Film

Four new films to see this week

The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lola and the Sea, The King’s Man, Being the Ricardos

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in The Tragedy of Macbeth

Donald Clarke
Tara Brady
Mon Dec 27 2021 - 06:00

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH ★★★★☆
Directed by Joel Coen. Starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell, Bertie Carvel, Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Moses Ingram, Kathryn Hunter. Limited release, 105 min
There may not be a Big Idea in Coen's take on Shakespeare's most dynamic tragedy, but all the artistic choices work. Production designer Stefan Dechant and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel create a claustrophobic environment (monochrome images shut within a 4:3 Academy ratio) that suggests early expressionist cinema and the metaphysical spaces of Giorgio de Chirico. Washington and McDormand add poignancy to the malevolence with older versions of the murderous first couple. The standout player, however, is Hunter – grating and unnerving, but beautifully crisp, as all three witches. It is done well. It is done quickly. Full review DC

LOLA AND THE SEA/LOLA VERS LA MER ★★★★☆
Directed by Laurent Micheli. Starring Mya Bollaers, Benoît Magimel, Els Deceukelier, Sami Outalbali, Jérémy Zagba. IFI, Dublin, 90 min

Mya Bollaers in Lola and the Sea

At 18, high-spirited Lola (played with spitting fury by Bollaers, a wonderful young transgender performer) lives in a foster home with her best friend Sami, is trying to get her diploma as a veterinary assistant, and is waiting on reassignment surgery. There are no easy solutions here. Even the intervention of Deceukelier, playing the kindly queer-friendly owner of a roadside bar, has a limited impact. Magimel's charging bull patriarch moves some way towards acceptance but remains prone to asking his daughter howlingly inappropriate questions. A thoughtful film that treats its subject with respect. Full review TB

THE KING'S MAN ★★★☆☆
Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickson, Rhys Ifans, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Charles Dance, Daniel Brühl, Stanley Tucci. 15A cert, gen release, 131 min

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Ralph Fiennes in The King’s Man

After the so-so Kingsman: The Secret Service and the unendurable Kingsman: The Golden Circle, one might reasonably assume that Matthew Vaughn had nowhere else to go with the secret agent pastiche. This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink prequel deflates such pessimism in disreputably enjoyable fashion. Fiennes plays a peer who, as the first World War looms, seeks to save Europe from immolation. The politics are wildly inconsistent – both anti-imperialist and pro-George V – but the borrowings from John Buchan and H Rider Haggard play well. Best in the series yet. Worth it for Ifans's Rasputin alone. Full review DC

BEING THE RICARDOS ★★☆☆☆
Directed by Aaron Sorkin. Starring Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Nina Arianda, JK Simmons, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, Clark Gregg. Amazon Prime, 131 min

Javier Bardem, JK Simmons, Nina Arianda and Nicole Kidman in Being the Ricardos

Every so often in Sorkin's unimpressive depiction of one week in the life of TV comedy legend Lucille Ball, Kidman's Lucy stops dead in her tracks – this is walkiest and talkiest Sorkin project yet – and mulls over some soon-to-be iconic moment of sitcom history. A lightbulb does not quite appear over Kidman's head, but it might as well. So it goes. Sorkin goes out of his snooty way to avoid anything as vulgar as Lucille Ball's comedy, save for a very brief glimpse of the famous grape-stomping scene. The film's obsession with process means we never get to drink the wine. Full review TB