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2073 2024
The fast-paced montage of clips, laying bare the absolute clusterfuck we’re currently living through, would have been overwhelming without the counterpoint of Samantha Morton’s silent, mundane, miserable daily routine. She moves through each day in an almost meditative way that allows us to pause and reflect on the horror of it all.
At first, it feels a bit off-brand for Kapadia’s “show not tell” style. But Morton’s character is an elective mute. She, literally, does not tell. With a collection…
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Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer 2003
Perhaps it's the endlessly streaming true crime, but this didn’t feel as shocking as it did the first time I watched it. Nick Broomfield is no ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary filmmaker. He is literally part of the story, giving testimony at one of her appeal hearings. Archive footage is edited together with footage from her court appearances, and interviews with Broomfield. He narrates the film, imposing his own (male) authorship on the events he documents, and guiding the audience to the grimly inevitable conclusion.
Charlize Theron used this film to perfect her role in ‘Monster’, for which she rightly won an Oscar. Directed by Patty Jenkins, recommended.Translated from by
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This Is England 2006
Stephen Graham is one of the most underrated actors of his generation.
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Senna 2010
Before Lewis Hamilton, there was Ayrton Senna. He was my favourite racing driver, so I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary. The director, Asif Kapadia, went on to make ‘Amy’, a film that also uses archive footage to create a narrative. Like ‘Amy’, the film is a long collage of footage, without the usual conventions of commentary and talking heads. Like ‘Amy’, it tells the story of a fabulous but flawed person with extraordinary talents. The third film in the trilogy, ‘Diego Maradona’, is also about a deeply flawed but supremely talented individual. They should’ve called it ‘Diego’ really, missed a trick.
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