The Week - UK (2021-02-06)

Film and TV^33

QuoVadis,Aida?

Dir:JasmilaŽbanic(1hr41mins)(15)

★★★★

SerbiandirectorJasmilaŽbanic’s“incendiary”

newfilmisabouttheSrebrenicamassacrein

1995 – theworstcivilianatrocityinEurope

sincetheendoftheSecondWorldWar,said

KevinMaherinTheTimes.Weseeitthrough

theeyesofAida(JasnaÐuricic),alocalteacher-

turned-translatorwhoscurriesfrantically

betweentherepresentativesofthe20,0 00

terrifiedBosnianMuslimswhoaregathered

inandaroundtheUN’ssupposed“safearea”

(adisusedfactory),andthecommandersofthe

UN’sDutchpeacekeepingforces–“eviscerated

hereasweakandspineless”–whilethe

BosnianSerbleaderRatkoMladic(Boris

Isakovic)andhisparamilitarythugs“await

thegreenlightformassextermination”.

Morethan8, 000 civilianswerekilledthat

July,butthemassacrehasbeen“intensely

politicised,tothepointofgenocidedenialin

somequarters”,saidJessicaKianginVariety.

Žbanic’sfilmseeksto “un-revise”history,

refocusingattentionon thevictimsand on

the“broaderevilsof institutionalfailureand

internationalindifference”.Mladichimselfwas

sentencedto lifeinjailat TheHaguein2017,

butthe film’s “moving”epilogueremindsus

thatsurvivorsstilllivealongsideperpetrators

whowereneverbroughttojustice.Allthis may

createanimpressionofafilmthatisjusttoo

toughtowatch,saidMarkKermodeinThe

Observer;butowing toŽbanic’sskilled

direction,andÐuricic’sbrilliantperformance

asAida,ithasa“profoundlyhumanheart”.

Thedramaunfoldsslowly,andwithmounting

dread–andyetwewanttokeepwatching,

“anotabl eachievementforamoviethatis

centrallyconcernedwiththespectreoflooking

away”.AvailableonCurzonHomeCinema.

Assassins

Dir:RyanWhite(1hr 44mins)(12)

★★★★

Thisdocumentaryaboutthe 2017 assassination

of Kim Jong Nam–the half-brother of the

NorthKorean leaderKimJongUn–is a“low-

key” account of an astonishing story, saidDave

CalhouninTimeOut. Apersistentcri ticofthe

regimewho livedin exile, KimJong Nam died

after havingVXnerv eagentsmeared onhim by

twoyoung women fromIndonesia and Vietnam,

who’dapproached himinthe departure lounge

of Kuala Lumpurairport. Malaysian

prosecutors soughtthe deathsentence for the

pair, but they claimedNorth Koreanagents h ad

dupedtheminto believingtheywere partici-

pating inahidden-camera prank for YouTube.

In thisgrippingdocumentary, director Ryan

White makestheir “bizarre”story credible,

whilealso exposing the incompetenceofthe

Malaysianauthorities,andthe ruthlesspoli tical

machinationsinKim’s closednation.

The pranksterruse was“satanically clever”

and“drippingwith contemporary media

irony”, said PeterBradshawinThe Guardian.

One wonders who–inacountry “supposedly

marooned”in its Soviet past–could have

dreamed up suchaplot.The film does not

answer thatquestion.But it does show,in

chilling detail, how thetwowomen –poor,

uneducated,andled on bydreamsof social

media glory–were apparently “groomedand

gaslit”into carrying out the attack. It amounts

to an “extraordinarystoryof sexism, violence,

diplomatic badfaith anddishonestyon an

international scale”.AvailableonDogwoof

On Demand andother digital platforms.

Filmstostream New releases

FromLassieComeHomeand

OldYellerto2 019 ’sTogo,

thereareplentyofbeloved

familyfilmsandadventure

moviesaboutdogs.But

canine-humanrelationsare

attheheartofsomecomplex

grown-updramas,too:

UmbertoD.VittorioDe

Sica’s 1952 dramastarsthe

non-professionalactorCarlo

Battisti(auniversitylecturer)

asanelderlymanfacing

penuryandhomelessnessin

Rome,withonlyhisfaithful

JackRussellterrierfor

company.Heartbreakingbut

simpleandunsentimental,

itisperhapsthestrongestof

theItalianneo-realistfilms.

WhiteDogIndiefilmpioneer

SamuelFullerlefttheUS

whenParamountsuppressed

hisfilmbeforeit was due

to bereleased in1982.A

provocativeexploration

of the natureofhatred,

WhiteDogisachillingstory

aboutadog, whichhasbeen

conditioned byraciststo

attackblack people, andthe

AfricanAmericantrainer

hired to“de-programme” it.

AmoresperrosLinkedby

acarcrashin MexicoCity,

thethreestories inAlejandro

GonzálezIñárritu’s 2000

debutallhave caninethemes.

Itisabravuramasterpiece,

violent(including some

realistic–butnotreal–dog

fights), cleverlyplotted and

chargedwithintenseemotion.

Bestin ShowMadeby

Christopher Guest,the master

of themockumentary, and

starring Eugene Levy and

Catherine O’Hara, this

deadpan 2000comedyis

aboutadog show,its canine

entrants–and their wildly

eccentricowners.

Wiener-DogDanny DeVito,

GretaGerwigandJulie Delpy

amongothersplay the

consecutive owners of the

dachshund at theheart of

Todd Solondz’s jet-black

comedy. It’s partlyasequel

to histeendramaWelcome to

theDollhouse,and similarly

packedwithacid observations

of humanmisery andcruelty

–not onefor everyone,then.

JasnaÐuricicinQuoVadis,Aida?:brilliant

Created by the British writer

George Kay,Lupinis “good,

stupid fun”, and is predicted to

become one of Netflix’s biggest

hits, said Hugo Rifkind in The

Times. Omar Sy stars as Assane,

ayoung French man who sees

himself asamodern-day Arsène

Lupin–the gentleman thief and

master of disguise created by the

French writer Maurice Leblanc

more than 100 years ago.

The books are old, but Assane

is anew kind of French hero, said

Sophie Gilbert in The Atlantic. He

is the son of an immigrant from

Senegal who came to France in search of a

better life. Instead, his father was falsely

accused of theft by his wealthy

employer, and hanged himself in

jail. Inspired by Leblanc’s books,

Assane devisesaserie sofdevil-

ishly clever schemes to avenge his

father’s death, schemes that often

rely on his tendency, asablack

man in France, to either blend in

or stand out in different contexts.

Sy brims with charisma, in a

series that offersa“refreshing

twist” on two familiar stereotypes

–the “uncatchable master of

deception” and the “con man

withaheart of gold”, said Adrian

Horton in The Guardian. It’s good,

slick escapism, and, being made up of just five

episodes, it is easily binged inaday.

Lupin:the French series takingNetflix bystorm

Sy :brims with charisma

6February 2021 THE WEEK

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