by Emilia Ippolito
23 Walks
Paul Morrison directs a very simple story- with just very few necessary twists. The film is about the so-called ‘golden third age’ ; it’s the story of Fern - retired dancer and singer- and Dave, a retired nurse, both over sixty and essentially lonely.
They are accompanied by their dogs : Henry and Tilly, who get acquainted on some North London fields and like each other’s com...
by Emilia Ippolito
Sally Potter’s most recent indie film has an extremely ‘simple’ plot. It tells the story of Leo, a Mexican writer (Xavier Bardem, of course ) in NYC: now a naturalised American citizen, he suffers from dementia.
He spends his days recollecting his multifarious past made of multiple relations (two marriages: with Dolores: Salma Hayeck and Rita: Laura Linney), two children- one lost and Molly, a young woman (exce...
by Emilia Ippolito
After a long wait and a few delays due to the COVID-19 closure, Chris Nolan’s latest film is finally out.
Nolan’s films in particular have to be watched on a big screen- therefore the annoying delays were more than justified.
As with Inception, the plot offers futuristic potential terror scenarios and their fictional outcomes, with a few realistic hints at actual threats we might face in a hopefully remote future. Against c...
by Emilia Ippolito
Cinemas are finally open again in England : it was high time, and personally I cannot see how sitting for a couple of hours maximum in a large, clean screen could ever be riskier than sitting on a plane.
Anyway, digressions aside, big screens, Dolby sound and the whole cinematic experience have definitely been missed!
One of the few brand new films currently screening - among a number of masterclass ‘oldies’ -...
by Emilia Ippolito
If you are interested in whistle blowers and investigative journalism, this is a fine film on the efforts of a brilliant corporate lawyer, Rob Bilott, to bring down one of the largest and most powerful corporate name in biochemicals on the planet : DuPont.
The American company is the original producer of Teflon, main component of about 90% of anything we use : ranging from clothing to the now infamous Teflon cooking pans, Teflon is a highly poisonous chemical construct,...
By Emilia Ippolito
Hollywood has awarded the South Korean film Parasite several Oscars this year : best feature film, best director and best international film of the year. It’s not a coincidence that the film had already deservedly won the Palme d’Or in Cannes
After much controversy about the lack of diversity of this year shortlist, Hollywood has selected for the first time in its history a foreign, very diverse narrative in a foreign language
The awards are certainly wel...
by Emilia Ippolito
A well-known novel by Jane Austen, certainly not her best one, Emma has just been released in the UK
The cast is not as well known as Austen: Anna Taylor-Joy and Johnny Flynn in the main roles of gossipy, manipulative Emma Woodhouse and independent wealthy George Knightley, Mia Goth as innocent Miss Bates, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner in satellite roles and the wonderful Bill Nighy as Mr Woodhouse.
The script lacks good pace and becomes quickly fragmentary a...
Sony Pictures
by Emilia Ippolito
Little Women belongs to the literary classics a lot of readers and viewers are fond of : Louisa May Alcott has delighted generations of readers with her well written story of the four March sisters during and after the American Civil War
The March are honest, sociable, religious and very American.
This is Greta Gerwig’s - whose latest Lady Bird received several awards - adaptation of a worldwide appreciated novel. Now I have to say Gerwig&rsqu...
by Emilia Ippolito
Guy Ritchie keeps surprising and delighting his audience with his brand new film The Gentlemen
Ritchie is keen - as ever - to be in charge not only of direction, but also of plot and script writing and a share of production. Whoever thinks that this might be a little too much should go see this movie to change their mind
The narrative flows like a perfectly paced and ‘harmonious’ clockwork, in which a master cast dances with each other indulging in une...
by Emilia Ippolito
Award winner British director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) gives cinema goers an unusual Christmas gift this year : Cats on the big screen
Cats as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s worldwide musical success premiered in the West End in May 1981: London was a different planet then!
The musical recently closed only just last year, whilst it continues to be staged on Broadway
It tells the story of ‘Jellicles’ cats : TS Eliot’s original idea in h...
Photo (Walt Disney Studios)
by Emilia Ippolito
J J Abrams, George Lucas and his team surprise us once again with a new film on one of the best known Hollywood franchises : legendary Star Wars
Being more than a little sceptical and having missed the first seven movies, I went in with a few reservations ....
This is the third generation of the Star Wars story. We watch Rey (dynamic Daisy Ridley in total white) and Kylo Ren (excellent Alan Driver in total black) fighting against e...
by Emilia Ippolito
It sounds like a film set in Brooklyn, which it may also be, however Motherless Brooklyn is the protagonist’s nick name (Edward Norton)
Orphan Lionel Essrog is a ‘special’ detective : affected by Tourette Syndrome, a severe form of autism, he has a great capacity to memorise images, numbers, facts; he chooses to use all of this for his job: private detective for Frank Minna ( Bruce Willis), stylish owner of the detective agency.
Frank pra...
by Emilia Ippolito
This is high quality rendition and factual account of a historical rivalry between two major car producers : Ford and Ferrari.
The story follows two of its protagonists: American racing driver and racing car manufacturer Carroll Shelby (an excellent Matt Demon) and British motor lover turned into racing driver Ken Miles ( an absolutely fantastic Chris Bale). It explores both men’s dreams and passions, their professional profile and their friendship, all playing a...
Russian Film Week
by Emilia Ippolito
The fourth edition of the UK Russian Film Week closed with the film The End Of Season (2019) and a pleasant gala party at the BFI Southbank, with whom the Festival connects every year.
Filip Perkon, producer, Director and founder of the UK Russian Film Festival, has already announced a wider and richer program for next year, which will be celebrating its fifth anniversary in four UK cities: London, Edinburgh, Cambridge and Oxford
The film by the re...
by Emilia Ippolito
The 23rd UK Jewish Film Festival 2019 closed last night in London at Picture House, with the screening of Taika Waititi’s JoJo Rabbit (2019), preceded by a reception and the Award Ceremony presented by the pleasantly experienced BBC broadcaster Jonathan Solomons
The Dorfman Best Film this year was awarded to Dolce Fine Giornata (Jacek Borcuch); the Dorfman Best Debut Festure to Leona (Isaac Cherem) and Dorfman Best Documentary Award to Advocate (Philippe Bellaich...
by Emilia Ippolito
This Parisian story explores avenues of urban solitude and how two thirty-something year old deal with them
The action takes place in a run down middle class neighbourhood in Paris. Remy (Francois Civil) - a call centre worker - and Melanie (Ana Girardot) - a passionate cancer researcher still healing from the end of her former relationship are neighbours, and dealing with similar issues - with no knowledge of the other. Both embracing analysis : state-funded for Fra...
by Emilia Ippolito
The UK French Film Festival- currently on in several UK cities (7-15 November) shows a wide variety of relevant and valuable films from French speaking countries
One of them is certainly Continuer - Keep Going (2018), directed by Belgian Joachim Lafosse
It portrays a mother-son relationship on a difficult ‘reconciliation trip’ through supposedly Central Asian harsh landscapes, on horses. We are rather used to watch/read stories about father-son or moth...
by Emilia Ippolito
The UK Jewish Film Festival (6-21 November) offers a variety of new and old films all over the UK this year.
In London we will be able to watch Flawless (2018), with the transgender Jewish model Stav Strashko.
It’s the story of a transgender girl coming of age between Israel and Ukraine- where Stav was actually born. We follow the shy but self-aware teen ager protagonist: a boy who has always felt like a girl - through awful bullying at school, where her male f...
by Emilia Ippolito
After five years, we finally have the sequel to Maleficent (2014) on general release in the UK.
A modern fantasy film paying tribute to Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, the sequel depicts a battle between good and evil. Mind you, it could very well make ‘abstract’ reference to political and certainly social battlefields we are witnessing right now.
Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) travels to an an old castle in a different land to celebrate Aurora’s ...
by Emilia Ippolito
Official Secrets, currently on general release in the UK, tells us the story of a British civil servant, Katherine Gun, who disclosed a highly confidential memo to the press - via a controversial anti war activist - asking British intelligence for support in convincing a few members of the UN Security Council to vote in favour of the war in Irak. Gun, turning from intelligence officer into a spy, but thinking merely in terms of human loss, was against the invasion - hence h...
by Emilia Ippolito
Within the large Documentary Film section at the 63rd edition of the BFI Film Festival in London this year one in particular caught our attention: The Cave, directed by Tom Weller.
The Cave tells the story of the 2018 unexpected rescue of the Wild Boars Thai football team from the Tham Luang Cave. The junior group, who volunteered to descend into those depths, was trapped in the cave with their coach for 18 days during the Monsoon season. An international team planned ...
by Emilia Ippolito
In spite of the absence of relevant talents, the 63rd edition of the BFI Film Festival has offered an international audience in London a very interesting and broad program this year.
One of the most appealing films is certainly Ordinary Love. Directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville, this insightful feature portrays a married couple facing Lesley’s long term and maybe fatal illness.
Both script and visual conce...
by Emilia Ippolito
The 63rd BFI Film Festival closed this year with a sensational film: The Irishman, directed by the cinema icon Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro (Frank Sheeran) and Al Pacino (Jimmy Hoffa) in the main roles and Joe Pesci (Russell Bufalino) along with Harvey Keitel (Angelo Bruno) and Anna Paquin (Peggy Sheeran) in minor roles - but just as relevant to its complex narrative.
The story is broadly based on Charles Brandt’s biopic I Heard You...
Ippolito Emily 
