New Zealand Listener - 09.07,2019

SEPTEMBER 7 2019 LISTENER 69

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7

The Artist (Māori TV, 8.30pm).

A clever piece of film-making

that is a love letter to cinema

both in story and medium.

Michel Hazanavicius’ black-

and-white silent film references

A Star Is Born and Singin’ in the

Rain; Jean Dujardin is a silent

film idol whose star falls when

the talkies arrive. It’s an entirely

different kind of acting for

Dujardin and co-star Bérénice

Bejo and the film is pure, heart-

felt entertainment. It won five

Oscars in 2012. (2011)

Widows (Movies Premiere, Sky

030, 8.00pm). It was Lynda

La Plante’s original story, but

British director Steve McQueen

and US author Gillian Flynn

place their movie in Chi-

cago and weave in themes of

sexism, racism and political

corruption. That’s in between

the incredibly tense gangster

action. Veronica (Viola Davis)

is forced into pulling off a heist

with the other gang widows

who are left owing a crime

boss (Brian Tyree Henry) a

bunch of money when their

husbands die in an explosion.

A twisty tale of double-crosses

follows and there are some

great performances from Davis,

Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth

Debicki and Cynthia Erivo.

British actor Daniel Kaluuya

(Get Out) is especially menac-

ing as the crime boss’s enforcer

brother. (2018)

Beast (Rialto, Sky 039, 8.30pm).

Islands are always good places

for psychological thrillers,

and British director Michael

Pearce sets his nightmare on

Jersey, where unhappy tour

guide Moll (Jessie Buckley)

takes a shine to outsider

Pascal (Johnny Flynn). Their

dangerous liaison plays out

against the dark cloud of an

island serial killer. Buckley has

emerged as a young actress of

unusual talent and this fairy-

tale-come-murder-mystery

gives her plenty of room; both

she and Flynn are secretive

and edgy. They’re amply aided

by Geraldine James as Moll’s

gimlet-eyed mum. (2017)

28 Weeks Later (TVNZ Duke,

9.25pm). In the sequel to

Danny Boyle’s brilliant, scary

28 Days Later, the “rage” emer-

gency seems to be contained,

until Robert Carlyle goes and

does something stupid. Well,

zombies and viruses never go

out of fashion, and since no

one is sticking to Simon Pegg’s

A Guide to the Week’s Viewing

TV Films

The Artist, Saturday.

by FIONA RAE