'Burn!' (1969) - Gillo Pontecorvo.

Pre-eminent film-maker Gillo Pontecorvo's visually stunning 19^th century cinematic masterpiece 'Burn!' aka 'Queimada'(1969) is an emotionally hefty, philosophically dense, vividly realised period war drama with breathtaking scenery, blazing, blood-rousing action, and suitably strident performances from a fascinatingly devilish Marlon Brando as the Machiavellian mercenary Sir William Walker sent to the politically inclement climate of the Caribbean to bloodily overthrow the incumbent Portuguese leadership for the entirely darker, far from altruistic motives of rapacious British sugar cane importers. 

This uniquely exhilarating, soul stirring epic benefits greatly from the commanding masculine presence of strikingly handsome, statuesque Columbian-born actor Evaristo Márquez who is on charismatic form as the increasingly beleaguered rebel leader José Dolores who somewhat precariously soon finds himself the unwilling stooge in a series of disastrous political machinations overseen by gifted orator Sir William acting at the behest of the equally duplicitous British government. It's certainly easy to see why Brando regarded this as one of his finest performances, and maestro Ennio Morricone's triumphant score is a truly magnificent piece of music! Bravura stylist Gillo Pontecorvo has an uncommon genius for orchestrating muscular martial mayhem and boldly confronting the audience with extraordinarily impactful scenes alongside filigree moments of sublime intimacy, once seen, Pontecorvo's incendiary period drama 'Burn!' sears itself forcefully into your consciousness.  

 

 

'Relentless' (2020) – Steven Murphy.

After having greatly enjoyed independent film-maker Steven Murphy's sexually skewed, downbeat small-town melodrama 'My Saviour', I eagerly went into his gritty suburban pot-boiler 'Relentless', secretly hoping for a similarly strange, off-beat excursion into the bellicose Brit-gangster milieu, only to soon discover that, for reasons obscure, Murphy largely eschews the quixotic, auteurist weirdness of 'My Saviour' for a far more formulaic gunz n' dodgy geezerz 'Essex Boys' pastiche. Jake (Steven), an amiable quick-fisted lug is released from nick for crimes obscure, only to find himself inexorably embroiled in some increasingly volatile small-town chav warfare that will do little to endear him to his parole officer!. 

After the muscular thug with the big heart comes to the aid of Ava (Tiffany Ellen-Robinson), a chippy, red-headed brass with the proverbial gilded heart, these dramatically mismatched hearts form an uneasy, frequently febrile alliance as they frantically attempt to elude the ever encroaching menace of knife-wielding, Hyena-like Hoodies, reckless roid-headed hoodlums, gun-happy gangsters and some mountainous mush-mouthed mongle called 'The Beast'! Even with 'Relentless' concluding explosively in a seemingly arbitrary squib-happy gunfight I found myself a little underwhelmed by it all. The acting performances are pretty variable, with stolid, if unexciting work from Murphy, and the plainly engaged Ellen-Robinson is convincing as the pitifully insecure, hard-luck, happy-go-mucky harlot, but, unfortunately, it is all a trifle predictable, Murphy's generic dialogue is functional, rather than exceptional, the too-hectic fight scenes appeared rushed, but happily the noisome, thick-eared narrative is deliciously enlivened by actor/composer Maria Theresa Rodriguez's fine score. In conclusion, while I enjoyed the more incongruent episodes of 'Reckless' it lacked the inherent WTF quality of 'My Saviour'. To end on a more positive note, I genuinely dug the Father Ted joke! 

 

 

'Euphoria' (2017) – Lisa Langseth.

Dusky Alice Vikander and a deadly pale Eva Green play estranged sisters who are somewhat uncomfortably reunited at an isolated, picturesque resort in some lush european idyll, a seemingly genteel environment wherein the well-to-do terminally sick are sensitively given the freedom to facilitate their own death in this conspicuously new-agey, spa-like environment. Acclaimed Writer/director Lisa Langseth's earnest, handsomely shot drama deals tastefully with a contentious theme that evocatively translates into austere, contemplative, if not consistently gripping cinema. 

There's a curiously detached quality to the film-making, as though coolly observing the final anxious days of the desperately ailing Emilie (Eva Green) from afar, but the acting is of a high standard, and there are a number of earthy, well-written exchanges between the grieved, antagonistic sisters which rang true, and the always wonderful, preternaturally graceful Charlotte Rampling effortlessly expresses her inimitable gravitas. To be blunt, talky, introspective films about the weighty emotional complexities of assisted suicide are, by definition, going to be a niche affair, but I sincerely applaud Langseth for making it, and the final fragile moments of Emilie's bespoke 'leaving' was certainly impactful.

'In the end we are all pathetic' Mr. Daren (Charles Dance)