ARTS 3314 March 2020 THE WEEKFilm“Longago,theworldwasfilledwithwonder,”we
learnatthestartofOnward,thelatestanimated
featurefromPixar.Buttheuseofmagichasfaded
awayinthismagickingdom,saidBrianVinerinthe
DailyMail:technologyissomuchmoreconvenient.
Andtoday,theelvesandwizardsinhabitauniverse
thatis“lessMiddleEarthandmoreMiddleAmerica”,
withchainrestaurantsandferalunicornsforaging
inbins.Ourheroesaretwoteenageelves(voicedby
TomHollandandChrisPratt)whoarepropelledon
amadadventureafterbeinggivenaspelltoresurrect,
forasingleday,theirdeadfather.The“primal
wound”isPixar’s“signature”theme,saidDannyLeighintheFT.Buthere,it“feelsnon-synthetic”:
directorDanScanlon’sownfatherdiedwhenhewasachild,andhisgood-humoured,“sweetlyodd”
filmhasmomentsof“unfakeablepoignancy”.Pixarhasdeliveredanother“soul-crushingtear-
jerker”,saidChrissieLoughreyinTheIndependent.Delving“deepintotheideaofhowour
identitiesareform edthroughthepeopleweloveandhavelost”,Onwardpokesatrawnerves;but
there’sgoofycomedyandcleverculturalreferencestoo.ThisisPixardoingwhatPixardoesbest.Onward
Dir:DanScanlon
1hr47mins(U)Moreemotional
wizardryfromPixar★★★★In1979,agroupofwhiteanti-apartheidactivists
escapedfromajailinSouthAfricausingwooden
keysthey’dcraftedintheprisonworkshop.“Their
causewasrighteousandtheirmethodsingenious,”
saidJohnDeForeinTheHollywoodReporter,“butas
tensionmounts”inthisfilmrecountingthebreakout,
youcan’thelpwondering:whydon’ttheyjustbash
thatlonejaileron hisheadand usehiskeystospring
alltheprison’sinmates? Flat and derivative,Escape
fromPretoriais“noone’sfinesthour”,saidKevin
MaherinTheTimes. The politicsareclumsy;the
cast’saccentsarejust appalling;andDaniel Radcliffe
delivers astrangely blankcentral performance,inwhichheveersbetween“lookingdetermined” and
“looking fearfulanddetermined”.ButdirectorFrancisAnnanproduces somegreat“visualflourishes”,
saidJamieEast inTheSun, andasapureescapemovie, it’s gripping.Tomake the keys, the
prisonershadtomemorisetheshape ofeach onedanglingfromawarden’schain. “Ifyourfavourite
partofTheShawshankRedemptionwas seeinghow Andy dughis tunnel,youwilllovethis.”Escape from
Pretoria
Dir: Francis Annan
1hr 44mins (12A)Apartheid-era thriller
with Daniel Radcliffe★★Aboutagroup ofwomenwho formasingingclub
whentheirhusbandsaresentto fight inAfghanistan,
MilitaryWivesisoneof thoseBritishcomedydramas
thatdo “everythingyouexpectandnothingyou
don’t,butthat’s OK”,becausethat’show welike
them,saidDeborahRossin TheSpectator.The choir
ishopeless atfirst, butthenthe prim colonel’swife
Kate(KristinScottThomas) startstofindcommon
ground withbrittle,boozyLisa (SharonHorgan), and
–surprise,surprise –itallcomestogether.Director
PeterCattaneomadeTheFullMonty,and“here he
isbackon reassuringlyfeel-good territory”,saidEd
Powerin The DailyTelegraph. But the film’s“frontal assaultontheaudience’stearductsisundercut
bysolidlyunsentimental” performances from its mainstars.Thescriptisexcellenttoo,sprinkled
with“well-observeddetails”, saidMarkKermodeinTheObserver. Thisis“broad-strokes fare”,but
such is theemotionalpowerofmusic,you’dhave to bequite hard-hearted not togetswept upin it.Military Wives
Dir: Peter Cattaneo
1hr 53mins (12A)Cheerful story of soldiers’
wives formingachoir
★★★“People are people,” wrote Malorie Blackman
inNoughts&Crosses,“we’llalwaysfindaway
to mess up, doesn’t matter who’s in charge.” In
her young-adult novel, now adapted for BBC1,
she conjured an alternate reality in which
history has been flipped, said Ellen E. Jones
in The Guardian. Seven hundred years ago,
adark-skinned race from “Aprica” conquered
Europe, and they (the Crosses), are now
in charge, ruling aggressively over the light-
skinned majority (the Noughts). The black
people have power and live in luxury, while the
whites are denied basic rights and confined to graffiti-strewn
ghettos: this is “the ingenious simplicity of Blackman’s premise”.
“Millions of teenagers will attest to the power of her story,” said
Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. With aRomeo and Juliet-style
romance at its heart, theNoughts&Crossesseries of books has
sold more than 1.7 million copies. “What makes the transfer totelevision so successful is the attention to detail
in the production.” The world of Albion (as this
version of Britain is called) is brilliantly realised.
African influence is everywhere, from the
clothes and hairstyles to the landmarks (a
figure ofablac kwoman dominates the capital’s
skyline). Meanwhile, the Noughts have differing
attitudes to their oppressed status: Jack Dorn
(Shaun Dingwall) isayoung man intent on
provokingarace war, while Meggie (Helen
Baxendale), who works asahousekeeperfor
ahard-line home secretary, accepts her lot.
Theworld itself is so “richly imagined”, the slightly shopworn
central story–aboutthe home secretary’s daughter (Masali
Baduza) falling for Meggie’s son (Jack Rowan)–seemsan
afterthought, said BenDowellinThe Times.IhopeAlbion,with its
apartheid-style laws, has not too much to say about today, but it’s
certainlyafresh way to highlight the ugliness of racist prejudice.Noughts +Crosses:aprovocative novel hits the small screenBaduzaandRowan:star-crossed