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View from the Couch
You are in: surefish > faith > DVD reviews Date: 11 October, 2007
Steve Couch reviews Sunshine, Becoming Jane, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, together with other notable DVD releases Click on the title or cover image to buy the DVD from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid receives a percentage of the sale. Serious sci-fi, without laser guns, mad robots or hare-brained schemes to save the Earth. Well, there is a scheme to save the Earth, but this is heavyweight stuff. The Sun is dying, and our heroes are astronauts on a mission to fire a massive nuclear warhead into it to get it going again (jump leads might have been easier). Needless to say, the mission proves to be less straightforward than the crew hoped.
The growing claustrophobia and paranoia of the crew, played out against the emptiness of space and the awesome power of the Sun constantly cranks up the tension, culminating with a sizzling final act. Two commentary tracks – one from Boyle and one from boyishly enthusiastic science advisor Dr Brian Cox – plus a vast array of video blogs focusing on different members of the cast and crew. Add in a smattering of deleted scenes and even two unrelated short films, and this is a satisfying and solidly informative package of extras. Sunshine is beautifully shot, with some intelligent musing along the way. This is very good, grown up science fiction. But would it have killed them to have thrown in a mad robot or two? Buy this DVD from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid receives commission on the sale. Click here Long time readers of this column will know that Jane Austen adaptations have to go a long way to impress me. Not because I can’t stand people messing with the perfection of her books, but because I can’t stand her books. So I approached this biopic of the tangled romantic life of the real Jane Austen with some trepidation, but was pleasantly surprised. Viewers with any knowledge of Austen’s plots will enjoy spotting some knowing parallels. James McAvoy continues his current do-no-wrong run as Jane’s love interest Tom LeFroy, and Ann Hathaway makes for a likeable Jane – something that marks the fictional Austen out from several of her own heroines for this reader/viewer. Plenty of DVD extras, predominantly focusing on recreating various period features (Regency dance; the cricket and boxing scenes; hair, make-up and costume), plus several deleted scenes and an understated commentary that is shared between director Julian Jarrold, screenwriter Kevin Hood and producer Robert Bernstein. Fans of Jane Austen (and of period romances generally) will find plenty to keep them happy here. Even sceptics (like me) might have better time than they expect. Now that’s what I call a happy ending. Click here for the Damaris Study Guide for Becoming JaneBuy this DVD from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid receives commission on the sale. Click here Both focus on the battle for the island of Iwo Jima between American and Japanese forces, with Flags telling the American side of the story, and Letters the Japanese. Both are excellent films in their own right, but when viewed together shed fascinating light on one another. Flags is a film about propaganda and the role of the media in selling war to the millions back home. The iconic image of the raising of the Stars and Stripes on the top of Mount Suribachi is dissected, revealing a less glamorous truth than was presented to the American public at the time. Letters is the more traditional war film, following a number of characters in the hopeless defence of the island. Culture clashes between those who want to do whatever it takes to hold the American’s up and the traditionalists who are more concerned with honour than military strategy (not to mention the sensible ones who just want to get out alive) dominate proceedings. Ultimately, this excellent pair of films is concerned with the distance between truth and perception, friend and enemy, heroism and survival. Yet another example of why Clint Eastwood has become one of the great directors of our time. Click here to read a Damaris article about Flags Of Our Fathers Click here to read a Damaris article about Letters From Iwo Jima Also out The Lives Of Others Powerful and engrossing tale of an East German Stasi surveillance operative, who becomes increasingly entangled with the life and philosophy of a writer he is monitoring. This beat the exceptional Pan’s Labyrinth to win this year’s best Foreign Language Oscar, and it’s not hard to see why. A far more optimistic – and better – film than The Good Shepherd, which also features the murky world of intelligence services. Exceptional. Curse Of The Golden Flower Yimou Zhang follows the success of Hero and House Of Flying Daggers with another sumptuously colourful martial arts extravaganza. The only thing this lacks in comparison to its two excellent predecessors is a central character worth rooting for. Breaking And Entering Anthony Mingella’s intelligent morality tale asks questions about relationships, second chances, right and wrong and whether Jude Law will get his kit off. Thought provoking (I’m not talking about Mr Law any more). Conversations With Other Women The complexity of modern relationships laid bare in a film full of well-worked sound bites. Good, but not feel good. Amazing Grace If you haven’t heard enough to make your mind up on this yet, you really aren’t trying. Biopic of William Wilberforce, MP and anti-slavery campaigner of yesteryear. Ioan Gruffudd admirably plays it straight in the lead role, while Michael Gambon, Albert Finney, the excellent Rufus Sewell and the exquisitely named Benedict Cumberbatch steal scenes in the supporting roles. Click here for the Damaris Study Guide for Amazing Grace Freedom Writers Another addition to the canon of ‘based on true story of inspirational teacher and no-hope kids’ movies. This does pretty much what you would expect from the genre. Catch A Fire Yet another ‘based on true story’ film, this time telling the tale of an ordinary man in South Africa who was politicised by his experiences of apartheid and joined the ANC. Worthy and watchable, but not a classic. The Illusionist Turn of century (19th to 20th, that is) shenanigans from Edward Norton’s mysterious stage magician. Yin to The Prestige’s Yang on many levels. Magic fans who were disappointed with one will probably enjoy the other, and vice versa. Venus Peter O’Toole and Jodie Whittaker star in what is either a life-affirming tale of common humanity, or that of a coffin-dodging dirty old man. You choose. Blades Of Glory If you liked Dodgeball: A True Underdog story, this is enjoyable but not as good. If you didn’t like Dodgeball, you’ll hate this. The Science Of Sleep Trippy, insubstantial whimsy from director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind). The Upside Of Anger The upside of the film is that I never have to watch it again. Not so much anger as pointlessness. • Other DVD recommendations Steve Couch is a writer for Damaris Trust.
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