ALSO SHOWING
The Roads Not Taken ( 15)
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Lost in the confusing fog of early onset dementia, a writer ( Javier Bardem) is tortured by the choices he’s made. That’s the basic premise for this latest from Orlando director Sally Potter. Unfortunately the film’s theme- explicating title proves somewhat ironic given her rather hackneyed approach to a potentially interesting film about regret, memory, grief and artistic sacrifice. In the manner of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Potter cuts together present- day scenes of Bardem’s impaired character, Leo, with flashbacks to more vibrant times in his life in order to patch together a fuller picture of the decline of a man whose dedication to pursuing a writer’s life now haunts his waking hours. Co- starring Elle Fanning, Salma Hayeck and Laura Linney, General release
The Painted Bird ( 18)
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In the debate around what constitutes an essential big screen experience, spectacle tends to tump human drama and yet there’s something to be said for submitting to the rigours of an intensely realised example of the latter in a cinema. Czech filmmaker Václav Marhoul’s threehour black- and- white Second World War opus is just such a film. Though undoubtedly a tough watch, its dramatisation of the Holocaust from the perspective of a young Jewish boy ( Petr Kotlar) creates a spellbinding effect. Encountering monster after monster as he flees persecution, the kid ages before our eyes ( literally, the film was shot over several years), but the cumulative effect of the relentless savagery to which he’s subjected functions as an affirmation of the resilience of the human spirit. Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgård co- star. On selected release and streaming on demand
Max Richter’s Sleep ( PG)
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Describing a film as soporific would normally be an insult, but the heavylidded feeling that comes while watching this documentary about the making of Max Richter’s landmark ambient album Sleep and his subsequent attempt to perform it live seems more like a testament to the power of the work it’s exploring than a negative comment on filmmaking itself. Indeed director Natalie Johns actively courts the dreamy reverie of the music by including large chunks of it as performed at a sold- out performance in Los Angeles where the crowd are all assigned their own individual sleep cots. She intercuts this footage with shots of Richter at home with his wife and young family, serving up biographical and creative insights into his life and work, albeit without probing too deeply into either. The film’s overall effect, however, remains gratifyingly soothing.
On selected release and streaming on demand
Real ( 15)
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A solid showcase for writer/ director/ star Aki Omoshaybi, this presents something rarely seen in microbudget British cinema: a raw yet hopeful black working class love story. Omoshaybi plays Kyle, a charismatic young man who falls for single mother Jamie ( Pippa Bennett- Warner) in what amounts to a sly social- realist spin on a classic romcom meet- cute – the sort where subterfuge and misunderstanding intensify their obvious chemistry. That both of them are wrestling with personal demons while doing their best to live dignified lives in a society that doesn’t offer much in the way of a safety net only intensifies the desire to root for them as hard truths threaten to wreck whatever it is they might have. Though some of the plot contrivances undermine the title, the performances and Omoshaybi’s no- frills direction build towards a credibly optimistic ending. ■
On selected release and streaming on demand