09/05/2014 The Film Review

marches on in Madrid. That's Sportsday at 6. 30. Now it's time

for the Film Re`view. Hello. Welcome to the Film Review.

To take us through the cinema releases, Mark Kermode. It's a very

good week, Frank, a film inspired by but not based on the character of

Frank Sidebottom. We have Next Goal Wins, the football team who tries to

drag themselves up from the bottom of the world league. And we have The

Wind Rises, which we are assured is the final film from Hayao Miyazaki.

Frank with Michael Fassbender with a mask. Basically, this is inspired by

Jon Ronson's memoir of his time playing key board in Frank

Sidebottom's band. He used to wear a head and do come dip songs. Jon

Ronson wrote an article about this. This has been turned into a

fictional film and the character played by Domhnall Gleeson wants to

be a pop star. Led by his character, called Frank, who has an American

accent and is probably closer in character to Daniel Johnson and they

ask him to join the band. The next thing he finds himself with the band

for a year whiems they rehearse and record their new album. During this

whole period never once does Frank, played by Fassbender farction take

off the head. `` Michael Fassbender, take off the head. Can I ask you

something? Sure. Why do you wear that? You think it's weird? Kind of.

Normal faces are weird too, so, the way they're smooth, smooth, smooth

and then, bleurgh all bumpy and holes. What are eyes, like a science

fiction movie. Don't get me started on lips. Like the edges of a very

seriousserious wound. True. Your head is still sort of intimidating.

Underneath that I'm giving you a welcoming smile. Would it help if I

said my facial expressions outloud? Well, maybe. Welcoming smile.

Delighted look. I giggled awe the way through that.

Are you sure it's Michael Fassbender? He's made a lot of play

of that. Is it you all the time? Actually I was at the hotel! But

he's a physical actor and it combines the fidgety finger thing

with the tack tillity of Daniel Johnson. Although it is absurdly

comic and has terrific music by the band playing the Music Live, Maggie

Gyllenhaal playing It moves into something tragic and very moving.

The genius of it, by Lenny Abrahamson, a story of these two

outsiders, a bit waiting for Goddo, what this has is really inventive

musical score, a brilliant job with the score. Great performances not

least with Michael Fassbender wearing that head. The mask being

liberating rather than being imprisoning. It's a genuinely

exceptional and unexpected pop movie. It reminded me in the tone of

Todd Haynes' superstar or that strange movie Brothers of the Head.

It starts as a grinning farce and then moves into something all

together more moving, more poignant and tragic. It is a unique film. You

will not see anything else like. It I know it's not for everything.

Three women in the office have already said to me, Michael

Fassbender in a mask, that doesn't do it for them. Maybe not a selling

point. It's very brave to take Michael Fassbender and cover his

head for the entirety of the film. Lenny Abrahamson is the man for the

job. Jon Ronson has done a great job. It's one of my filmles of the

year now and I will be surprise today it isn't at the end of the

year. Now Next Goal Wins. The American Samoa team lost 31`0 to

Australia. They were labelled the world's worst football team. This is

a documentary in which they get in a coach to get them off the bottom

when it comes to the World Cup qualifiers. It's a really moving

piece of work. I don't care about football. But watching this, for the

first time ever, I punched the air when the goal were scored. The team

are inspirational. The real man of the match is this transgender

character, who is a really wins the trust and the respect of Thomas

Rongen, who is the coach, who has all this dark stuff in his

background, he's overcoming personal tragedy. The whole thing about Next

Goal Wins, it's about OK, it doesn't matter who scores the most goals,

it's a film about triumph over adversity with people who are really

decent, really interesting and really interesting in playing a

sport for the best possible motive, which is to do better at it. If this

doesn't win you over, you are hard hearted indeed. The Wind Rises. The

last film apparently from Hayao Miyazaki, that he says he's

retiring. Though he has said that br. It's a fictional film, partly

inspired by the life of a plane designer in. His dreams, as a young

boy, he meets the Italian plane designer and dreams of flying,

flying is his ultimate ambition. Here's a clip.

Which world will you choose? I just want to create beautiful aeroplanes.

Like that? Very graceful. I have a long way to

go. I don't even have an engine or cockpit yet.

Bravo. A beautiful dream. It is actually dream`like. It is. Zbli was

drifting off there. That is a dream sequence. The film mixes fact and

fantasy. It is a film about the love of a single ambition, which he says

dreaming for something too beautiful is too much. It is a love story,

which keeps it grounded. The animation is extraordinary. It's a

more grown up film than a lot of Miyazaki's work. He always makes

films with extraordinary age appeal. In this case, this is more grown up.

It feels like a final statement. There's been controversy in Japan

about whether or not it deals with the issue of making planes, which

were then used for warfare, but there's a moment in it, when a

character says rather a world with pyramids than one which doesn't.

It's not Meyer's best work, but it's very poignant. More grown up. You

can see, the animation is breath taking. Looks joyous. It is also

tragic. Pick of the week, I was checking out some facts about this,

Blue Ruin. It was funded by a kickstarter target of $38,000. That

shows what you can do with not a lot of money. It's an extraordinary use

of that money. More and more people are make movies for little budget.

That re`lies on great script, great performances. Blue Ruin has all of

those. It's like an anti`revenge movie. It has a powerful performance

by Macon Blair in the central role. A terrific watch. Who prefer Michael

Fassbender without a fask on `` mask on, your DVD of the week is 12 Years

a Slave. Michael Fassbender's character is the gnattiest character

in the `` gnattiest character in the nastiest character in the film.

Steve McQueen turns out to be a great story teller. This is an

important film. You need to see. It You do indeed. Mark, thanks very

much. A quick reminder, you will find more film news and reviews from

Mark on his BBC blog: That's it for this week, thank you for watching.

Goodbye. It's a beautiful evening out there,

if only it would stay that way. By dawn it will be wet and windy for

most. The rain