The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THIS WEEK’S BEST FILMS
TUESDAY
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) ***** (Sony Movies Classic, 7.10pm)
The romances of a factory worker end in disaster in Karel Reisz’s acclaimed 1960 kitchen-sink drama, based on the novel by Alan Sillitoe, who also penned the screenplay. Arthur (Albert Finney) works in a factory in an ailing town and lives with his father (Frank Pettitt). In an effort to escape the drudgery of his daily routine, Arthur has numerous girlfriends – often on the go at the same time – and enjoys a pint or two, which invariably leads to trouble with the neighbours. His disaffection reaches a crescendo when he sleeps with Brenda (Rachel Roberts), wife of his work colleague Jack (Bryan Pringle), and she falls pregnant. The situation is further aggravated when the young scoundrel falls for virginal beauty Doreen (Shirley Anne Field), who doesn’t abide by pre-marital sex.
Boyhood (2014) ***** (Film4, 12.45am)
Shot in fits and spurts over the course of 12 years, Boyhood is a film of dazzling ambition and scope from writer-director Richard Linklater. It follows Mason Jr (Ellar Coltrane), who begins the film by moving house with his mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and precocious older sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater). Major pop culture and political events including the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Obama’s presidential campaign bookmark Mason Jr’s childhood as he blossoms into a sullen and awkward teenager. Arquette is the emotional heart and she delivers a warm, textured performance. Coltrane starts the film as a cheeky cherub, who is slightly wooden in front of the camera, but he grows in confidence and stature.
WEDNESDAY
Welcome to the Punch (2013) *** (Film4, 11.20pm)
Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) is an ambitious detective, who attempts to single-handedly take down notorious criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong). Disobeying orders, Max chases after Jacob without any back-up and is shot in the leg. Three years later, the battle-scarred cop is gifted a chance at redemption when Jacob’s son Ruan Sternwood (Elyes Gabel) is arrested at an airport in connection with a bungled heist, and
calls his father for help. Max and his long-suffering partner, Sarah Hawks (Andrea Riseborough), wait for Jacob to make his move, unaware they are being drawn into a deeper conspiracy. Welcome to the Punch is an engrossing thriller, hung on a serpentine plot that cocks a snook at the political establishment.
THURSDAY
Starred Up (2013) ****
(Film4, 11.05pm) Nineteen-year-old repeat offender Eric (Jack O’Connell) swaggers into his first adult prison as if he owns the joint. An altercation with prison guards leads to a spell in solitary confinement and Eric is ushered before lifer Spencer (Peter Ferdinando), who rules the roost. It transpires that Eric’s father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) is at the same facility and operates as one of Spencer’s underlings. Their reunion after 14 miserable years of estrangement is far from happy. Based on screenwriter Jonathan Asser’s experiences as a prison therapist, Starred Up is reminiscent of Alan Clarke’s seminal 1979 film Scum, which chronicled one young man’s journey through the hell of a British borstal. David Mackenzie’s film is almost as suffocating, anchored by a no-holds-barred performance from O’Connell.
FRIDAY
Lady Macbeth (2016) **** (BBC2, 11.45pm)
She had a breakout year in 2019 thanks to Midsommar and Little Women, but Florence Pugh first gained critical attention for her role in director William Oldroyd’s gripping adaptation of Nikolai Leskov’s 19th-century Russian novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk, which moves the action to Victorian England. Teenage bride Katherine (Pugh) is sold by her father as part of a property deal and she is consigned to a miserable, loveless marriage to a swarthy brute called Alexander (Paul Hilton).
When Alexander is unexpectedly called away to deal with an explosion at a colliery, Katherine seeks out excitement in the company of rebellious groomsman Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). After Alexander returns, the forbidden lovers forge a murderous pact that will allow them to retain their lofty position in the household.