27 June 2025.
Three super films to catch when you need to escape the heat…don’t miss them.
F1 – THE FILM ***1/2
F1 is a roaring triumph. From the opening scream of the engines to the final chequered flag, this film grips you like a tight corner at Silverstone. With breathtaking cinematography, behind-the-scenes access and adrenaline-fuelled storytelling, it offers a raw and riveting look into the grit and glory of the world’s fastest sport.
Think of it as the “Top Gun” of motor racing — all speed, swagger and sky-high stakes, but with wheels firmly planted on the tarmac. It’s not just for die-hard petrol heads either — the human drama, fierce rivalries and sheer scale of ambition make F1 a compelling watch for anyone who loves a good underdog story or a thrilling dose of reality at 300km/h.
Slick, stylish, and superbly edited, F1 is a turbo-charged ride that leaves you buzzing long after the credits roll. Buckle up — this isn’t just a film, it’s a full-throttle experience.
(Written by my son Dirk, who is a car enthusiast and insisted on coming along – with special permission – to the press screening in Balexert, on IMAX.)
F1 of course stars an ultra cool Brad Pitt as the weathered individualist of a driver and Javier Bardem as his old friend and latest boss. And it’s all put together by Joseph Kosinski, the action director of “Oblivion” and “Top Gun: Maverick”, both starring Tom Cruise. Pitt and Cruise last acted together in the 1994 “Interview With the Vampire”, and were united at the London premiere of this film. It’s a lucrative Hollywood community when it comes to summertime blockbusters. This one deserves to do well!
13 JOURS, 13 NUITS ***12 (vo French)
Gripping is the word for this true historical thriller about a modern-day, tragic fiasco.
The world watched with horror as the Americans left Afghanistan in August 2021 to the barbaric, bloodthirsty Talibans, after 20 years of a devastating, useless war.
This film by Martin Bourboulon (“Eiffel”, “The Three Musketeers”) shows the French version of that desperate withdrawal, centered around the French Embassy in Kabul.
And it’s told by Mohamed Bida, the head of security for their embassy at the time. The immense Roschdy Zem plays Bida with an intensity that is palpable, showing the harrowing conditions of the moment when so many Afghanis needed to get out before the wrath of the Taliban.
This is both a historic and a very human film about the last operation of a foreign power to evacuate as many people as they could. There is a courageous foreign reporter (Sidse Babett Knudsen), a young Moslem girl who helps as an interpreter (Lyna Khoudri), and a group of artists who will be massacred if left behind.
The tension is breathtaking, the scenes of desperation feel very real. This is a lesson in human folly, especially of (the unseen) leaders who play with power rather than for the people they govern or those they invade.
KÖLN 75 ***1/2 (vo German and English)
This is a tale – once again based on true events – of how two separate lives came unexpectedly together in 1975 Germany.
Vera Brandes (played by the scintillating Mala Emde) is a charming teenage rebel in Cologne, pushing back especially against the authority of her cold father.
The film shows how she starts off by organizing a concert for the British Ronny Scott Trio in her hometown, and then a bit later launches into a feverish push to orchestrate a performance by jazz iconoclast Keith Jarrett at the Cologne opera house. Jarrett’s 1975 concert has become the stuff of legend, and turned Brandes into an inadvertent musical impresario at 16.
Israeli/American director Ido Fluk has created a highly amusing homage here to youthful, revolutionary fervour, and the essence and importance of jazz improvisation.
And it has an authentic mood of the era along with its distinctive characters. Quite an impressive, intriguing melange.
M3GAN 2.0 *1/2
The thin message of the film, that AI (and its robots) should be monitored carefully since its advances can go haywire, is lost in this second M3GAN which has become far more hectic and violent than the first. In fact, it’s become tiresome. Too bad.
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.
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Leave a Reply