Shepherds and Butchers.

Award winning South African film director and screenwriter Oliver Schmitz was in attendance at the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival to introduce his latest feature film which originally got its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was being shown as part of EIFF's World Perspective Strand, which is designed to include movies "that will impress, beguile and challenge in equal measure" and Shepherds and Butchers (2016) did just that.

Certainly more than your standard courtroom conflict, although the courtroom does act as the hub for the drama that unfolds. The movie begins with a murder, in fact seven murders; we follow prison guard Leon Labuschagne (Garion Downs) as he drives his car along the rain soaked highway on his way home from work. An incident takes place between Labuschagne's vehicle and a mini bus transporting seven black members of a local youth football team. Both vehicles stop, everyone gets out, the shouting starts and then the prison guard opens fire with an automatic pistol and kills all seven occupants of the mini bus. Hired to defend Labuschagne Johan Webber (another great role for Steve Coogan, who I believe is a better actor than comedian) he can't get the accused to reveal his motive for the cold-blooded execution of the young football players. Initially unable to build an adequate defence to defy the State Prosecutor Kathleen Marais (Andrea Riseborough) that will avoid his client getting the death penalty, Webber has to build a case that for this brutal crime would almost amount to an impossible task.

 

The Defendant.

The Defence.

The Prosecusion. 

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Seven years in development and three years to get it on screen it was adapted by Brian Cox from a novel by Chris Marnewich which itself is based on true events that took place in South Africa in 1986 at a time when apartheid still had eight years to run. The director admitted that he could not make film at that time.  It's a film that deals with the effect that South Africa's penal system, its death penalty and the inhuman hangings had on those that worked on death row. Don't be mistaken, this is not a straightforward story - this is in fact a harrowing and hard watch about legalised state killing. As the story unfolds we get to witness treatment of human beings that is totally against their human rights as well as offending common decency. Credit where credits due Oliver Schmitz does not hold back on the graphic details and one can't help feeling that South Africa's White ruling elite had an awful lot to answer for, an elite that upheld SA’s brutal regime. Those that carried out these death penalties will be locked in a bubble of violence for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately there still does not appear to be a UK release date but when it does finally gets a release go and see this film,  it will make you realise what could happen to any of us if we were put in the same position as Leon Labuschagne.

Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) .

It may be stagey and wordy but don’t let that deter you from seeing this outstanding American satirical black comedy. Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican director that was responsible for helming some of the best films I have seen in the last 15 years, Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003) Babel (2006) and Biutiful (2010) and he has now co-written, produced, and directed one of the most intriguing films I have seen in 2015. Birdman (2014) is the story of Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) who is trying to revive his career by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway adaptation of a story by the American short story writer Raymond Carver What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Thomson had originally been a famous Hollywood star playing a superhero known as Birdman but is know virtually forgotten by most people other than his most devoted fans. Also involved in this make or break production are the producer Jake (Zach Galifianakis) Riggan’s best friend and lawyer, Riggans Girlfriend Laura (British actress Andrea Riseborough) his daughter and assistant Sam (Emma Stone) who is a recovering drug addict and first time Broadway hopeful Lesley (Naomi Watts).

 

Riggan and his alto ego.

McDonalds turn up everywhere. 

The rehearsals are not going well and one of the other actors doesn’t seem to be able to hack it. Fortunately for Riggan, but unfortunately for the actor, a rather large light fitting falls on his head therefore bringing any further involvement in the play to an abrupt end. A replacement is required post-haste and thanks to Lesley the replacement turns out to be none other than the brilliant but at times volatile, actor Mike Shiner (Edward Norton). By the way I have neglected to tell you that Riggan Thomson is tormented by strange occurrences where his alto ego Birdman speaks to him encouraging him to re-engage with his previous character which involves flying and making things levitate around his changing room! The involvement of Shiner in the production does nothing for Riggans metal state and as opening night approaches things are not looking good. 

 

Daughter Sam....

....girlfriend Laura....

....and hopeful actress Lesley.

This is a somewhat different movie from your standard cinematic release. The cinematographer Emmanual Lubezki, who has worked with Terrence Malick, The Coen Brothers and Alfonso Cuaron amongst many others, was tasked with making the movie seem like one long shot and his use of the camera is exceptional.  Antonio Sanchez composed the majority of soundtrack. The reason for using a Mexican Jazz drummer was explained by Iñárritu as enabling him to ‘structure scenes’ he went on to say in an interview “The drums, for me, was a great way to find the rhythm of the film... In comedy, rhythm is king, and not having the tools of editing to determine time and space, I knew I needed something to help me find the internal rhythm of the film." We get to see the drumming in various scenes sometimes in the corridor of the theatre and sometimes in the street; the great thing is that they are not part of the narrative! The score earned a nomination at both the Golden Globes and the BAFTA’s.

 

Discussions with Shiner are not going well....

....and the producer looks worried!

The best thing about this movie, other than its wonderful screenplay, is the acting, with Michael Keaton the stand out turn, but in reality all the other members of the cast are not to far behind Keaton’s high standards: this is supported by the fact that it has been nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Actor for Keaton, Best Supporting Actor for both Emma Stone and Edward Norton and Best Director for Iñárritu.  It’s a film I would certainly recommend you go to see, and as I have said about this director’s previous work all his films are on a different level from your normal boring mainstream multiplex offerings and Birdman is no different.

Welcome to the Punch

Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) is an ex bank robber who cripples Detective Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) in a shot out following a robbery. Sternwood retires to Iceland but three years later he is forced back to London after receiving a phone call from his estranged son who has been involved in a robbery that has gone wrong where one man has been killed and Ruan Sternwood has received a stomach wound.  When Lewinsky hears that his old adversary is back in the capital he becomes obsessed with catching and arresting the master criminal. The strength of the hatred the detective has for Jacob is due to a psychological scar left by the belief that his career and his life has been ruined by the shooting incident that took place three years ago. Assisted by his partner Sarah Hawks (Andrea Riseborough) he sets out on a pursuit that will go far deeper than a simple matter of cops and robbers.

What no Bankers?

This British thriller/crime drama has been written and directed by Eran Creevy whose promising debut film Shifty (2008) was very well received. Creevy admits that Welcome to the Punch (2012) is, as they say, something completely different. It’s sets out to be a cool, slick action drama set in London that attempts to ape not only Hong Kong action cinema but also movies like Heat and The Departed. It has a superb supporting cast including Peter Mullan, Johnny Harris, Daniel Mays, David Morrissey, and Jason Flemyng, unfortunately most of whom are under used.

Another cup of tea son!

It took Creevy two years to write the story, which at times is a little far fetched but the set pieces are very well done especially the opening car chase through Canary Wharf. London’s chrome and steel has never looked quite so polished, thanks to the smart cinematography by DOP Ed Wild. But a superficial film that shows the overindulgence of its executive producer Ridley Scott and would of benefited from a little more grittiness. It was also a mistake to downsize a large amount of the back-story of our two main characters that leaves the narrative a little shallow. Creevy skill as a director does shine through at times with his best scene being the segment that takes place in Dean Warns grandma’s front room with a stand off between Warns (Harris) and Jacob, Max and Roy Edwards (Peter Mullan) that ends with a great slow motion gun battle.  Essentially a good B-movie masquerading as a main feature. 

Resistance.

Its 1944, Britain has lost the war and has been invaded. In a welsh farming community the menfolk have left to join the local resistance movement, leaving their wives and families to run the farms and wait the invading forces. At first the women give the Germans the cold shoulder but when the harshness of winter descends they find it ever harder to resist help from whatever quarter.  

The main focus of our story involves Sarah, whose husband Tom is one of those that left, and Albrecht the good-looking German Commanding officer. It’s the relationship that grows between them that forms the backbone of Resistance (2011). The original story is based on a novel of the same name by Owen Sheers who shared screenwriting duties with first time feature film director Amit Gupta. The acting is as good as you would expect from the likes of  Andrea Riseborough as Sarah and from German actor Tom Wlaschiha as Albrecht with an appearance from a criminally underused Michael Sheen who plays Tommy Atkins a secret service agent.

The invading forces enjoy the local 'show'

Don’t expect any real action, its more of a relationship drama than a war film with, admittedly, some great Welsh landscape shots which certainly highlighted the four seasons which is not surprising when you realise that the film had financial support from Film Agency Wales! The film is disappointing, building very little tension or any real excitement and involves some classic plot holes that leave you completely in the dark one of which includes a medieval European map of the world referred to as the Mappa Mundi which Albrecht finds in a packing case in a cave high in the Welsh hills! To sum up: a pretty travelogue, with another decent performance from Riseborough, but none of the normal wartime action. 

Gradually being excepted by the locals.