Hello and welcome to the film review with me, mark kermode, reminding you that while cinemas may be closed, there is still plenty of new movies to enjoy in the comfort and safety of your own home. The most mainstream release this week is the dig, A Bittersweet Real Life Drama about the unearthing of the sutton hoo treasures on the the eve of world war ii. What are they . Do you hazard a guess . Burials, men, id expect. We are standing in somebodys graveyard i reckon. Viking. Maybe older. Apparently local girls used to lie down on them in the hope of falling pregnant. Ive read plenty of legends. Ive heard plenty of legends. Is that why you want to dig, mrs pretty . Details of Buried Treasure . Ralph fiennes stars as basil brown, the self taught archaeologist who wears his immense learning lightly and who is enlisted by carrie mulligan� s wealthy widow, edith pretty, to excavate the imposing Burial Mounds on her property. My interest in archaeology began like yours, edith tells the initially sceptical basil, when i was scarcely old enough to hold a trowel. And so begins an unlikely friendship between two very different people, both of whom believe the past speaks. The line thatjoins them to their forebears, is that what you will say . Something like that. Adapted by screenwriter at Moira Buffini from the historical novel byjohn preston, the dig is an extremely likeable fair, Beautifully Lensed by cinematographer mike eley, who captures the lonely landscape and the darkening skies of the drama. Would you have dinner with me . Yes. Fiennes and mulligan are perfectly cast in the lead roles and theres strong support from the likes of monica dolan, ken stott, and the Young Archie Barnes as ediths son robert, who find solace in his friendship with basil as his Mothers Health fails. If i have a complaint, it is that the film gets rather sidetracked by a subplot that sees lily james real life archaeologist peggy falling forjohnny flynns fictional airman rory, a distraction that feels as though it has been foregrounded simply to broaden the films appeal to a younger audience rather than as an organic addendum to the central story. But that aside, this is engaging stuff, boasting a similar melancholic charm Tojessica Swales lovely summer land, one of my favourite films of last year. You can find the dig on netflix now. American film makersjustin benson and Aaron Moorehead are the team behind 2017 oddity the endless, a strange little movie about two brothers revisiting the ufo death cult to which they formerly belonged. Although made on a comparatively small budget, the endless had eerie atmosphere to spare, offering a genuinely strange and hunting experience. And haunting experience. The same cannot be said of the latest synchronic, another sci fi inflected Mystery Adventure with high ambitions but one that doesnt quite hit the mark. Jamie dornan and Anthony Mackie star as paramedics dennis and steve, who start to encounter people who have been driven to death or distraction by the titular drug. Yeah, that is a body, not a burn victim. New kid called it in. When denniss daughter goes missing, steve, who is facing his own medical crisis, resolves to help his friend with the aid of the mystery drug, which, it transpires, can transport the user to another time. As with benson and mooreheads previous films, synchronic is brim full of interesting ideas and admirably bonkers dramatic conceit. But arriving as it unfortunately does in the wake of chris nolans mega budget head scrambling tenet, which recently came out bluray, it can start to look like a cheap b movie version of a more celebrated and accomplished list film. There is nothing wrong with that per se, but i think the film makers had far higher goals, certainly on the basis of their back catalogue. Synchronic, which is available now on a range of digital platforms, is fine, although ultimately rather unremarkable, which is unusual for these inventive film makers. Altogether more celebrated is beginning, a haunting georgian french Co Production written and directed by dea kulumbegashvili, which has won Numerous International Festival Awards and now finds its natural home of streaming service mubi. Ia sukhitashvili is jana, wife of david, a religious leader in an isolated Community Ofjehovahs witnesses whose place ofjehovah� s witnesses whose Place Of Worship is firebombed in an astonishing opening sequence. It looks like the set up for a mystery thriller, as david is concerned about tracking down those responsible, but instead the film focuses on the inner life ofjana, who is trapped by her surroundings, misunderstood by her husband, and sexually harassed by a visitor who claims to be a detective but seems to be something altogether more sinister. Dea kulumbegashvili has described jana as somebody who would be a secondary character in any of the film. Certainly she gives the impression of being a Bit Part Player in her own life, robbed of agency or understanding, trapped in somebody else� s story. Shot on 35mm by Arseni Khachaturan and edited by matthieu taponier, whose credits include the soul shaking son of saul, beginning, which takes its title from the bible, makes for a deeply unsettling and uncomfortable viewing. Some critics have drawn comparison with the films of michael haneke, but to me this is closer to the work of carlos reygadas, whose films i admire but dont actually like, and who here serves as an executive producer. In the end, im not entirely sure what to make of beginning, although it has stuck with me, which is always a good sign. You can check it out for yourself on mubi. For a couple years, we have been waiting for answered prayers. I refer to it now as my posthumous novel. Writer and Withering Society wit truman capote� s two most famous books both spawned acclaimed movies, breakfast at tiffanys and mn cold blood. And in cold blood. Capote himself has also been the subject of the couple a biopics, the 2005 film capote for which Philip Seymour hoffman won an oscar, and 2006s perhaps less lauded infamous, for which tobyjones deserved awards recognition. Now in the documentary the capote tapes, we hear interviews conducted by George Plimpton with the writers friends and enemies along with a collage of Talking Heads and home movie footage to build a portrait of the real capote. He was writing these thinly veiled stories about people he knew and he basically told all their secrets. The response was how could your friend do this to you . He mustve known therel was danger in all of that. Dick cavett, Norman Mailer and Lauren Bacall are among those remembering the writer who said of his famously unpublished book answered prayers either im going to kill it or its going to kill me. A thinly veiled expose of his high society friends, the book, which he claimed to be working on for decades, surfaced only in Magazine Extracts that alienated his posh cohorts and also suggested that the finished work might not be the prust in the warhol age of masterpiece that everybody was waiting for. The depressing truth is that after in cold blood in the mid 60s, capote did little of note other than appear on chat shows and hang out with rich celebrities in studio 5a. Celebrities at studio 5a. As this documentary makes clear, noone knows whether a finished manuscript of answered prayers exist. And even if it did, would anyone care . The capote tapes is available now at altitude. Film and other digital platforms. Kim jong nam has been assassinated. Two women have just been arrested in connection with the murder. Altogether more riveting of the Documentary Front is assassins, a film about the murder of kim jong un� s half brother, kimjong nam, by two young women who later claimed they thought they were taking part in a harmless video prank show. Yes, really. Caught on Camera Smearing a deadly chemical on the Kim Jong Nams face at an airport, the women, one vietnamese and one indonesian, were arrested and tried for murder. Meanwhile, a group of North Koreans who had apparently masterminded the killing, widely believed to have been ordered by kimjong un, returned home safely. By turns, jaw dropping, bewildering horrifying, assassins leads us through the stranger than fiction tell with impressive array of amusing surveillance footage, with each twist and turn more gob smacking than the last. The story really does beggar belief, but in the hands of director ryan white, it becomes a chillingly credible thriller. All the more gripping because it is actually true. For details of Virtual Cinema screenings and on demand info, go to dogwoof. Com assassins. That is it for this week. Thank you for watching the film review. Stay safe and i will see you next week. Doubts, man. They never go away. You think the wedding will dissolve that, it is profound but. I get it, bruh, youre a guy in a relationship. Yet again the uk becomes the background the air mass this weekend. With cold air trying to push Southwards Turning Grey and sleet and snow. It could be quite heavy across parts of wales in the midlands. It will turn colder for all areas. We have recently had very mild air across much of the country but the cold air across Northern Scotland will continue to drift southwards over the next few days, low pressure on saturday, trying to push up from the southwest and will introduce topics of rain it was a pumper to the cold air in turn rain into Sleetand Pumper to the cold air in turn rain into sleet and snow. Some strong winds and disruption the circling around this area. Some drifting over the high ground. For the rest of today, the rain and hail snow across scotland will tend to ease down and they should become dry for many and stayed quite mild across the south come heavy showers clearing away from the southeast, Legacy A Cloud left behind from the showers and also this Weather Front in the North Hykeham a bit patchy rain and a little bit a light snow and equally some good smells of sunshine. Northern scotland, Central Eastern england and very best. 11 or 12 degrees across extreme south, not as mild as yesterday, something colder for the north. Cold air across the north begins to drift southwards overnight and in what you showers in northeast of scotland and the risk of ice and here comes the area of low pressure pushing that ban of heavy and persistent Rain Slowly Northwards and increasingly turning to snow over the high ground. Not quite a cold night here. We have ice. Saturday come wood weather affecting the southwest quadrant, snow, some of it heavy across bid in north wales put a drifting in the strong wind and increasing sleet and snow developing to be midlands across into the southeast with wet snow down to lower levels as well but for the far southwest, it will remain as Rain Temperature is 10 degrees, much colder elsewhere and brighter across the north. That area of low away to set a date night into cold with a risk of frost and ice in places, and a new area of low pressure will move in for sunday come a bit of a Repeat Performance with rain, sleet and increasingly snow starting to push the northern ireland, wales, the midlands and across Southern England and some pretty heavy snow likely across the high ground of wales. Further north, cold but generally bright. Hours to prove effective in major coronavirus trials. This one from janssen provides 66 protection but is particularly good at stopping serious illness. A Government Expert says the new vaccines are a big step forward. It means that we can spread the vaccine around. It means we can really start to impact on this pandemic, notjust here but right across the world. It comes as the Oxford Astrazeneca jab was given approval today for countries across the eu. Also tonight. The head of nhs england thanks staff for a year of extraordinary work, 12 months after the first people with coronavirus were treated in hospital in the uk. Some Primary School children in wales could be back in the classroom after half term, if Infection Rates continue to fall. The drive to get more laptops to children to help them
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