Sarah’s Key (Saturday 11th February, 8.30pm) was one of my favourite films of 2011, so even if you’ve read and loved the book, by Tatiana de Rosnay’s and a New York Times best seller, this moving and absorbing film should be on your must-see list.
Sarah’s Key (Saturday 11th February, 8.30pm) was one of my favourite films of 2011, so even if you’ve read and loved the book, by Tatiana de Rosnay’s and a New York Times best seller, this moving and absorbing film should be on your must-see list.
The best thing the film has going for it is Kristin Scott Thomas, who could probably make reading a scone recipe compelling. She plays Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris and writing a story on the Vel’d’Hiv Roundup of Parisian Jews by the French in 1942. As Julia delves deeper into this shameful episode in France’s history she discovers a personal connection to 10 year old Jewish girl Sarah and her family, who were arrested in these raids.
What’s special about this story is the way director Gilles Paquet-Brenner weaves the past and present together, and in doing so shows how the choices people made during this period of World War II are still echoing today. Thanks to marvelous performances, Sarah’s Key is a harrowing film that unfolds gently, and is a fresh approach to a well-known genre.
Also screening on Rialto Channel this week is director Rowan Joffe’s intense and stylish adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel Brighton Rock (Monday 6th February, 8.30pm). Joffe retains Greene’s 1930s noir style but transfers his story of warring gangsters and morality to Brighton in 1964.
The 1960s’ backdrop makes for a visually stunning and at times fun film, but setting Mods on motorbikes and stylish modern interiors against old school gangsters and a dark and intense story makes for, in my view, an unusual and slightly uncomfortable mix.
The performances though are uniformly excellent, with Helen Mirren leading the pack as local coffee shop owner Ida who is determined to bring local mobster Pinkie Brown (Sam Riley) to justice. It’s an ambitious adaptation and one well worth viewing, although admirers of Greene’s novel may find it a touch challenging.
My other highlight this week is from this month’s featured director, Neil Jordan. The Crying Game (Sunday 12th February, 8.30pm) is surely his best known film and stars Stephen Rea, a regular in Jordan’s films. With six Oscar nominations and one win for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, The Crying Game is an intense thriller with a plot twist so deliciously shocking that movie goers in 1992 felt compelled to keep it a secret. It’s doubtful users of Twitter and Facebook would be quite so considerate these days.
Enjoy