Barry Jenkins follows Moonlight – the sumptuously cinematic coming of age Oscar winner that famously wasn’t La La Land two years ago – with a love story almost equally perfect. Based on the eponymous novel by pioneering novelist James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk boasts gorgeous writing and Jenkins’ now familiar eye for visual lyricism. Frustration and anger weave through his painfully empathetic narrative, which is itself told with a wonderfully fluid approach to time. The casting, meanwhile, is impeccable, with Jenkins once again proving himself to be a raconteur of talent and kingmaker.
A fuss was made recently about The Upside, an American remake of foreign-language film Les Intouchables. Few saw its purpose, given the success of the well-loved original, but I took exception. While I appreciated many aspects of the French version, I also understand that films not in the English language don’t feel accessible for everyone. Many people simply don’t have the tolerance required for subtitles or dubbing, which is okay. There has been a comparable hoo-ha about Sara Colangelo’s The Kindergarten Teacher, a largely faithful remake of critically-acclaimed Israeli film Haganenet. To those up in arms, I say: why can’t we just enjoy both?
A barnstorming twist closes Destroyer, the riveting new film from Girlfight director Karyn Kusama, but this is more intrigue crime drama than compelling thriller. Nicole Kidman leads as haggard antihero Erin Bell, an LAPD officer – with complex history – who could easily warrant a franchise to deliver her own extreme form justice. Staggering around with a potent feline vulnerability, Kidman is unrecognisable in every sense, bar that hers is yet another recognisably stellar performance.
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