13 December 2024.
Maybe due to the Christmas rush – with little time to check out films – these releases are quite mediocre. Wait till next week or see the great ones you’ve missed – CONCLAVE, EMILIA PEREZ, ANORA, JUROR #2, FLOW. Or just take a break from all the hullabaloo…
KRAVEN THE HUNTER ***
This one is good – for its genre – smart, exciting and satisfying. I don’t normally follow Marvel characters as they’re simply too unbelievable, often silly and deal only in action, mayhem and violence.
But this one has Kraven, a hero (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who has a credible raison d’être, uses the elements of nature for the force which he has been given, and he’s gorgeous. Remember young Taylor-Johnson from the 2009 “Nowhere Boy” as John Lennon, as Vronsky in the 2012 “Anna Karenina”, and in “Bullet Train” with Brad Pitt? In fact he is being touted as the possible next James Bond.
And then there’s the Oscar-winning star, Russell Crowe, who has evolved into a character actor. Here he plays Kraven’s father, a ruthless, overbearing Russian drug lord based in London, with a convincing Russky accent. It might be somewhat demeaning for his once-tremendous talent, but it works.
This action thriller between the wilds of Russia and London is directed with flair and gusto by J.C. Chandor, who also makes serious films such as the 2011 “Margin Call”, about the deceit and corruption in the financial markets, and “All is Lost”, the solo sailing film with Robert Redford. This time Chandor has decided to go for a bold blockbuster, and it works! We’ll be seeing more of this vigilante hunter.
SEPTEMBRE SANS ATTENDRE ** (vo Spanish)
Here’s a Spanish film about a couple who are going about their divorce in a strangely amicable manner, as though it were the most positive, normal consequence of a once-romance. In fact, they are going to throw a party to celebrate their dis-union.
It’s an interesting idea and a loving one, but the Spanish director Jonas Trueba stretches the point too far, almost into boredom. It’s a pleasant proposal, but not much more…
(Showing at the Grütli)
SAINT-EX *1/2 (vo French)
Now this is a real disappointment, for it misrepresents the life of one of France’s most beloved writers. It is supposed to be about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the aviator, writer and poet who is internationally known as the author of “Le Petit Prince”, that unforgettable classic for kids from 4 to 94. He wrote other books such as “Night Flight” and his memoir, “Wind, Sand and Stars”, and worked as a commercial pilot during the 1920s, flying airmail routes across Africa and South America. He also lived in Argentina and later spent a few years in the U.S. with his Salvadoran wife, then joined the Free French Air Force, when his plane crashed over the Mediterranean in 1944 and its remains were not found until the year 2000. Having led a rich, adventurous life, he was only 44, and he became a national legend. None of that is in the film.
It is just a segment of one wintery week in the Andes in 1930 that Pablo Agüero uses to supposedly render homage to Saint-Exupéry’s life. He creates a too stylised, daredevil episode which is more the muddled invention of the director than a portrait of the great author. And he has purposely picked three top stars to support his microscopic vision – Diane Kruger, Vincent Cassel and Louis Garrel as Saint-Exupéry, who in no way resembles him. The film is actually a pretentious travesty as far as I’m concerned. And a disappointment.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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