The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

Film &TV^31

BlackWidow

Dir:CateShortland(2hrs14mins) (12A)

★★★

Thelatest Marvelsuperherofilmisa“spy

romp”starringScarlett JohanssonasNatasha

Romanoff, akaBlackWidow,acharacteroften

“reducedtosassycartwheels incatsuits” in

previousoutings,saidKevin MaherinThe

Times.In aplotthatowesmore toJames Bond

(or AustinPowers) thanIron Man, sheis

reunited with her estranged littlesisterYelena

(FlorencePugh),afellow graduateoftheRed

Room, aRussianacademyfortrainingbrain-

washedfemale assassins. Yelenahas been

deprogrammedandplanstofreethe othergirls

withher sister’shelp. Todo so,theymusttake

downthe evilGeneralDreykov, a“Blofeld

wannabe”playedbyRayWinstonewitha

“conspicuousMoscow-via-Cape-Town-via-

Enfield accent”.Luckily,theyhave thehelp of

theiradoptiveparents,scientist Melina (Rachel

Weisz)andformerspyAlexei(DavidHarbour).

Black Widowis a“valiant”attempttodoright

byMarvel’sfirstfemale Avenger,whosepast

“hypersexualisation” bythefranchiseeven

Johansson hascriticised,saidClarisse Loughrey

in TheIndependent. You can’thelp but feel,

though, thatithascome“alittletoo late”, and

thatthefilm’s centraltheme–theexploitation

of young women –isunder-explored.Such

darkmaterialdoesn’tsiteasilywiththe film’s

“briskly enjoyable”tone, said RobbieCollin

in TheDailyTelegraph. Still,themovie has

considerable strengths.Theclimactic“secret

baseinfiltration” andaBourne-like motorcycle

chasethroughBudapestrankamongMarvel’s

most“rip-roaring”setpieces.AndPugh’s

performance asYelenaisheartfeltand

“hilarious”,providingthe perfectcomicfoilfor

the steelyNatasha.Incinemasand onDisney+.

TheTruffleHunters

Dirs: GregoryKershaw andMichaelDweck

(1h r24mins)(12A)

★★★★

Filmedover threeyears in themountai nvilla ges

of Piedmontinnorthern Italy, this documentary

aboutadisappearin gway of lif eis“strange,

funny,mysterious and rather beautiful”,said

Pet er Bradshaw inTheGuardian.Its subject is

the rare,expensiveAlba truffleand thesmall

groupof“gnarled” oldmenwho forageiteach

November with their dogs.These“mischievous,

fascinatingand stubborn” octogenariansoften

huntatnight to conceal thetop spots and,

believing the industryis beingruined by

avarice, intend to take their secrets tothe grave.

Wesee thegourmethysteria and“big money”

surrounding the Alba (one truffleinthe film

fetched $110,000 at auction),but the realfocus

is onthe rhythmsof natur eand of village life,

which are capturedwith painterly grace.

At thehear tofthe fil misa“lovestory”, said

BenjiWilson in TheDail yTelegraph–between

thes emen andtheir dogs.The dogs arecrucial

to thehunt,and themostthrilling footage

comesfromcamerasmounted on theirheads,

lettingus“barrel throughthe undergrowth”

with them, “galumphing”frontpaws often

popping into frame.WehearAurelio(84)

“tenderlydiscussingmattersoflifeand death”

with hisbelovedBirba, said Mark Kermodein

The Observer. Sergio,meanwhile, bathes and

blow-dries hisdog.Thissharedperspectiveis

what makes the film so touching. It immerses

us inan ecosystemthre atenedby deforestation,

deterioratingsoil andhuman greed,and

reminds us that we lose trackof the Earth’s

“naturalheartbeat”atour peril.In cinemas.

Filmstostream New releases

FromMedeatoMareof

Easttown,motherhoodisone

oftheuniversalthemesof

drama.Herearefiveexcellent

filmsinwhichitplaysa

centralrole:

MildredPierceJoan

Crawfordiselectrifyingasa

Californiandivorcéeaccused

ofmurderinthisnoirish

melodramafrom 1945 ,

basedonJamesM.Cain’s

novel.Attheheartofitis

Mildred’sloveforher

snobbishdaughter,who

resentshermotherforgetting

anordinaryjobtohelpher

fulfilhersocialaspirations.

ImitationofLifeDouglas

Sirk’sweepyaboutthe

friendshipbetweentwo

widowedmothers–awhite

actress(LanaTurner) andher

black maid(Juanita Moore)

–wasabox officesmash in

1959 .Its portraitofan

Americablighted byracism

andmaterialism isbrilliant,

andsobleakthatitshappy

endinghasahollowring.

MommyCanadian

wunderkindXavier Dolan’s

fifthfeaturefilm –released

in 2014 ,whenhewas 2 5

–charts therelationship

betweenaviolentteenager

with ADHD andhis

charismatic, chaoticsingle

mother. Shot inakinetic,

luridlycolourfulstyle,it’s an

emotional rollercoasterthat

wonthe JuryPrizeat Cannes.

The SecondMotherThis

Braziliancomedy-drama from

2015 featuresabrilliantturn

from Regina Casé as the

deferentiallive-in maid and

nanny ofarich São Paulo

family. When her18-year-old

daughter comes tostay, class

andfamilyconflicts erupt,

gentlybut acutely observed

by directorAnna Muylaert.

TullyDirectedby Jason

Reitman fromanexcellent,

autobiographically-inspired

scriptbyDiablo Cody,this

comedy-dramafrom 2018

featuresgreatperformances

from Charlize Theron and

MackenzieDavis as an

exhaustedanddepre ssed

middle-class mother and the

nightnanny who rescues her.

Scarlett Johansson plays the “steely” Natasha

There’s no mystery as to why the

drama seriesSex/Lifebecame

Netflix’s most watched UK show

when it was released last week, said

Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian.

It’s a“sex-strewn, nudity-heavy

saucefest” leavened by an

“occasional splash” of melodrama.

Sarah Shahi is Billie Connelly, a

wealthy woman who, despite her

happy marriage, can’t stop

fantasising about her bad-boy ex,

Brad. Their conversations, she says,

were “intoxicating”–but it’s their

“neon-lit” sex in every possible

location that we actually see, as Billie’s

dilemma is strung out over eight almost “plot-

free episodes”.

“The premise is, andIdon’t

want to make this sound too

sophisticated: which man has the

bigger penis?” said Camilla Long

in The Sunday Times. The defining

moment comes when one man

reveals his huge manhood to the

other inagym. TV has becomealot

raunchier of late, said Ben Dowell in

The Times–fromNormal Peopleto

BridgertontoIndustry.Thismay,

paradoxically, be partly down to the

arrival of ”intimacy co-ordinators”,

who have made sex scenes safer to

film, and so more acceptable. Or

perhaps TV producers have just realised

viewers can’t get enough of “shallow, sanitised

mainstream porn” likeSex/Life.

Sex/Life:TVdrama’s raunchy newdirection

“Sex-strewn saucefest”

17 July 2021 THE WEEK

THE FILMS ARE AVAILABLE ON GOOGLE PLAY (EXCEPT

MOMMY

AND

THE SECOND MOTHER

), APPLE TV AND AMAZON PRIME