Three very different films make it onto my hit list this week; prepare to be charmed, exhausted, and amused by an eclectic group of films from Germany, America and England.
Three very different films make it onto my hit list this week; prepare to be charmed, exhausted, and amused by an eclectic group of films from Germany, America and England.
First up – The Charmer: Vincent Wants To Sea (Tuesday 11th September).
Best Film at the 2011 German Film Awards, this comedy/drama is a road movie about a group of 20-something patients at a German health clinic who sneak out, steal a car and take off for the Italian coast. It’s a pretty stock standard road trip setup, but it’s made moving, funny and poignant because our travellers suffer from tourettes, anorexia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
It’s a simple, lighthearted and uplifting film that will bring a smile to your face, and introduces us to an interesting new talent – its script-writer Florian David Fitz, who also stars as our Tourettes hero, Vincent.
I’ve often dreamed about driving across the United States, but it’s never occurred to me to do it on a bike, with pedals. This is what the competitors do in the Race Across America, captured in the documentary Bicycle Dreams (Thursday 13th September, 8.30pm).
This would be the “exhausting” part of the week’s highlights. Watching a group of ambitious men and women ride 3000 miles across the country with only an hour’s sleep here and there was, well, tiring, even on the couch.
This is one of those extreme sports events for people who want to challenge themselves physically and mentally to help discover who they are and what they’re made of. It’s not about prize money, it’s simply about finishing this grueling race through deserts, mountain ranges and horrific weather. They are a crazy lot, but they deserve our respect.
And lastly this week, can I suggest Eliminate Archie Cookson (Monday 19th September, 8.30pm); a dry, British espionage thriller with a retro edge that is more about style than substance. It’s the debut feature from DOP-turned-writer-turned-director Rob Holder, and even though he doesn’t quite pull off this deadpan spy spoof (he struggles a little to balance out the humour and drama) it’s still an amusing little distraction.
Food of Love’s Paul Rhys stars as Archie Cookson, a has-been ex MI6 spy who has been relegated to translating Russian tape recordings. When he’s sent a couple of cold war tape recordings that implicates senior MI6 officials in Cold War atrocities, he discovers he’s up for assassination. Thankfully his assassin, an old friend, gives him some time to make peace with his estranged wife and son.
Enjoy the week.