IRON MAN 3
Odeon: May 10–12
Prepare for a heavy metal! Tony Stark is up against an enemy, the Mandarin, whose reach knows no bounds. With his back to the wall Stark embarks on a harrowing quest for retribution. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? For someone who occasionally saves the world, this won’t be a problem. Explosive, vengeful and thrilling in an entertainingly escapist sort of way. All the key characters in place with Ben Kingsley doing a nice turn as the villain.
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN
Odeon: May 13–14
Salman Rushdie was a consultant (co-writer and narrator) on Deepa Mehta’s adaptation of his great post-colonial novel about growing up in post-independence India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. While the book’s celebrated magic realism made it an instant twentieth-century classic, the same cannot be said of the film, which largely fails to recapture the delicious controlled quirkiness of the novel, replacing it with caricatures and plodding political statements. ‘The result is no masterpiece, but neither is it a disaster. In its steady great-books way, the film is often truthful and moving’ (New York Post). ‘The film needs an injection of Bollywood’s unembarrassed, anything-goes, bigger-than-life spirit, which embraces willy-nilly—as does Mr. Rushdie’s novel—the vulgar, the fanciful and the frankly unbelievable’ (New York Times). ‘Despite the solid work of cast and crew, the film dawdles and fails to justify its two-and-a-half-hour running time. Midnight reaches its tender conclusion without ever achieving the emotional or dramatic heft that such an epic tale requires’ (Hollywood Reporter).
SIDE EFFECTS
Odeon: May 15–21
One pill can change your life. A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband’s upcoming release from prison. ‘Everything is exactly what it seems, expertly crafted and cleverly compounded for high-dose entertainment’ (Wall Street Journal). ‘Side Effects virtually demands a three-word review: Just see it’ (Time). ‘This clever bag of tricks is made with so much cinematic skill it makes implausibility irrelevant. What happens on screen is unapologetically far-fetched, but it unfolds with enough panache to make turning away out of the question’ (Los Angeles Times). Steven Soderbergh has declared this his last movie. In some instances, death may occur.
THE GREAT GATSBY
Fulgor: May 16-22
Opening this year’s Cannes Festival Baz Luhrmann’s much anticipated (and possibly much dreaded) adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Jazz Age classic tale of impossible romance and the delusions of the American Dream has not fared too well in the pre-publicity. Luhrmann’s MTV aesthetic and eclectic stylistic excesses, especially when it comes to music, may have worked for Moulin Rouge and even Romeo + Juliet, but may not be needed for an adaptation of a revered novel that has no need of a breath of fresh air. Leonardo di Caprio probably has the mix of gravitas and boyishness that makes Jay Gatsby so special, but will Carey Mulligan have a voice that sounds like money and the delicate, frivolous prettiness of her predecessor as Daisy Buchanan, Mia Farrow? And with a soundtrack featuring Jay Z, Amy Winehouse, Brian Ferry and George Gershwin amongst others, can this ever be more than a pastiche? The jury’s out…
VERTIGO
The British Institute: May 15, 8pm
(1958) with James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
‘Vertigo is Alfred Hitchcock’s most uncompromising film, and Bernard Herrmann’s fullest realization of his favourite dramatic themes: romantic obsession, isolation, and the ultimate release of death.’ (Steven C. Smith). Operatic romanticism at its most expressive and emotive accompanies and enhances Hitchcock’s ultimately depraved story of Scottie Ferguson’s obsession with Madeleine/Judy in Wagnerian strophes (Tristan and Isolde). A perfect match for Hitchcock’s vision: ‘human life, relationships, individual identity… become a quicksand, unstable, constantly shifting, into which we may sink at any step in any direction’ with its ‘depthless pools of colour and shadow’, and its ‘shifting hues of orchestration. These and its lyricism give much of this score its tension and tragic grandeur’ (Smith). Voted the Greatest Film of All Time in 2012.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
The British Institute: May 22, 8pm
(1959) with Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
In Hitchcock’s brilliant blend of humour and suspense (something of a template for the James Bond franchise, which was soon to take off), Herrmann provided yet another near-perfect accompaniment. ‘Best remembered (and most imitated) is Herrmann’s dazzling, dizzying overture, described by the composer as “a kaleidoscopic orchestral fandango designed to kick off the exciting rout which follows”… Deft variations of the fandango recur throughout the film like a terpsichorean chorus, most thrillingly in the Mount Rushmore climax, a cue Herrmann drolly titled “On the Rocks.”’ (Smith). The celebrated crop-dusting sequence is famously silent, and like John Cage’s 4’33” speaks volumes. ‘If you’re a painter, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use black—and that is a sound: black’ (Herrmann).
FESTA DEL CINEMA
From May 9 to16, tickets at many cinemas in Italy, including the Odeon cinema in Florence, will cost 3 euro.
See www.festadelcinema.it and www.odeonfirenze.com for more information.
