The Chorus review

 Number 415 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2004 German-French-Swiss musical drama 'The Chorus.'

Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot) is a failed musician and teacher starting at the notorious Fond de l'etang French boarding school for delinquent boys. Once there, he is shocked by the headmaster Rachin's (Francois Berleand) tyrannical methods. To instil some discipline and morale, Mathieu decides to turn the delinquent boys into a choir.

If you look past the predictability and cliche, this was an enjoyable enough film.  It's a film that has been done many times before - arguably better too - especially in Dead Poet's Society. Jugnot was no Robin Williams, but he was certainly charming enough as the bumbling, but well-intentioned teacher turned choirmaster. And Rachin was no nurse Ratched but he made for a slimy and scary villain.

Yet it was difficult to look past the cliche. Mathieu is trying to desperately reach his students, so he turns them into a choir. Without too much arguing they quickly and fall into line. I found this all a bit too convenient. I understand the boys do need to agree to be part of the choir for the film to work, but it's difficult to believe they wouldn't have resisted this idea more at first.

The boys themselves were more underdeveloped in comparison to the adult characters. You had Pierre Morhange (Jean-Baptiste Maunier) who despite being one of the best singers is very badly behaved because of a vague troubled homelife, Pepinot (Maxence Perrin) forever waiting for parents who will never come and the hot-headed Mondian (Gregory Gatignol) whose side purpose is to create conflict rather than being a fully-formed character. Most of the boys felt like rough stretches than proper characters.

The film also felt directionless. I couldn't see the end goal for Mathieu's choir. This wasn't like the Blues Brothers when they were trying to stop their childhood orphanage from being closed down. I thought Mathieu would enter the boys in a singing competition or use them to secure more funding, but other than a showing for an investor, there was little else at stake.

The Chorus was certainly an entertaining film, but only entertaining. It was too predictable to be anything more.

Do the Right Thing review

 Number 409 on the top 1000 films of all time is Spike Lee's coming-of-age comedy-drama 'Do the Right Thing.'

Mookie (Spike Lee) is an African-American living in a rough Brooklyn neighbourhood. All he wants from life is to make enough money from his pizza delivery job at Sal's pizzeria so he can support his family. However, on an excruciatingly hot day, racial tensions between Sal (Danny Aiello,) and his sons Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson) and the other African-Americans in the neighbourhood including Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) a man who fancies himself the next Malcom X. As a race riot threatens to break out, Mookie is forced to pick a side.

Do the Right Thing is just another film in a long list tackling one of the US' most pertinent issues: race relations. The US is known as the greatest melting pot playing home to people from all over the world. It's only natural that some of those people might not like each other as is the case here.

The deeply racist Vito resent working in an African-American neighbourhood and believes they should be with their own kind. Meanwhile, the African-American community doesn't like that white-owned businesses at the heart of their town. They believe there should be black businesses instead. It's a powder keg waiting to blow.

Another theme that Lee is explores is police brutality - another issue that has plagued the US for decades. Do the Right Thing was dedicated to Eleanor Bumpers, Arthur Miller Jr, Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, Michael Stewart and Michael Griffith - with the former five having been killed by police and the sixth by a white mob. Only a few years later, Rodney King was beaten and I do not have the necessary computer memory to write the name of every single black person who has been killed by the police in the last twenty-five years, except for one of the most notable: George Floyd.

Spike Lee tackles both of these subjects with his stylistic flair - think bold colours, razor-sharp dialogue and all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Sure you can argue that he was exploring themes too important not to tackle head-on, but this exploration was incredibly on the nose. One scene has the different characters speaking directly to the camera, as they monologue racist insults about different groups of people. Sure this racism might be accurate, but its depiction was heavy-handed.

This isn't to denigrate the acting of those involved - least of all from Spike Lee as the lead Mookie. Giancarlo Esposito was also good as the political cognizant Buggin Out - it was amazing to think this was the same man who wowed audiences in Breaking Bad. But the standout star had to be Danny Aiello who received a well-earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Initially, Sal is nothing more than hard-working Italian-American who often plays the mediator between his deeply racist son Pino and the black customers. However, not even the good-natured Sal can only keep his demons at bay for so long before he is driven too far on an excruciatingly hot day. Unlike Pino who overly hates blacks, I think Sal was a lot more level-headed, but, like the other characters, he fell victim to the simmering racial tension.

John Turturro was also very good as Vito. He gave a multi-layered performance, as one of the more openly racist characters of the film. It would have been all too easy to have written/portrayed him as a one-dimensional Italian-American "moolie" hating greaseball, but he was more three-dimensional than his.

But I would like to say one thing quickly. Why in these films do you always have the black characters being racist to the East Asian, or in this case, Korean characters? The local supermarket is ran by a Korean couple who are often the subject of racist taunting by the black characters. It was something similar to Menace II Society. Perhaps it was Lee's commitment to realism, but it didn't make his characters very endearing.

However, 'Do the Right Thing,' was a memorable and stylised, if heavy-handed, exploration of two issues that have plagued American society for decades. What was the right thing that Sal and Mookie should have done? Who knows?  

Dogville review

 Number 295 on the top 1000 films of all time is Lars Von Trier's 2003 experimental drama Dogville.

Grace (Nicole Kidman) is a fugitive trying to outrun both the mob and the law. She stumbles into the small mountain town of Dogville, Colorado. At the behest of the town's moral leader Tom Edison Jr (Paul Bettany,) the town's people reluctantly decide to take her in. However, Grace quickly learns that their kindness comes at a steep price. The huge ensemble cast includes Stellan Skarsgaard, Lauren Bacall, Philip Baker Hall, Patricia Clarkson, James Caan with John Hurt providing narration.

Dogville was highly experimental. Was it an experiment that worked? I'm not so sure. Reminiscent of black-box theatre, it was filmed on a minimalist stage-like set. Instead of buildings, there are chalk outlines. Instead of backdrops you have black or white walls. As the name would suggest it was like being in a black box. Although this tradition is common in the theatre, it is rare to see in film. I don't think it translated well.

The minimalism is designed to highlight the story and acting, but it just came across as pretentious. Too much was left to the viewer's imagination. it was like one of those restaurants that gets you took cook the food yourself. This is the chef's job, not the diner's.

Due to the natural limitations of the theatre, the Black Box style works well. But film is a different medium. You can have sets and film on location. There's no reason to have a minimalist style.

What really hurt the film was John Hurt's god-awful narration. It was overly-expository and one of the worse examples of telling, not showing. It was like I was reading a badly-written book with John Hurt telling me the characters were looking around or acting scared or being morally bad - which the characters then repeated. Not faulting John Hurt, of course, but this narration made me roll my eyes.

The film is also divided into nine chapters with title cards denoting when they started. It was like if I wanted to read a book I would have just read a book, not watch a film. When the ninth title said the film would be ending soon, I cheered loudly. This isn't the reaction you want your audience to have.

The dialogue was also eye-roll worthy. Honestly, I don't know how Bettany and Kidman delivered it with a straight faces. One cringe-worthy, innuendo-laden conversation saw Tom Edison Jr telling Grace that you can't plant seeds in the winter. Ew. Much of the dialogue steered toward the more-is-less mindset like I was watching a Shakespearean play.

As you might expect from a Von Trier film, it utilised elements from his own cinematic style of Dogme 54 including the hand-held camerawork. In a different film, this might have made things more intense, but alas it could not save Dogville.

Although the beginning and middle were slow and ponderous, it did build toward an unexpected and thrilling conclusion. The mob finally tracks Grace down to Dogville where we learn the mob boss (James Caan) is her father. Grace ran away from them after being sickened by their violent nature. Yet her father insists that she is hypocritical acting like she is morally better than everybody else when that could be furthest from the truth. 

Having spent much of the film's second act being bullied by the townspeople, she soon realises they're not much different from the mob. At the gentle encouragement of her father, she agrees for all of them, including the children and her would-be lover, Tom, to be shot dead. This was a dark, twist ending that I did not see coming. It also separated Grace from Von Trier's more naive female protagonists in Breaking the Waves or Dancer in the Dark.

Dogville was like a failed science experiment. Maybe it could have worked as a stageplay, but it didn't translate to film. Instead, it was boring, overly-long and just plain pretentious.

The Fall review

 Number 404 on the top 1000 films of all time is the adventure-fantasy film 'The Fall.'

In 1915 Los Angeles, stunt man Roy Walker (Lee Pace) is hospitalised after a stunt gone wrong. In hospital, he forms an unlikely friendship with fellow patient, eight-year-old Romanian girl Alexandria  (Catinca Untaru) who is recovering from a broken arm. He entertains her with a wild and fantasy tale about a rag-tag group of rebels to team up to kill a common enemy, but he has an agenda of his own. 

Although I understand respect director Tarsem's vision, The Fall didn't land for me. This was because of the story-within-a story format. Other films such as the Chinese Wuxia Hero also employ this format, but they only work if the framing story is as interesting as the secondary story.

This was not the case for the Fall, where the secondary story was infinitely more interesting than the framing story of Roy and Alexandria in the hospital. Yes, their relationship was cute and touching, but it didn't quite resonate for me.

*spoilers*

Roy has a dark secret. In exchange for entertaining Alexandria with these stories, he asks her to steal morphine for him. Ostensibly, this is to help him sleep, but he actually intends to commit suicide. His beloved has left him for the actor he was doubling for. Now he now longer wants to live. This was suitably tragic with Pace and Catinca giving good performances, but this framing story lacked the same forward momentum of the supporting story.

It also lacked the same, great visual style. Our B-story sees a range of quirky characters including a masked bandit, a silent Indian warrior, an ex-slave, an Italian explosives expert and Charles Darwin. They all team up to take revenge on a governor who has wronged them all. The fantasy land they inhabited was marked by bold colours and a distinct look - similar to the Chinese Hero film.

I do think this was just a case of a film not working for me, Obviously, The Fall is held in high regard, the IMDB fan base voted it as the 405th best film for a reason, but alas I was not one of those fans.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

 Number 403 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Romanian drama '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.'

Set in Romania in the waning years of Communism, we are introduced to friends and college roommates Otilla (Anamaria Marinca) and Gabita (Laura Vasilu.) When Gabita has an unexpected pregnancy, she asks her friend to help her obtain an abortion. However, due to Romania's draconian Decree 770 that largely outlawed abortion, this is far easier said than done.

I have seen almost seven hundred films on IMDB's 2015 edition of the top 1000 films of all time. Yet this is the first film that I've seen so explicitly address the topic of abortion in such a frank and open way. I'm not even referring to the IMDB list, but films full stop. 

This is because abortion is the epitome of a hot-button issue - probably even more so now due to the US Supreme court overturning Roe Vs Wade in 2022. I suspect this was one major reason why this film was not nominated for the Best International Film Academy Award. I think this snubbing was down to the academy not being ready for this conversation.

Yet this is a conversation that director Christian Mungiu forces you to have whether you want to or not. much of the film consists of long takes where audiences have to watch and engage with the film. There's nowhere else to look.

Gabita makes a number of unwise decisions that imperils both her and Otila. The pair even have to sleep with the abortionist to ensure his cooperation. Naturally, this strains their relationship and we see its disintegration in uncomfortable detail. The long takes focus purely on Otila, as she chastises her friend.

Another long take sees Otila at the world's most awkward family dinner. She's supposed to be celebrating her boyfriend's mother's birthday, but instead they are all blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil she is facing.  With the uncomfortable long take, it's difficult not to feel what Otila must have been feeling at that time.

Arguably, the film's most shocking scene was the thirty-second long take of the aborted feotus, probably shocking due to its rarity on-screen.

4 months also brilliantly addressed the theme of womanhood and femininity. Too many conversations about abortion and women's bodies are made by men. However, there the script is correctly flipped. All of the important relationships take place between women while the male characters are relegated to supporting roles. Otila and Gabita's friendship is always at the centre of the film, as it should be. Both actresses excelled in the lead roles.

4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 days might have been an uncomfortable film to watch, but it was an necessary one too. And without doubt it was unfairly snubbed by the Academy.

Lilya-4-ever review

 Number 402 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Russian tragedy 'Lilya-4-ever.'

Lilya Michailova (Oksana Akinshina) is a sixteen-year-old young woman living in a Communist-era Russian town. When her mother unexpectedly abandons her for a new life and man in the USA, Lilya is lost. She befriends the equally lost and younger Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky) but it looks like that Lilya's life will improve when she begins a relationship with the mysterious Andrei (Pavel Ponomaryov.) He encourages her to go to Sweden with him, in the promise of a new life together, but upon arrival, she is trafficked into sexual slavery.

Lilya-4-ever has been compared to Lars Von Trier's Dogme 43 movement. The comparisons are plain to see form the tight, claustrophobic camerawork, the lost, naive female characters and the brutally realistic tone. Just like Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark and Breaking the Waves, Lilya-4-ever is a powerful if deeply upsetting film. And its realism is what made it so powerful. Lilya's story is one that undoubtedly happens to so many women everywhere. And it does, as this was based on the tragic true story of Dangoule Rasalaite

Oksana was great as the innocent Lilya - somebody so desperate to escape her awful life that she ignores all the red flags about Andrei that even the far younger Voldymyr can recognise. Lilya is nothing more than a victim, but Oksana played her with a lot of will and determination. She's more than prepared to fight back than necessary.

The best part of the film was her relationship with the younger Voldymyr. Similar to Lilya, he comes from a broken home with an alcoholic father who constantly beats him. He and Lilya form a touching big sister/little brother relationship. She scrapes together whatever money she can get to buy him a basketball, which he carries everywhere with him. Even when his spiteful father punctures it, Volymyr still carries the half-inflated ball. This was just so sad and really highlighted Voldymyr's innocence. Like Lilya, he desperately clings to any escape from his awful life.

*Spoilers*

Voldymyr sees Lilya going to Sweden as a complete betrayal. She is going to a better life leaving him alone and friendless. Once she leaves, he commit suicide. This was all predictably tragic. Yet he continues to appear as an angel and hallucination in Lilya's mind. Complete with angel wings. Okay, I get him being an angel. The kid is so innocent that he wouldn't even hurt a fly. It also makes complete sense that Lilya would imagine her only friend at the more traumatic moments of her life. But actually giving Voldymyr angel wings felt like heavy-handed imagery.

Another criticism would be the film's pacing. In its efforts to dive into the storyline, it skipped over some important set-up. it wasn't made clear why Lilya's mother was so ready to abandon her daughter. Instead we're given hints and snippets. Although, I talked about realism earlier, and this is certainly a realistic thing to happen. Sometimes people, even parents, can walk out of your life with no exploration. it might not be satisfying to watch, but it's painfully true.

As is the horrific sexual treatment that Lilya experiences upon her sexual trafficking. Being forced into prostitution, we bear witness to Lilya's POV, as she has sex with a plethora of creepy scumbags. But these POV shots acted as a mirror to Lilya's awful situation. Just like her, the audience was trapped with no escape.

Finally, I didn't like the film's soundtrack. It was a weird mixture of Eurodance and German industrial rock. Rammstein's Mein Herz Brennt plays during the film's climatic sequence. It felt incredibly out of place. I know that Rammstein was popular in Russia at the time, but I think something softer might have been appropriate.

Nevertheless, Lilya-4-ever was a devastating film that perfectly encapsulated the phrase: all children deserve parents, but not all parents deserve children.

Nine Queens review

 Number 400 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Argentinean crime caper 'Nine Queens.'

Juan (Gaston Pauls) is a small-time con artist who comes to the attention of the older, more experienced Marcos (Ricardo Darin.) The two partner up to scam a wealthy collector into buying counterfeit stamps.

Nine Queens was released in 2000. Four years later, the BBC released the TV series Hustle. The comparisons were plain to see - a group of con artists take down an even more villainous bad guy. Hijinks and plot twists ensue.

Nine Queens can also be favourably compared to the 1973 film The Sting with Gaston Pauls and Ricardo Darin in the roles of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The two of them were just as charismatic as Newman and Redford with the younger hotshot Juan more than capable of showing the old dog, Marcos, new tricks. Yet sometimes Marcos' experience proves more important especially upon their first meeting where he rescues Juan from a scam gone terribly wrong.

Juan's young arrogance sees him trying to pull the same scam twice in the same place. If it wasn't for Marcos, then Juan would have spent the rest of the film in jail. In films like these, there is usually a romantisation of the criminal main characters. Yes, the stamp collector Esteban Gandolfo (Ignasi Abadal) is a sleaze boy who is constantly harassing Marcos' sister Valeria (Leticia Bredice,) but neither he or Juan are angels. To raise capital, they perform small-time cons; sure it looks stylish and cool, but, for all we know, they're conning innocent people out of their hard-earned money.

Inevitably, problems start to arise in the duo's well-thought out scam and it was entertaining watching things go awry. Their counterfeit stamps are stolen by motorbike thieves who throw them in a river when they think they are worthless. This all culminates in a delightful twist ending, a la Hustle, where the con artists get their just desserts.

Nine Queens was certainly an entertaining film with charismatic performances from its lead actors, but we need to remember not to romanticise con-men. They're just as bad as the supposed criminals they're robbing. 

Breaking the Waves review

 Number 398 on the top 1000 films of all time is Lars Von Trier's 1996 psychological romantic melodrama 'Breaking the Waves.'

Bess Mcneil (Emily Watson) is a Scottish, simple-minded, deeply religious woman living in a small Scottish village. She marries Danish oil worker Jan Nyman (Stellan Skarsgard) - a marriage which is strongly disapproved of by her community and church. When Nyman becomes paralysed after an accident, he requests Bess to continue living her life including having sexual relationships with other men. Bess does so believing that her sexual infidelity is helping Nyman recover.

Would you believe me if I said that this was Emily Watson's debut film role? A film role that led her to receiving a Best Actress Oscar nod? It's the truth. She was impressive as Bess - the naive, innocent woman with undiagnosed mental issues. In her naivety, she continues to sexually debase herself as she erroneously thinks this helping her husband to feel better. 

At first glance you might argue the character isn't very realistic - and I'm sure there are some who would read the character with a feminist lens - but she is living in a backwater Scottish village deeply affected by the recent death of her brother with an oppressive mother who provides little emotional validation. Her church is similarly oppressive, not even allowing women to speak in their services. No doubt this would lead to some mental health problems. Perhaps if she was in the city she could get the hope she needs I think it makes sense that Bess would imprint herself onto her husband - the only person who's ever given her any validation.

Watson truly earned her Oscar nomination, as she conveyed the devastation of the character. Bess Mcneil is a character to be truly pitied and it is all too easy to feel sorry for her especially as her misguided sexual escapades lead to her excommunication and eventual exile of her community. She might have done, subjectively, bad things, but she isn't a bad person. She strongly reminded me of Bjork's similarly tragic character in Von Trier's later film Dancer in the Dark. Considering this was the third in Von Trier's Golden Heart trilogy that makes sense. 

Bess might be a morally good character, but can we say the same thing about Jan? Yes, he has been paralysed in a dreadful work accident, but other characters are quick to point out his own debasement - manipulating his wife into prostituting herself for his own voyeuristic pleasure. Skarsgard was great as the morally duplicitous Jan - does he really have his wife's best interests at hearts or is he just using her?

Something else to consider is that this film is a melodrama. It's not supposed to be 100% realistic - spectacle and emotional gravitas are prioritised over an airtight story or believable characters. This magic realism continued all the way to the film's conclusion, which, for me, pushed my suspension of disbelief a little too far. But I'll leave you to make up your own mind. 

But, for certain, it was an emotional film. It was deeply sad seeing the tragedies growing ever greater and greater. It was awful seeing the physical, mental and sexual violence continuously inflicted on Bess - a character who deserved a lot more than she ever received out of life.

This was Von Trier's first film after having founded the avant-garde Dogme - 95 cinema movement with fellow Danish film maker Thomas Vinterberg. Granted 'Breaking the Waves' doesn't adhere that closely to its principles, but the use of handheld camera and low lighting created a claustrophobic and uncomfortably intimate atmosphere. You learn more than you would like about these characters - not that you have any choice in the matter. There's no looking away, which was very much the point of the film.

Sure, you can argue that Breaking the Waves is over-the-top, unbelievable with unrealistic characters, but I think that was supposed to be the point of the film. It's melodrama - not always the most believable, but definitely entertaining if not downright tragic. And Emily Watson was terrific in her debut role.

Children of Men review

 Number 390 on the top 1000 films of all time is Alfonso Cuaron's 2006 dystopian thriller 'Children of Men.'

Based on P.D James' book of the same name, Children of Men is set in a slightly futuristic London where humanity has become infertile and can no longer have children. This plus an influx of refugees and asylum seekers to the UK has led the country to the brink of collapse. Enter former activist turned civil servant Theo Farron (Clive Farron) who is tasked in helping refugee Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) in escaping the chaos. Julianne Moore co-stars as Farron's estranged wife and activist leader Julian while Michael Caine plays former journalist Jasper Palmer. Chiwetel Eijofar, Pam Ferris and Charlie Hunnam all co-star.

Infertility has always been a theme that's interested audiences and readers. What happens if we can no longer reproduce? Margaret Atwood first tried answering that question in her 1985 book 'The Handmaid's tale,' which was recently adapted into a TV series that enraptured the world. Arguably, she was just laying the groundwork for P.D James and later Alfonso Cuaron.

In Children of Men, Cuaron portrayed a hellish future. This is far away from the techno-dystopia of Blade-Runner. If anything, Cuaron wanted to show an anti-Blade Runner. And he succeeds. The London he shows is dirty, despotic and completely hopeless. It doesn't look all that different from our own. Children of Men is set in 2027 - only 2 years on from when I'm writing this review - 21 years on from the making of the film and 35 from when the film was set. This is not a long-distant future, but it's in the here and now. Refugees are rounded up, caged, deported, some shot on sight. That's still happening in parts of the world as we speak. The similarities are scarily real.

Cuaron's use of cinematography and tracking-shots all contributed to this film's success. The film is well-known for its use of multiple one-take tracking shots that raised the tension to a fever pitch. I think we can all remember the film's most famous scene of Farron and the other Fishes desperately trying to outrun the bandits on the road. Another particularly famous scene comes during the film's climatic fight scene - another one-take scene, where the camera is splattered with blood. Cuaron wanted to reshoot it, but cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki insisted they leave it in. It was a great decision and one of many that contributed to Lubezki's well-earned Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography.

Speaking of Oscars, Children of Men was nominated for three: Cinematography as we mentioned, editing and adapted screenplay. There were no acting nominations. I question if this was a bit of an oversight. I've only seen Clive Owen in a few films, but they've generally been supporting or villainous roles. This is the first time I've seen as a leading man and he was good. He held the screen well, as he showed Farron's transformation from hapless bureaucrat to unlikely hero - am I the only one who cheered when he absolutely clobbered the corrupt prison guard Sid? Although I also found it annoying that Farron didn't pick up a stray gun when he had a chance - it would have been nice to have seen him personally kill the other villains of the film.

Speaking of villains, Chiwetel Eijofar filled this role well. As the de-facto leader of the activist group Fishes, he's desperate for the violence and killing to stop, but could you argue that his quest for justice has clouded his own moral compass. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals even if that means he has to break the rules. I think Eijofar showed the conflict well, proving why he went onto be Oscar-nominated down the line. Similarly, you had Charlie Hunnam as a tertiary antagonist - his role was small, but still memorable. He played Patric - an activist whose cousin dies in an ill-thought out operation.

*Spoilers ahead* But let's give some love to the women as well. Granted Julianne Moore only has a small role due to her character's early shock death, but she was also good as was Pam Ferris. Ferris' turn as former midwife turned activist and martyr was a far cry from her villainous role as Trunchball in Matilda. A very versatile actress. And I even enjoyed Michael Caine as the ageing hippy and journalist Jasper Palmer.

If I were to criticise the film for anything, I think it could have been slightly longer. At 110 minutes, it's slightly shy of the two-hour mark and I think we could have used more time to explore more of the backstory of the world - especially with the 'Fishes' activist organisation. We quickly learn that they are behind Julian's death in a shady plot to use Kee's baby as a political symbol. Patric and his cousin spearhead this operation but his cousin is killed in the process. This sends Patric into a revenge arc which is never fully fleshed out.

Similarly, we never really find out how Kee became pregnant or what caused the infertility crisis in the first place. But I think much of this was down to Cuaron and his deliberate choice to eschew any explanations. He doesn't like exposition or backstory instead allowing audiences to come to their own conclusions.

My conclusion? This was a great film that left me wanting so much more. Time to read the book!

Miller's Crossing review

 Number 391 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Coen Brothers' 1990 neo-noir gangster film Miller's Crossing.

Set in prohibition-era America, Miller's Crossing follows Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) right-hand man to Irish mobster Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) as O'Bannon wars with rival Italian gangster Johnny Casper (Jon Polito.) Reagan desperately tries to stay alive as he plays off the two sides against each other. Marcia Gay Harden and John Turturro co-star.

Miller's Crossing comes quite early in the Coen Brothers' career - being only the third film they made. As such, I would argue it was one of their more straightforward films. Unlike their later efforts of the Big Lebowski, Fargo and Oh Brother, where art thou, there was far less off-the-beat humour and far less surrealism. This made it an enjoyable and engaging gangster flick made at a time where they had some stiff competition from the likes of Goodfellas, Carlito's Way and Casino. The 90's was a hell of a time for gangster films for sure.

Yet what separated Miller's Crossing was not only the prohibition setting but its also strong cast. A highlight among them was Jon Polito who brought a brilliant, maverick energy to Caspar. It was the perfect balance to veteran English actor Albert Finney who gave a calm and measured performance as the far older Leo O'Bannon. John Turturro was also great as bookie Bernie Bernbaum. He soon makes an enemy of Caspar by continuously skimming off his match-fixing winnings. It looks like Bernbaum is nothing more than a greedy schnook, but he proves himself to be cleverer than meets the eye.

And nowhere is this more true than with our protagonist Tom Reagan. Although he begins as a close ally of O'Bannon, he soon realises that he has to play both sides if he has any chance of surviving this growing mob-war. In 2009, the Guardian labelled Gabriel Byrne one of the best actors to have never received an Oscar nomination (but bear in mind this article is years out of date) and he was good in this film. It's a fair comment as Byrne plays the man caught between two sides very well. And a quick shoutout to Marcia Gay Harden who would go onto prove why she later went onto win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Although it might have lacked some of the surreal humour that the Coen Brothers are so well-known for, it still had the same stylistic flair they're so well-known for. The dialogue was sharp and snappy and its cinematography and style have been emulated well in future decades. Did the scenes in the titular Miller's Crossing remind anybody of a certain episode of the Sopranos?

Miller's Crossing might have been one of the Coen Brother's earliest films before we really knew what they had to say as film-makers, but it was certainly an enjoyable enough effort. And they showed why, like Marcia Gay Harden, they went onto win Oscars of their own.