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

all the weekend's football, but

we'll be focusing on the rugby, at

half past six on BBC news. Now, it

is time for The Film Review.

Hello and welcome to

The Film Review on BBC News.

To take us through this week's

cinema releases is Mark Kermode.

So Mark, what do we have this week?

We had a new version of journeys

end. Helen Mirren in Winchester, the

ghost story chiller. And an

Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington in

Roman J Israel, Esq.

Journeys end, is it a tough watch?

I was very impressed by it, it is

directed by a man whose previous

film was about World War II. This is

set in the trenches of World War I,

a terrific ensemble cast, Toby

Jones, Paul Bettany... And

essentially what the film does is

capture the sort of day-to-day

squalor and struggle and comradeship

of people in those trenches in the

middle of that terrible war.

My darling Joan. When you read this,

I don't imagine that for one moment

you will feel bitter and resentful.

But you will find comfort in the

thought that I went down fighting

for my country. You are too

clear-headed for that, my darling.

There is a job to be done. It ought

never to have arisen, but that is

not the point. I have had so very

much out of life. And all these

youngsters do not realise how

unlucky they are. So new are they to

their very existence.

Paul Bettany, capturing the

understated power of the drama. This

is a story that everyone knows, but

I think they bring something new to

it. There is a palpable sense of

terror, as -- the fact that we are

waiting for a German attack, it

hangs heavy over the drama. I think

the director cranks up the tension,

while all the time reminding us that

this is to do with the characters,

their day-to-day life, that strange

mixture of on the one hand grinding

boredom and on the other hand

imminent terror balanced very

nicely. You get a raw sense of being

there in that trench environment. I

think what this film manages to do

is take a classic text and make it

completely relevant, it is very

cinematic. The performances are

terrific, there are laughs as well,

and there is real vibrancy in it.

But I find it very moving, very

powerful, very harrowing, and a very

sort of potent reminder of just what

was at stake in what was sacrificed.

I thought it was really good, it was

a really good adaptation.

You are a horror film fan, argue?

Winchester is not going to scare

you. This is inspired by the true

story of Sarah Winchester, the

widowed heiress of the Winchester

rifle fortune. Some people said she

was haunted by the spirits that have

been killed -- spirits of the people

killed by the firearms. Is she

crazy, is she haunted, is it all in

her mind? This sounds like a great

set up, no, all that ambiguity goes

out in ten seconds. The house goes

bang, there are lots of jump scares,

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

it is an interesting setup, but once

you are into it, it is like the most

mechanical roller-coaster ride. None

of it is scary. Dame Helen Mirren

does a brilliant job of keeping a

straight face!

Why did she say yes to this? She

said it is in the tradition of great

Japanese ghost stories, it is

nothing like that! It is like

Twister. At no point, at any point,

did I feel there was any ambiguity,

any uncertainty, and it was not

scary. You are completely safe with

this.

I can't see it! You have sold

it.

Denzel Washington, 30 years after

his first Oscar nomination, he plays

a savant law attorney, very

dedicated to civil rights causes,

but is absolutely terrible with

people. So for most of his career he

has been the person in the backroom,

who does the book work, then the

partner he has been working with

suddenly finds himself in hospital,

and he has to step up and do the

interaction, and he cannot do it.

Here's a clip.

My client is

interested in discussing a deal.

Refresh me.

Convenience store

shooting, a man was killed. The

shooter in this case was a fugitive.

My client may know his whereabouts

and might be willing to testify. He

will deliver on that? If you waive

all objections on appeal, and he is

willing to cooperate, we will drop

the assault and kidnapping, and drop

murder 1-2 in voluntary

manslaughter, ten years. It is a

good deal.

I'm sorry for taking a

nanosecond of of your rubber-stamp

assembly-line existence... Hello?!

So he can't do any of the

interaction stuff, but he needs

money. So he sells out. The

beginning is him accusing himself of

having sold out. It is an uneven

drama, it tries to cram a huge

character arc into a small period of

time. But he is really watchable,

you do believe in his transition

between somebody who is very

idealistic to somebody who is

selling himself out, even if you

don't quite believe the drama around

him. It is quite often funny,

sometimes the town is uneven to the

point of not working, and I have to

say it really loses its way in the

third act. -- the town is uneven.

And ultimately it is not hang

together, but wouldn't you rather

look at a movie which tries to do

something interesting and doesn't

quite pull it off, rather than

something that is quite down the

line? It is held together by his

performance, which is immensely

watchable.

And he is so likeable, I

so liked Denzel Washington, but I

guess you want it to be better. Was

it created just as a vehicle for

him?

Look, I think it is a film that

is trying to do a very complicated

character arc, in a very compressed

period of time, and it doesn't quite

hang together. But it has such a

strong lightning rod performance at

the end of it, that you can't

forgive it for the things that are

wrong with it.

Phantom Thread.

This is the new Paul Thomas

Anderson. I think it is his best

film since Punch Drunk Love. Daniel

Day-Lewis is obsessed with rituals,

everything in his life has to be one

way... Lesley Manville is his

sister, and some -- suddenly his

life falls apart. He falls in love

with a woman. Firstly it has a

brilliant score by Jonny Greenwood

who has been Oscar-nominated. In the

music is wonderful. I do think

Lesley Manville is going to win for

Best supporting actress. I have no

seen this four time, and every time

I see it it looks like it is a

different film. -- I have now seen.

The more I watch it, the more it

becomes a fairy tale, like a Powell

and Pressburger film. But it is also

about a woman entering a film -- a

world that is like Bluebeard. The

art ventures out into the forest,

strange mushrooms that have

extraordinary powers... -- the art

ventures. O'Lynn it is odd! It is

beautifully made.

-- Wright it is beautifully made.

That is such a backhanded

compliment!

I loved the first half hour so much,

and there is such attention to

detail, with the music and the

costumes, but the relationship

between the two of them just got

weirder and weirder.

But it is a

fairy tale, it is a mythical

allegory. It is a horror! What it

really is, it is a ghost story about

him being obsessed with the ghost of

his mother. If you want a ghost

story, forget about Winchester, go

and see this.

Very quick thought about DVD, I'm

curious as to whether, should Blade

Runner even be watched on DVD, isn't

it made for the big screen?

I saw it

first on a huge IMAX screen. Here's

the good news, it does stand up,

because big -- beyond the

extraordinary visuals, it is a film

that has substance. It is about

something, it is about what

artificial intelligence is and what

it means to have a soul not have a

soul.

It is a very different experience on

home viewing, but even if you saw it

in the cinema and loved it, it is

going to work again on DVD or

Blu-ray. And though it is really

divisive for some people, but I

think it is great.

Mark, thank you very much.

A quick reminder before we go that

you'll find more film news

and reviews from across the BBC

online at bbc.co.uk/mark kermode.

And you can find all our previous

programmes on the BBC iPlayer.

I think it is the week