Journey's End, Winchester, Roman J Israel, Esq. The Film Review


Journey's End, Winchester, Roman J Israel, Esq.

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all the weekend's football, but

we'll be focusing on the rugby, at

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half past six on BBC news. Now, it

is time for The Film Review.

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Hello and welcome to

The Film Review on BBC News.

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To take us through this week's

cinema releases is Mark Kermode.

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So Mark, what do we have this week?

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We had a new version of journeys

end. Helen Mirren in Winchester, the

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ghost story chiller. And an

Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington in

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Roman J Israel, Esq.

Journeys end, is it a tough watch?

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I was very impressed by it, it is

directed by a man whose previous

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film was about World War II. This is

set in the trenches of World War I,

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a terrific ensemble cast, Toby

Jones, Paul Bettany... And

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essentially what the film does is

capture the sort of day-to-day

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squalor and struggle and comradeship

of people in those trenches in the

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middle of that terrible war.

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My darling Joan. When you read this,

I don't imagine that for one moment

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you will feel bitter and resentful.

But you will find comfort in the

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thought that I went down fighting

for my country. You are too

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clear-headed for that, my darling.

There is a job to be done. It ought

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never to have arisen, but that is

not the point. I have had so very

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much out of life. And all these

youngsters do not realise how

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unlucky they are. So new are they to

their very existence.

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Paul Bettany, capturing the

understated power of the drama. This

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is a story that everyone knows, but

I think they bring something new to

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it. There is a palpable sense of

terror, as -- the fact that we are

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waiting for a German attack, it

hangs heavy over the drama. I think

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the director cranks up the tension,

while all the time reminding us that

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this is to do with the characters,

their day-to-day life, that strange

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mixture of on the one hand grinding

boredom and on the other hand

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imminent terror balanced very

nicely. You get a raw sense of being

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there in that trench environment. I

think what this film manages to do

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is take a classic text and make it

completely relevant, it is very

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cinematic. The performances are

terrific, there are laughs as well,

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and there is real vibrancy in it.

But I find it very moving, very

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powerful, very harrowing, and a very

sort of potent reminder of just what

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was at stake in what was sacrificed.

I thought it was really good, it was

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a really good adaptation.

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You are a horror film fan, argue?

Winchester is not going to scare

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you. This is inspired by the true

story of Sarah Winchester, the

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widowed heiress of the Winchester

rifle fortune. Some people said she

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was haunted by the spirits that have

been killed -- spirits of the people

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killed by the firearms. Is she

crazy, is she haunted, is it all in

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her mind? This sounds like a great

set up, no, all that ambiguity goes

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out in ten seconds. The house goes

bang, there are lots of jump scares,

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the movie shout at you... OK, fine,

it is an interesting setup, but once

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you are into it, it is like the most

mechanical roller-coaster ride. None

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of it is scary. Dame Helen Mirren

does a brilliant job of keeping a

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straight face!

Why did she say yes to this? She

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said it is in the tradition of great

Japanese ghost stories, it is

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nothing like that! It is like

Twister. At no point, at any point,

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did I feel there was any ambiguity,

any uncertainty, and it was not

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scary. You are completely safe with

this.

I can't see it! You have sold

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it.

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Denzel Washington, 30 years after

his first Oscar nomination, he plays

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a savant law attorney, very

dedicated to civil rights causes,

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but is absolutely terrible with

people. So for most of his career he

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has been the person in the backroom,

who does the book work, then the

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partner he has been working with

suddenly finds himself in hospital,

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and he has to step up and do the

interaction, and he cannot do it.

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Here's a clip.

My client is

interested in discussing a deal.

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Refresh me.

Convenience store

shooting, a man was killed. The

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shooter in this case was a fugitive.

My client may know his whereabouts

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and might be willing to testify. He

will deliver on that? If you waive

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all objections on appeal, and he is

willing to cooperate, we will drop

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the assault and kidnapping, and drop

murder 1-2 in voluntary

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manslaughter, ten years. It is a

good deal.

I'm sorry for taking a

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nanosecond of of your rubber-stamp

assembly-line existence... Hello?!

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So he can't do any of the

interaction stuff, but he needs

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money. So he sells out. The

beginning is him accusing himself of

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having sold out. It is an uneven

drama, it tries to cram a huge

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character arc into a small period of

time. But he is really watchable,

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you do believe in his transition

between somebody who is very

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idealistic to somebody who is

selling himself out, even if you

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don't quite believe the drama around

him. It is quite often funny,

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sometimes the town is uneven to the

point of not working, and I have to

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say it really loses its way in the

third act. -- the town is uneven.

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And ultimately it is not hang

together, but wouldn't you rather

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look at a movie which tries to do

something interesting and doesn't

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quite pull it off, rather than

something that is quite down the

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line? It is held together by his

performance, which is immensely

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watchable.

And he is so likeable, I

so liked Denzel Washington, but I

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guess you want it to be better. Was

it created just as a vehicle for

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him?

Look, I think it is a film that

is trying to do a very complicated

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character arc, in a very compressed

period of time, and it doesn't quite

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hang together. But it has such a

strong lightning rod performance at

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the end of it, that you can't

forgive it for the things that are

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wrong with it.

Phantom Thread.

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This is the new Paul Thomas

Anderson. I think it is his best

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film since Punch Drunk Love. Daniel

Day-Lewis is obsessed with rituals,

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everything in his life has to be one

way... Lesley Manville is his

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sister, and some -- suddenly his

life falls apart. He falls in love

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with a woman. Firstly it has a

brilliant score by Jonny Greenwood

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who has been Oscar-nominated. In the

music is wonderful. I do think

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Lesley Manville is going to win for

Best supporting actress. I have no

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seen this four time, and every time

I see it it looks like it is a

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different film. -- I have now seen.

The more I watch it, the more it

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becomes a fairy tale, like a Powell

and Pressburger film. But it is also

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about a woman entering a film -- a

world that is like Bluebeard. The

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art ventures out into the forest,

strange mushrooms that have

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extraordinary powers... -- the art

ventures. O'Lynn it is odd! It is

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beautifully made.

-- Wright it is beautifully made.

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That is such a backhanded

compliment!

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I loved the first half hour so much,

and there is such attention to

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detail, with the music and the

costumes, but the relationship

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between the two of them just got

weirder and weirder.

But it is a

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fairy tale, it is a mythical

allegory. It is a horror! What it

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really is, it is a ghost story about

him being obsessed with the ghost of

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his mother. If you want a ghost

story, forget about Winchester, go

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and see this.

Very quick thought about DVD, I'm

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curious as to whether, should Blade

Runner even be watched on DVD, isn't

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it made for the big screen?

I saw it

first on a huge IMAX screen. Here's

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the good news, it does stand up,

because big -- beyond the

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extraordinary visuals, it is a film

that has substance. It is about

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something, it is about what

artificial intelligence is and what

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it means to have a soul not have a

soul.

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It is a very different experience on

home viewing, but even if you saw it

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in the cinema and loved it, it is

going to work again on DVD or

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Blu-ray. And though it is really

divisive for some people, but I

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think it is great.

Mark, thank you very much.

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A quick reminder before we go that

you'll find more film news

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and reviews from across the BBC

online at bbc.co.uk/mark kermode.

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And you can find all our previous

programmes on the BBC iPlayer.

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I think it is the week

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