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Film REVIEWS
DRAMA MOONRISE KINGDOM (PG) 94min ●●●●●
Wes Anderson’s seventh film feels like a Greatest Hits package. Which, if you’re a Wes fan, will make you very happy. Set on a New England island in the summer of 1965, the opening sequence of Moonrise Kingdom, with its incessant camera-pans around the Bishop household, recalls the stylistic choices made in both The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The character of Sam (Jared Gilman), the 12-year-old boy scout who leads this idiosyncratic comedy, feels like a pint-sized Max Fischer, the smart-assed schoolboy of Rushmore. A comical coming of-age romance, Moonrise Kingdom sees
orphan Sam convince Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) to run away with him, an act that sends the insular community into spasms. As these two innocents hide out in the woods, they are soon pursued by Suzy’s legal eagle parents (Bill Murray, Frances McDormand), not to mention the local scout master (Ed Norton) and sheriff (Bruce Willis). Co-written by Anderson with Roman Coppola (The
Darjeeling Limited), like all Anderson films, the detail is extraordinary – right down to the badges on the scout uniforms. From maps to retro record players to a particularly striking-looking Tilda Swinton (a vision in navy in her cameo as a character known only as Social Services), Robert Yeoman’s dreamy cinematography serves up a visual delight. Whether it will move you is another matter. Thematically, it’s another Anderson film dealing with fractured families, though it feels lightweight emotionally – not coming near the profundity of The Royal Tenenbaums. Even at 94 minutes, the film feels overlong and its whimsical nature won’t be to everyone’s taste. But such is its beauty and belief in its own universe, Anderson devotees will be over the moon. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 25 May.
DRAMA POLISSE (15) 127 mins ●●●●● ACTION RED TAILS (12A) 125min ●●●●●
PERIOD DRAMA A ROYAL AFFAIR (15) 138mins ●●●●●
This sprawling ensemble film, which tracks the harrowing daily routines of a Parisian Child Protection Unit, veers wildly between the compelling and the ridiculous. Scripted and directed by Maiwenn, with Emmaneulle Bercot acting as co- writer, it shifts between an array of police colleagues, including the divorcing Nadine (Karin Viard), the hot- headed Fred (Joeystarr), the combative Iris (Marina Fois), and the paternal Baloo (Frédéric Pierrot). Shot on hand-held DV cameras, the semi- improvised Polisse has a powerful sense of naturalistic immediacy, but the film is hamstrung by Maiwenn’s decision to cast herself as a civilian photographer assigned to the group who turns out to have supermodel looks, and romances the volatile cop from the wrong-side of the tracks. Individual performances (not least Louis-Do de Lenquessaing’s unrepentant molester) impress, and there are interesting ideas here about the gulf between the world-weary adults and the prematurely-sexualised adolescents, but overall Polisse is a clear case of a film that needed much more stringent editing. (Tom Dawson) ■ Selected release from Fri 15 Jun.
Star Wars creator George Lucas used clips from his favourite aviation dramas to stand in for battle scenes in the original rough-cut of Star Wars, so it’s no surprise that several decades later, Lucas has invested some of his personal wealth in an old- fashioned WWII airborne-action film. But despite lashings of expensively rendered CGI action, the result is duller than a Pathé newsreel. Red Tails is based around the exploits of an
African-American crew of trainee pilots stationed in Italy. Led by Major Emanuelle Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr) and Colonel AJ Bullard (Terrence Howard), the Tuskegee flyboys defy both Nazi pilots and institutional racism alike as they complete a number of successful missions, with Nate Parker, David Oyelowo and singer Ne-Yo amongst the pilots.
In the hands of first-time feature director Anthony Hemingway, Lucas’ dream project crashes and burns due to thin characterization, hoary clichés and crude simplifications, making for a feeble tribute to Days of Glory, Rachid Bouchareb’s comparable 2006 drama about the Algerian contribution to the war. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Wed 6 Jun.
Reuniting the writing team behind the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, A Royal Affair is a welcome break from the current plethora of morbid Scandinavian thrillers; instead, Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel have co-adapted an unfamiliar but true story of 18th century Danish royalty. Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) brings his charm
to bear as Johann Struensee, a German who becomes personal physician to Danish King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard). Christian is unhappily married to British Queen Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander), who enjoys cavorting between the sheets with Struensee. The German uses his courtly position to manipulate the king into pushing through political reforms, but eventually rumours of the queen’s infidelity cause the tide of public opinion to turn against them all.
A Royal Affair’s enjoyably literate script makes reference to many Enlightenment writers, as well as regular allusions to Hamlet. But chemistry is what’s missing here; the cold aloofness and mismatched quality of A Royal Affair’s cast never suggests the burning passions required. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 15 Jun.
24 May–21 Jun 2012 THE LIST 87