11 September 2026
PRESSURE ****
It’s just weeks before D-Day in June 1944, and we are in England, privy to the intensive plans and preparations for that crucial day. That is the incredible pressure, but there is also another pressure – that of the weather. For this film is about the important calculations involved in setting the right date for the invasion according to the weather.
Everyone significant who was there in 1944 is in this film – from General Eisenhower on the American side, played brilliantly by Brendan Fraser, to Field Marshall Montgomery on the British side, played by Damian Lewis, and the lesser-known but key weather expert of the film, Captain James Stagg, played with assured bravado by Andrew Scott. There should be many nominations to the Oscars and BAFTAs for the acting, script, direction and the cinematography of this gripping work by the Australian director Anthony Maras, which is more about the pivotal planning than the actual combat of a war film.
There have been some excellent movies concerning WWII recently (and a few on the way) including the two intelligent French films by Antonin Baudry on DeGaulle’s huge gamble in going over to England, rather than accepting capitulation to Germany. This one shows the Allied struggle to put an end to the Nazi stranglehold on Europe, and it is just as ingeniously historical and compelling.
There is one tragic event that not many may have been aware of – I will let you discover it on your own when you see this unmissable film. Run to it!
SIE GLAUBEN AN ENGEL, HERR DROWAK? *** (vo German)
The fat rat that begins this film sets its tone from the get-go. Here’s a mix of surrealism and German Expressionism that is about two completely opposing characters – a bright-eyed young woman with good intentions who takes a job helping a filthy, incorrigible drunkard (Karl Markovics) who once was a writer.
The setting for their story is a barren, concrete city that resembles some socialistic plan gone to hell. In this stark black-and-white vision, there are shades of the wacky films of Wes Anderson and bits of such bizarre works as “Being John Malkovich”. There are strange characters that come and go, especially some giant rats that haunt our alcoholic hero who lives in a room stacked high with empty bottles.
But the girl, played by the radiant Swiss actress Luna Wedler, just won’t give up on her mission to rehabilitate this misanthrope. And when he starts writing once more, the world turns to colour as he remembers his own story as a young man when he fell for a lovely Finnish girl. Again, shades of another work – Belmondo’s 1973 spoof, “Le Magnifique”.
Here’s a mishmash of brilliant, delirious observations by the talented Swiss director Nicolas Steiner, with views of both a broken society and moments of humour and poetic beauty. Not a pleasurable date or family film, but a powerful one that stimulates thoughts about our world. There is an adorable, precocious little girl (Soraya Efe) in it who just may be a ray of hope…
PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 *1/2
Chick flicks can be fun and entertaining, sometimes even for the guys. This one, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, falls short for both genders. It starts off as a colourful tale of three generations of women who have been both blessed and cursed by their powers as witches, tracing back to 17th century Britain. We’re in a bright seaside town in New England and their flower-strewn home and garden is a welcoming place, especially tonight for the great-aunt’s (Dianne Wiest) birthday party.
But strange occurrences are brewing, and the party might become a darker event. As the three generations – the aging aunts (the second one played by the still lovely Stockard Channing), the two main Bullock and Kidman sisters, and Bullock’s two daughters – come together for this occasion, secrets begin to spill out into the open, creating the next chapter of happenings that become sillier as the movie progresses. There are flights to England with foolish baggage-toting, nonsensical chases in the countryside and miraculous recoveries. And, of course, gooey love stories thrown in. Who’s responsible for this so-called script?!
What has happened to the talent of the award-winning Susanne Bier, the 66-year-old Danish director? She of such excellent, confident films as the 2004 “Brothers” and “In A Better World” from 2010. She’s gone Hollywood.
This overblown, blatantly predictable yarn has too much overacting, tiresome blabbering by the two main stars, and hopeless direction.
Pity – it could have been fun, with all the talents contained in it, and wasted.
MA FAMILLE ITALIANNE * (vo Italian)
Suffice it to say that this insipid, badly directed film by the main character/grandfather of the film, Gianni Di Gregorio, would be a waste of your time. The whole thing, about his daughter and her two children coming to stay with him after divorce troubles, is simplistic, unbelievable and stereotyped from the start.
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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