War Dogs, a drama of mixed messages SECOND SCREEN
The release of a Martin Scorsese film is always an event but with Silence (15)
the great New York filmmaker has HH come up with his least accessible and most demanding picture for a long time. At a buttock-numbing two hours and 41 minutes, my goodness this is hard work.
Set almost entirely in 17th-Century Japan, it’s the story of two idealistic young Portuguese priests who travel East in pursuit of news of their former Jesuit mentor. But from the opening scenes of severed heads and graphic torture, it’s clear the news is unlikely to be good. The Japanese are intent on purging Christianity from their country and if that means killing thousands of converts and violently forcing priests to renounce their faith, so be it.
This is a film about religious faith (and the loss of it), cultural arrogance and sectarian persecution. But with obvious echoes of Roland Joffé’s
The Mission and despite having Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver in the central roles, it’s so hard to warm to. Scorsese’s deci-
Pretty picture-maker Paolo Sorrentino is the director of HBO’s 10-part series
The Young Pope (15) HH but I can’t say I was converted to the faith. Yes, Jude Law has fun as the Yankee in the Vatican court but the idea that this expat Papa turns out to be even more reactionary than the home-grown variety soon wears thin. Better Call Saul (15) HHHHH is easier to be pious about. This prequel to Breaking Bad, in which we watch legal ingénue Jimmy McGill transform himself into super shyster lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), deserves devout affection. In season two, Jimmy is making a name for himself as a defender of oldsters against unscrupulous care homes. Unfortunately (as far as his bosses are concerned) he’s making the name by appearing on television ads – and in trad legal circles there is no greater sin. If this sounds slow, drama-wise, you couldn’t be more wrong. Better Call Saul has all the virtues of a Victorian novel, only with comic dialogue and cool shootouts. More laughs in War Dogs (15A) HHH, though you might find they catch in your throat. Based on a true story, Todd The Hangover Phillips’ film tells of how two young men set up as gun-runners to the US military in the Middle East. Thanks to the energy of its two leads – Miles Teller and Jonah Hill – the picture starts out well enough. However, as the film tries to shade into a probing drama about the limits of morality and money, Phillips gets bogged down in redundant exposition. If we’re meant to think the boys done wrong, they oughtn’t to be so funny. Treat of the week is The Man
Between HHH. Set in post-war Berlin, Carol Reed’s 1953 film isn’t a patch on his The Third Man. But it’s worth watching just to see James Mason ice-skate like a pro.