The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

Film and TV^33

LesMisérables

Dir: LadjLy (1hr44mins)(15)

★★★★

Set in theParis suburbthat partly inspired

VictorHugo’s 1862novel, Ladj Ly’s feature

debut is the most“incendiary” Frenchcrime

drama sinceLa Haine,said Kevin Maherin The

Times. Itopensjoyously,with striking images

of amultiethnic, tricolour-clad crowdincentral

Paris celebrating France’s victoryinthe 2018

World Cup–but the tone darkens when we

return to Montfermeil, andjoin threepolice

officers patrolling themean streets ofthe

banlieue(the scene of the2005 riots,andwhere

Ly grewup). In scenes basedonreal events, an

“idealistic newbie” amongthe tr io watches

aghast as hiscoll eagues bully localschoolgirls

and stealdrugs.Then,ateenagedelinquent

named Issa(the descendant, perhaps,ofHugo’s

Gavroche)stealsalioncub fromatravelling

gypsy circus, an impulsive actionthat unleashes

simmeringtensionsbetwe en theparties battling

to control thestreets.

Les Misérablesstartsoutasa“fascinatingly

tough copprocedural”, vividlyevoking lifein

thebanlieue,saidPeter Bradshaw inThe

Guardian. Butwhen Montfermeilerup ts, and

the dramatictensionis “b litzedby Molotov

cocktails”, it turnsintoa“ponderousissue

movieon thosefamiliar subjects ofpolice

brutality and communitydivisions”.Not to me

it didn’t,said Mark Kermode in The Observer:

Ifound it arresting throughout.The fi lm’s

young stars “lend gripping veracity to scenes

that mightotherwisehave seemed contrived

or overwrought”; unlikeLa Haine,the action

is shot in vividcolour; and thethrobbing

“electro score”builds tension,but comeswith

elegiac cuestoreinforcethedrama’sstrange

“melancholic beauty”. This isa“hardscrabble”

neighbourhood,but L yclearly loves it.

Mulan

Dir: Niki Caro (1hr55mins) (12A)

★★★

Mulanis Disney’sbest live-act ionremaketo

date,soi t’sagreat shamewewon’t be able to

enjoy its “gorgeous, exhilarating”spectacle on

the bigscreen,saidClarisse Loughreyin

TheIndependent. Unlikethesummer’sother

blockbuster,Tenet,whichopenedincinemas,

Mulanis goingstraight to paid-forstreaming –

andnodoubt studio executives will be looking

closely at the figures forthe twofilm stosee

howtomanagefuturereleases.Theplotis

pretty similar tothat of the animation, which

wasinspiredbyaChinese folk tale:boisterous

Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei) risks bringing shame

on herfamilybydisguising herself asaman

andenlisting theImperialChinese Army.But

EddieMurphy’swisecr acking dragonhas

beendropped, as have thesongs, andthough

thefightscen es dazzle, thewhole thingis

surprisingly“sober, meditative a nd refined”.

Mul anis “lesslike aconventionalDisney film

thanaglossy pasticheofwuxia”–theChine se

martial arts genrein which heroes runupwalls

and“bounce on theblades of oneanother’s

swords”,said Robbie Collinin The Daily

Telegraph. It isvery well done,but Ifound

it lacki ng in heart, andunnervinglyjingoistic

(“Fight for thekingdom andthe people!”cries

theEmperor), which will doubtless go down

well with thecens orsinChina .The fi lm is

almost oppressivelysolemn, saidBrian Viner

in theDaily Mail.But Li uisalikeablelead;

thestory’smysticalelementsarewell handled

(there’snooverdosingonCGI here); and this

tale ofawoman “besting the blokes” is

certainlyofits time.AvailableonDisney+.

Filmstostream New releases

Thereareplentyofconcerts

toviewonline.Butifyou

wanttobeimmersedinthe

worldofmusic,therearealso

lotsoffictionaldramasabout

musicandmusicians.Here

arefiveavailabletostream:

TheMusicRoom

(Jalsaghar)SatyajitRay’s

1958 masterpiecetellsof

astubbornoldBengali

aristocratwhospendsthelast

ofhisfamilymoneystaging

spectaclesandconcertsinhis

crumblingpalace,inaneffort

tooutdohisnouveau-riche

neighbour.It’sslow-paced

butentrancing.

OnceDublinalreadyhad

oneexuberantfilmabout

imaginarymusicians–The

Commitments–to itsname

whenOncecamealong in

2007 .It’s atouchingand

funnymusicalabouta

romancebetweenanIrish

busker andastruggling

Czechpianistwhoconnect

emotionallythrough the

songsthey writetogether.

Inside LlewynDavis

TheCoenbrothers’unique

sensibility–melancholy

andcharged withmacabre

humour–takesflightinthis

2013 taleofastrugglingfolk

musicianin 1960s NewYork.

Somecritics found itself-

indulgent.Otherslovedit,

notleastforitssympathy

with theunderdogandits

lovelysoundtrack.

The BeatthatMyHeart

SkippedJacquesAudiard’s

brooding, Paris-set 2005

remakeofJamesToback’s

1978 filmFingersstars

Romain Durisasayoung

man torn between life as a

small-time gangster and a

burning desire tobe aconcert

pianist.

The Piano TeacherIsabelle

Huppertgives an astonishing

performanceas aViennese

conservatoire professor with

sidelines in self-mutilation,

andsadistic cruelty to her

pupils, in Michael Haneke’s

2001 film.Gentler, but

equally sad, is his more recent

Oscar-winning masterpiece

Amour.Its protagonists are

also musicians.

LesMisérables:talesfromthebanlieue

Think of the 1980s seriesAll

Creatures Great and Small,and

chances are the image ofavet

“rummaging around” in the rear

end ofacow will spring to mind,

said Michael Hogan in The Daily

Telegraph. Thankfully, Channel

5’s “handsomely produced”

reboot of the BBC original

delivered this key plot moment

in its first episode–and didits

beloved predecessor justice

in every other respect, too.

Coinciding with the 50th

anniversary of the stories

published by vet Alf Wight under

the pen name of James Herriot, it charts his

“tweed-clad” travails in the Yorkshire Dales

during the 1930s with affection and

wit, provingabalm for the soul in

these “febrile” times.

TV debutant Nicholas Ralph

makesa“charmingly nervy,

scrappy” Herriot, said Victoria

Segal in TheSunday Times. Samuel

West is “wonderfully irascible” as

his boss, Siegfried Farnon, and

Anna Madeley surpasses “kindly

housekeeper clichés” as Mrs Hall.

“Look, it’s not exactlyBreaking

Bad,” said Hugo Rifkind in The

Times. But how nice it to see this

sort of television made inaway

that isneither “cynical” nor

“desperate”. “Cow gets sick, cow gets better.

Hurrah. Now let’s all haveasherry.”

All Creatures Great and Small:awelcome return

James Herriot is back

12 September 2020 THE WEEK

THE MUSIC ROOM

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