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| The House I Live In |
The House I Live In, streaming for free on Plex
With the laughing gas ban all over the news in the UK, now seems like a good time to recommend this documentary from Eugene Jarecki, which dissects the War on Drugs. Although it is US-orientated his arguments regarding the racist and class underpinning of drug laws, which see the white and the rich much less penalised. On the subject of jail in general, he also highlights the prison-industrial complex at work as penal institutions move from punishment/rehabilitation to money-making projects, which people come to rely on to generate profit. Although the personal element of this documentary is a little laboured, his assessment of the system is detailed and laser-like.
Swallow, 11.25pm, Film4, Wednesday March 29
Jennie Kermode writes: A lonely trophy wife isolated in an elegant home, Hunter (Haley Bennet) seeks comfort where she can find it and develops a curious addiction to swallowing small, unlikely objects. It's a habit which could have serious consequences for her health, but it marks a growing awareness that she's in an unhealthy situation to begin with, as her husband and his family seek to exert more and more control over every aspects of her existence. Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis was inspired by his grandmother's experiences to create a film which explores the relationship between traditional expectations of women and mental illness. It takes a sharp left turn halfway through, and there's an inspired cameo from Denis O'Hare which reshapes Hunter's understanding of the world once again. Exquisite photography by Katelin Arizmedi really draws us into Hunter's world, making the objects of her desire look irresistible, and Bennet's performance - which won the Best Actress award at Tribeca in 2019 - is a triumph.
Only The Animals, MUBI, now
As Dominik Moll's Cesar-winning crime drama The Night Of The 12th comes to cinemas this week, there's a chance to catch up with his previous film on MUBI. It's a sinuous affair that takes a while to reveal its secrets as the heat of Africa and wintry France become connected by the disappearance of a woman. There's a troubled marriage and a young waitress who lives half a world away but, most importantly, there's a lot of clever plotting and some top-notch acting from a cast that includes Denis Ménochet, Laure Calamy, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Valeri Bruni Tedeschi. Perfect for those who enjoy trying to piece together a puzzle.
Unbreakable, 9pm, Great Movies, Thursday, March 30
The unusual "superhero" narrative of M Night Shyamalan's follow up to The Sixth Sense's now feels ahead of its time in a film landscape now littered with caped crusaders. Bruce Willis is back as security guard David Dunn - the soul survivor of a train wreck. Soon he is contacted by comic book dealer Elijah Price (Samuel L Jackson), who suffers from brittle bone disease and who tells him he must use his invisibility for good. Ambiguity thrums beneath the bonnet of this film, which finds contrast in the opposing introvert and extrovert performances of Willis and Jackson and offers plenty to keep you guessing.
Kind Hearts and Coronets, 5pm, Talking Pictures TV, Friday, March 31
It's been a few months since we recommended you catch this classic but there's never a bad time to watch this deliciously dark serial killer comedy. Alec Guinness gets to go town and back again with eight beautifully calibrated characters - although his gung-ho suffragette Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne is possibly the standout. Dennis Price, meanwhile, is the perfect killer, a draper's assistant, disgruntled at the D'Ascoyne's treatment of his mother, who sets about his elegant vengeance with aplomb. The director Robert Hamer, who battled alcoholism most of his life, had an all-too brief career but he secured an enduring legacy with this.
Burning, BBC iPlayer, until April 23
This film screened in the dead of night last week, but it's well worth catching up with in the cold light of day. Lee Chang-dong's movies never quite follow the path you might expect and this is no exception. Disaffected young man Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), who is stuck in a dead-end job, thinks things might be on the up when he sparks up a relationship young woman Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo) only to find himself vying for her affections with Steve Yuen's privileged Ben. To say too much about the plot of Burning would be to spoil the carefully crafted slow build in store, as Chang-dong carefully explores the emotional territory between his characters, while the moodiness and danger levels slowly creep up. Yuen is a busy actor, taking on a raft of telly roles in between his film outings but his turn here, and his Oscar-nominated performance in Minari a couple of years later make you wish he was more frequently at the box office.
Brawl In Cell Block 99, 12.10am Channel 4, Saturday, April 1
Jennie Kermode writes:Vince Vaughn is a big, muscular guy. Here he plays Bradley, a man who doesn't want to be defined either by that body or by his past as a boxer. He's trying to live a normal life and manage the rage he still experiences in non-harmful ways, but when his wife gets pregnant, he loses his job and he can't find another one, he makes a desperate choice and finds himself on the wrong side of the law. That's just the start of it. With no-one to protect his wife, Bradley, who was fallen foul of a vicious gangster, is given an ultimatum: if he wants her to stay alive, he will have to get himself transferred, step by step, into the most notorious prison in the country, in order to assassinate a rival crime lord. What follows is a continually escalating series of confrontations and violent acts within a system which is wholly focused on degrading prisoners and trying to crush their spirit. High quality sound work makes the fights particularly brutal, and Benji Bakshi's camera never lets us look away. What really makes this gripping, however, is Vaughn's performance as a man undergoing a process of transformation, discovering himself even as he tries to resist. It's a sensitive, intelligent performance in a genre which often eschews that approach, and it really works. In spite of its occasional lapses into formula, this film is a triumph.
This week's short selection is 15 Summers Later, directed by Pedro Collantes, who would go on to make feature The Art Of The Return.
15 Summers Later from PedroCollantes on Vimeo.
