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Mark Conroy Zara Hedderman Rory Kiberd Michael Mc
Dermott ILLUSTRATION Natoman Priscilla Director: Sofia Coppola Talent: Jacob Elordi, Cailee Spaeny Release Date: January 1 Imagine being 14-years-old, struggling to find friends since relocating to Germany, where your father is stationed, and receiving an invitation to a small gathering in Elvis Presley’s (aged 24) home. The natural reaction fizzes between giddy disbelief and the dread at having to ask for your parents’ permission, which seems almost as impossible to attain as the invitation itself. This is how Priscilla, written and directed by Sofia Coppola, welcomes us into a story that often makes you feel a similar cocktail of disbelief and dread when observing the turmoil and tedium endured by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley throughout her 14-year long relationship with Elvis Presley. Coppola effectively translates the overwhelming sense of isolation Priscilla endured throughout her relationship with The King by setting the vast majority of the film within the luxurious surrounds of Graceland. Regularly abandoned for extended periods while Elvis worked on film sets and, as she would find out in magazines, engaged in affairs with his co-stars. Priscilla doesn’t shy away from depicting the emotional and physical abuse she experienced throughout their relationship. The film features first-hand accounts of the singer’s addiction to prescription pills and his controlling behaviour which included shaping how she dressed (her petite figure, in his opinion, was not conducive to wearing bold patterns) and who she interacted with. Starring Jacob Elordi, of Saltburn and Euphoria-fame, the towering Australian actor is excellent as Elvis Presley. However, Cailee Spaeny in the titular role doesn’t always convey the character to its fullest potential but is powerful in demonstrating his overpowering physicality over her. The attention to detail in the sets throughout the film and the classic Sofia Coppola style that exudes across her filmography lead to a visually striking cinema experience which leaves a lasting impression. ZH The Holdovers Director: Alexander Payne Talent: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph Release Date: January 19 Alexander Payne returns to form with this endearing tale about a curmudgeonly instructor Paul Hunham (Giametti) at St Bartons, a New England prep school, who is landed with the task of looking after a handful of students stuck on campus during Christmas break in 1970. What plays out is a journey of self-discovery in a bond forged between Hunham, Angus Tully (Senna) a smart but troubled troublemaker, and Mary Lamb (Joy Randolph) the school’s head cook who just lost a son in the Vietnam War. The pairing of Payne and Giametti, which was last on screen in wine country road trip Sideways, is delightful. Giametti plays the disgruntled academic in his heap of rumpled corduroy pitch perfectly. A teacher of ancient civilizations when told of his fate over the holidays, he casually drops some Cicero, Non nobis solum nati sumus (“Not for ourselves alone are we born”). He has a world-weary take on life laced with pompous and witty repartee thanks to a whipsmart script by David Hemingson. He views the boys as ‘reprobates’ and ‘troglodytes’. “I can’t fail this,” declares one of his students. “Don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Kountze. I truly believe that you can,” he snarks back. What we bear witness to is characters revealing themselves to each other, the thaw of personality traits on the road to redemption. It rocks the 70s in every nook and cranny of its delivery from ersatz logos for the film distributors down to street signage and gradations of light. Reminiscent of Dead Poet’s Society, there’s nothing particularly radical about The Holdovers or the message which unfolds as the layers are unpeeled. It’s a quality crowd-pleaser anchored by fine central performances. The promise of spring is evident. MMD Next Goal Wins Director: Taika Waititi Talent: Michael Fassbender Release Date: December 26 All of Us Strangers Director: Andrew Haigh Talent: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, Jamie Bell Release Date: January 26 A cursory glance at the online subculture formally known as “Film Twitter” in recent months will show that ‘Taika fatigue’ is in full swing. Adoration for Taika Watiti, the New Zealand-born filmmaker known for his quirky comic dramas accented with a homegrown flavour, reached its zenith when he directed Thor: Ragnarok. Even with an Oscar win for Jojo Rabbit, cinephiles are starting to tire of his zany self-awareness and impish, improvisational dialogue. True-to-life sports dramedy Next Goal Wins is Waititi’s first real response to those who have boarded the backlash bandwagon and he’s not swaying the unconverted any time soon. Michael Fassbender is slightly miscast as DutchAmerican Thomas Rongen, the washed-up football coach assigned with ending American Samoa’s losing streak which included an historic 31-0 loss to Australia. To put the film’s shortcomings on the Irish actor’s shoulders, however, is to give him too much credit. Many of the jokes feel half-baked and at odds with the characters reciting them. Would these people really be making The Matrix and Taken references, for instance? Relationships between Rongen and the islanders are mildly more engaging than the humor. The native characters, save one or two, don’t get enough room to make a lasting impression. An arc involving a trans athlete is the most moving subplot here, but even that’s bungled by its emotional climax. As a man of a certain age in 2011, Rongen not having the deftly-expressed sensitivity or vocabulary for such a person is understandable, but framing his late response of “get back out on that pitch” to her misgivings about her gender identity as empathetic is misguided. Next Goal Wins is not a disaster and the supporting cast are talented but considering it’s based on a superior documentary it’s hard to see this as anything more than pointless. MC The source material for Andrew Haigh’s disconcertingly beautiful new work is the novel Strangers written by Japanese writer Taichi Yamada back in 1987. It followed a middle-aged, jaded and divorced TV scriptwriter who returns one night to the dilapidated downtown district of Tokyo where he grew up. There, at the theatre, he meets someone who resembles his long-dead father. From here he’s thrust into a reality where his parents appear to be alive at the exact age they had been when they had died so many years before. In essence, a spectral story ripe for adaptation. In Haigh’s treatment, Adam (Andrew Scott) is a gay scriptwriter living in a near empty new build tower block in London. He returns to his suburban home to encounter his parents (Foy & Bell) who died in a car crash when he was 12. The twist is his mysterious neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal) and the attraction which evolves between them. All of Us Strangers is tender and thoughtful portrayal of attraction, loneliness, grief and our desire to change the narrative of our pasts. Having Adam’s parents stuck in a time warp whilst he explains the progress in gay rights provides a fascinating portal in terms of how far we have come. The loneliness which engulfs his existence shows some things remain constant. Aided by a brilliant cast All of Us Strangers resonates in all the right places with enough off kilter shades to engross. Anyone who has lost their parents will certainly find this triggering - the yearning and chance to recapture and alter past memories and relationships is laden with sensitivities. Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Power of Love tops and tails the film and its message resonates throughout, “Love is the light. Scaring darkness away.” MMD 51