Film Beat

As we approach this weekend’s Oscars ceremony, arguably the most competitive and interesting category will be for the best international feature film. One of the front runners is The Secret Agent, the latest movie by Brazilian filmmaker, Kleber Mendonça Filho. The Secret Agent is set in 1970s Brazil, a time of “mischief” as the film puts it which turns out to mean corruption, murder, paranoia and at times just plain absurdity. All of which is depicted in Filho’s film. Wagner Moura (also nominated for his performance, having already won best Actor at Cannes for this role), stars as Marcelo,  a  man who is introduced to us driving a yellow Beetle and pulling up to a gas station where he encounters a dead body. He’s then approached by police officers who don’t seem too concerned with the rotting body, but would rather inspect Marcelo’s car and extort some money from him. Marcelo, unruffled, calmly exchanges some cigarettes in exchange for safe passage. Why did they want money? Wh...

Art has always been a favoured method of processing personal experiences, be it love, fear or general existentialism. Recently, “ Hamnet ” tells the (somewhat fictional) story of William Shakespeare processing his grief through his writing. “Is This Thing On?” adapts the story of John Bishop who found an outlet through standup comedy following the breakdown of his marriage. The film is directed by Bradley Cooper and rather than being the big-swing Oscar-bait biopic of “Maestro” or the star-studded toe-tapping remake of “A Star is Born”, his third feature marks a more grounded effort. The result being too safe to be overly disappointing but not remarkable enough to be so memorable. My biggest disappointment with the film is that it starts out so boring. Alex (Will Arnett) is disillusioned, both in his life but also in his marriage with Tess (Laura Dern). Their relationship has grown stale and they find themselves accepting that that’s just how it is and that it’s best that they split am...

While alone in the woods, Agnes (Jesse Buckley) asks Will (Paul Mescal) to tell her a story to which he asks “What story would you like?”.   “Something that moves you”. With Hamnet, Chloe Zhao has created a beautifully moving depiction of grief and the healing, communal power of art. It's a tear jerker that some may pessimistically label as “Oscar Bait” but it deserves all the praise it gets. Based on the novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Zhao, Hamnet depicts the real-life tragedy of the loss of William’s Shakespeare’s son, that inspired the creation of one Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Will, a latin tutor, follows Agnes into the woods where she is summoning her Hawk. The two fall in love and soon Agnes is pregnant. Despite his family’s disdain, Will intends to marry Agnes, and with the blessing of her brother, Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn), he does so. Several years later, Will and Agnes are now expecting their third child - although it turns o...