Blade Runner 2049

10 Oct 2017 1 Comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , ,

Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Okay. Let’s get it straight right from the start. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) is one of my all-time favourite films. I own multiple versions of it, watched documentaries and read books about it, studied it and written academic papers about it. So, I went in to see Blade Runner 2049 with the academic side of me harbouring some fairly hefty concerns and the rest of me full of fan-girl anticipation.

I came out floored. I wasn’t expecting it to be THAT good. I think this is a wonderful film and is true not only to Scott’s 1982 masterpiece but also to the original source material, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” by Philip K Dick.

The screenplay by Hampton Fancher (one of the writers of Blade Runner) and Michael Green is terrific and the cinematography by Roger Deakins is simply beautiful. But I think the big technical gongs go to Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer for the soundtrack and Joe Walker for film editing.

Wallfisch and Zimmer breathe life into a score that evokes the memory of the Vangelis original but takes it in new and interesting directions, and Walker’s editing (particularly of the fight scenes) is simply sublime.

Though I loved him in Drive (2011) I was uncertain about Ryan Gosling but I shouldn’t have worried. Gosling is excellent as the LAPD Blade Runner. Similarly, Harrison Ford puts in one of his better performances, reprising his role as Rick Deckard and Robin Wright steals every scene she’s in – as always!

Villeneuve obviously loves the original film – it shows in so many ways. The framing and shot selection, lighting and colour palette all fit with and hark back to the original. There’s a thoughtful stillness at the core of this film that is lacking in so much of contemporary sci fi, and it talks (much like the original) about identity and what it is to be human. Blade Runner 2049 is a loving tribute but also a huge step forward in science fiction film. More like this please!

Dunkirk

07 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , ,

Dunkirk (2017) Directed by Christopher Nolan.

My parents were married only a few months before WWII started – yes, I was a very late baby for them! Although my father wasn’t allowed to serve in the armed forces (he was busy teaching people how to build machinery in munitions factories) both he and my mother had friends who served in Europe and the Pacific. By the time I arrived, my mother especially talked a surprising amount about the war, friends who made it through, those who never came home. So when I saw Dunkirk recently, it had quite a profound effect on me and bought back a lot of childhood memories.

I should say from the outset that Christopher Nolan’s vision isn’t entirely historically accurate as I understand it. The pontoon dubbed “the mole” was actually the main point of departure for evacuees and there’s little mention of the French forces and their role in holding back the German forces. Nevertheless, I think this is a stunning, beautifully made and quintessentially British film.

Like much of Nolan’s work, Dunkirk plays with temporality and after the first time shift, it’s an excellent device to show the different points of view of the three main protagonists. These are the young soldier Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), the shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy) and the RAF pilot (Tom Hardy). These main characters are ably supported by the likes of Kenneth Branagh and Mark Ryeland, who bring depth to proceedings.

There is more than a passing nod to other British film makers too, most obviously David Lean. The sweeping views of the beach, filled with real live extras rather than computer generated images, particularly brings Lean to mind. And the aerial combat is really wonderfully shot and edited, with Tom Hardy giving a great performance – mostly with his eyes!

For me though, the glue that holds it all together is the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Perhaps it’s the musician in me but I find so many contemporary soundtracks intrusive and more inclined to bludgeon the viewer towards the required emotional response. Here, Zimmer creates a soundscape that works almost seamlessly with the visual tension to heighten both viewer response and immersion in the action. Yes, it is loud and at times almost overwhelming – but so is the subject matter.

Recommended for a cinema experience.