pain or pleasure with consummate ease. Close and Pryce are old hands at this sort of complex work and fit together like hand in glove.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd, 11.20pm, Film4, Monday, November 28, and then on the All4 player
This immersive snapshot of one woman's road to self-awakening in 17th century puritan Britain is, like all of Thomas Clay's films, an atmospheric little number. A decade in the making, the set was built using traditional methods and there seems to be a permanent pall of woodsmoke or mist shrouding the home where Fanny (Maxine Peake) lives with her much older, unpleasant ex-soldier husband John (Charles Dance) and her young son Arthur (Zac Adams). Despite the mud and greenery of England there's a feel of a Western to this film, which sees Fanny's life irrevocably changed by the arrival of a young couple Thomas (Freddie Fox) and Rebecca (Tanya Young), complete with new ways of thinking and a healthy scepticism of the patriarchy. Immersive from the off, Fanny is a thoughtful and likeable heroine, intriguing in her slow embrace of new ideas, particularly as she starts to articulate them from her own perspective - there is violence but it's the brooding sense of dread that's more affecting and effective throughout. Although I tip my hat to Clay for composing the score for this using traditional instruments from the period, it is a bit full-on, the atmosphere he creates visually doesn't need this sort of on-the-nose underpinning.
Another Round, streaming now on Netflix
A film that, at least in part, provides a cautionary tale about over-drinking as we head into the festive season, Thomas Vinterberg's drama considers a group of fed up teachers who decide to embark on a boozy experiment. Midlife crises are looming large for teachers Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) and Peter (Lars Ranthe), so when one of them suggests they test Norwegian philosopher Finn Skårderud's theory that if humans were to maintain a 0.005% alcohol buzz they would perform better, it seems like a grand plan. Vinterberg and his co-writer Tobias Lindholm allow the upside - and comedy - of this to dominate initially, while gradually letting more serious themes about longing and hopefulness develop. Shot with verve by Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, the end result is an enjoyably complex brew.
In Cold Blood, 9pm, Talking Pictures TV, Wednesday, November 30
Jennie Kermode writes: Richard Brooks' adaptation of Truman Capote's celebrated book was made in 1967, just eight years after the murder of all four members of the Clutter family in their Kansas home, and two years after the execution of killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. It was shot in the small community where the family lived, with real neighbours appearing in the background, and it features Nancy Clutter's much-loved horse, yet it's a world away from the true crime dramas of today. With noirish photography and the same sense of melancholy detachment as the book, the film is studiously unsensational and all the more compelling as a result. It largely sets aside the character of the writer as it follows the two killers through their awful, almost accidental journey, full of muddled decisions and panicky brutality. Robert Blake, playing Smith, is the standout, and his performance would contribute to changes in US attitudes to the death penalty, as well as altering the template for the crime cinema of the future.
It's A Wonderful Life, 3.40pm, Film4, Saturday, December 3
Is it ever too early to get into the festive spirit? Here at Eye For Film towers, we don't think so, and what better time to break out the mince pies than the first weekend in December? This Christmas classic from Frank Capra that sees an angel (Henry Travers) help a businessman (James Stewart), who has reached the end of his tether. It's an evergreen story celebrating the little acts of selflessness and kindness that can make a big difference, even if we don't realise it at the time that earns its emotional beats without slipping into easy sentimentality. It may be fast approaching 70 years old but its theme of community spirit seems particularly pertinent since the start of the pandemic.
Death Proof, 10.55pm, Film4, Saturday, December 3
Jennie Kermode writes: Every good stunt provides a learning opportunity and car films have traditionally built upon one another’s bones, so while Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 opus may be derivative – and owe a lot to genre-changing 1979 TV movie Death Car On The Freeway – it’s very much in keeping with the genre to which it pays tribute, and the Pulp Fiction auteur certainly knows his stuff. While most critics focus on the sexual aspects of the film, in which Kurt Russell’s sleazy Stuntman Mike deliberately targets and flirts with the women whom he plans to kill in subsequent crashes, there’s also a theme which comes into play in the second half, in which Mike – who has made his car as safe as possible for dangerous driving – unwittingly goes up against another stunt performer (played by Zoe Bell), who enjoys risk and likes to improvise. The result feels like a comment on a genre that increasingly plays it safe. Everything here is for real and even though you really shouldn’t try it yourself, you’ll be left wanting to.
Mother, ITV's Film Collection
The vast majority of the films in ITV's online free streaming service are in the English language - and if you're looking for Christmas content, then there's plenty of that at the moment too. There are a few surprising gems from elsewhere too though, including this dark little number from Bong Joon Ho before he cemented his international status with the likes of Snowpiercer and Parasite. Although the mix of comedy and a much more serious tone doesn't quite hit the heights of his subsequent films, this is nevertheless a tense exploration of the levels a mother (Kim Hye-ja) is prepared to go to in order to prove the innocence of her adult son (Won Bin). When she was cast, Kim was much better known in her homeland for playing mothers of an altogether softer nature and Bong weaponises this as he subverts expectations.
Our short selection this week is by Douwe Dijkstra - who has continued his winning form with this latest short Neighbour Abdi, which took home the Best Live Action Short award at Tallinn Black Nights and is now eligible for Oscar nomination. It features clever use of green screen, something he also employed to impressive effect in Green Screen Gringo, which you can watch here...
