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| The Wild Robot Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
Eco-friendly messaging is all the rage in animation these days and Chris Sanders winningly marries it to a tale of unlikely friendship in The Wild Robot Rozzum-7134 ( Lupita Nyong’o) – or Roz to her chums – is a robot that becomes stranded on an uninhabited island. There, her programming, intended to help humans, causes ructions among the local animal populace, even as she takes an orphaned gosling (Kit Connor) under her wing, helped by local fox Fink (Pedro Pascal). Beyond the adventure story, there’s a sense of warmth to the animation and plenty of humour, particularly in early scenes showing Roz’s fairly catastrophic attempts to ‘help’ the animals. It’s wholesome message about caring from one another is delivered with heartfelt conviction.
Gosford Park, 11.05pm, BBC2, Tuesday, September 8
Jennie Kermode writes: This murder mystery in a stately home (a world away from the empty frippery of Downton Abbey which its screenwriter Julian Fellowes would go on to co-create) offers a withering critique of the country’s class system, even if it expresses it in a terribly genteel way. In the tradition of heritage films like A Room With A View and The Remains Of The Day, it dazzles viewers with pretty period costumes and its stately home setting while revealing the damage done by the habitual exploitation of inherited power. Even the aristocrats are not really free, the choices constrained by social expectation and potential financial precarity at every turn. Robert Altman directs with a light touch and the mostly splendid cast improvise brilliantly. The final song sums it up. In films like this, perhaps, we are looking not for reality but for the dream of England, for a lovely land of might-have-been.
Jojo Rabbit, 11.10pm, Film4, Tuesday, September 8
Jennie Kermode writes: In Nazi Germany, ten-year-old Jojo (Roman Griffin) dreams of serving the Reich. His father is gone and he needs to be the man of the house, even if he (and half of Berlin) is scared of his mother (Scarlett Johansson). But when he finds a Jew (Thomasin McKenzie) hiding in the walls of his house, he is at a loss - even his invisible friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) can't help. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems to the kid and he has some hard lessons to learn in a film whose playful satire enhances, rather than undermining, its serious message. Waititi, who directs, is half Jewish himself and there is no apologism here, rather a sympathy for children only just becoming aware of the horrors around them, and for adults in all sorts of contexts who found ways to resist. Young Griffin has amazing comic timing and the film is full of heart.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 9pm, Film4, Wednesday, September 9
Jennie Kermode writes: Her daughter was murdered. The police haven't found the killer. Mildred (Frances McDormand) doesn't think they're trying hard enough, and she's going to make sure everybody knows that, even if that means pasting her complaints on giant billboards on the main road into town. She's the archetype of a 'difficult woman' and no less awesome for it, weighed down by grief but relentless in her desire to see justice done. With sterling support from Woody Harrelson as the sheriff with a tragic secret, Sam Rockwell as a racist police officer with very little brain and Peter Dinklage as a lovelorn suitor, this is a powerful drama with comedic undertones that couldn't get much darker.
The Ladykillers, 9pm, Great TV (Freeview channel 34), Thursday, September 10
The Coen Brothers had a second bash at this in 2004 but Alexander Mackendrick's deliciously dark original tale of a group of criminals who find their plans foiled by a little old lady is still the best. Alec Guinness may be the name that springs to mind when you think of it but his master criminal is matched step for step in this gleeful Ealing comedy by Katie Johnson, who plays dear Mrs Wilberforce, the unwitting lady from whom Guinness' ne'er do well rents his lodgings. Light and shadow play key roles in this collaboration between Mackendrick and cinematographer Otto Heller as the murkiness of the criminals (who also include Herbert Lom and Peter Sellers, in his breakthrough role) contrasts with the lavender and light of Mrs W.
Tyrannosaur, 1am, Film4, Saturday, September 12
Peter Mullan has carved out a career of strong performances that bring inner conflict to the fore and he puts in another here in Paddy Considine's directorial debut. It also gave Olivia Colman the opportunity to demonstrate her serious acting prowess beyond her, at that point, more common comedic roles. Mullan plays Joseph, a man on the brink of a constant simmering rage. He strikes up an unusual relationship with a charity shop assistant (Colman), who we come to discover is on the receiving end of violence at the hands of her husband (Eddie Marsan, smaller role, no lesser performance), despite outward appearances. This is a brutal film – but while a more experienced director might have let in a little more light, Considine proves impeccable in eliciting intense performances from the cast.
Bouchra, MUBI, streaming from Saturday, September 12
A distinctive animation with a neo-noir vibe, the action follows a Moroccan filmmaker living in New York, who just also happens to be a coyote (or, as co-directors Orian Bachri and Meriem Bennani told us, more accurately a jackal). The film follows her as she tries to navigate writer’s block about her latest film at the same time as navigating her personal relationships, particularly that with her mother Aïcha (Yto Barrada), which still feels the lingering strain of what Bouchra views as a lack of support when she first came out as a lesbian. The central character is voiced by Bennani and the script draws on real-life phone calls the director had with her own mother. An unusual and distinctive adult animation which muses on acceptance and cultural displacement.
Our short selection this week is Moin Hussain’s Naptha. The director went on to expand on it in his debut feature Sky Peals, which is available to watch on the BFI Player.
