The Fall and Rise of Babylon

Could First Man finally be the film that brings Ryan Gosling that elusive Oscar? With two nods (for La La Land and Half Nelson), and countless other memorable roles that could have earned him more chances (think Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, Drive, and The Ides of March), Gosling has re-teamed, in short order I might add, with his La La Land writer/director, Damien Chazelle, for another perfect vehicle (one might call it a rocket) to showcase his acting chops – a fascinating Neil Armstrong biopic. Chazelle’s first directorial effort not to revolve around music (also, the screenplay does not come from him, rather Josh Singer), instead, he shoots for the moon. Gosling plays Armstrong, a man who has his own personal troubles. Married to Janet (Claire Foy), they have two children. . . one of which has cancer.

A tale with some eerie similarities to its real-life character, filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer set out to make a motion picture on the legendary Joan of Arc. Upon its completion in 1928 (The Passion of Joan of Arc), he was hounded by French nationalists, French government censors and the Archbishop of Paris, first complaining that a Dane (who is not Catholic) could not do justice to the greatest of French stories, then taking aim at the film itself – whitewashing the narrative (the French premiere eliminated the nastiness of the Judge and religious theologians and priests, as well as any other edgy visuals), thus leaving it in a truncated form that truly disgusted the screenwriter/director (a semblance of being tried by jury). Then, a truly disastrous event occurred – the original film negative burned in a fire at the UFA Studios in Berlin (a truly bizarre coincidence). . . the filmmaker distraught, was forced to piece the entire film back together by way of all of his discarded footage and alternate takes (a perfect example of the director’s extensive attention to detail, the movie was reconstructed to a very similar state that very few would be able to differentiate – though obviously Dreyer was less than pleased). Fate once again reared its ugly head when a lab fire burned this copy, leaving just a few extremely damaged prints (based upon both the original first and second cut) that had been circulated across Europe. Edited and changed by future hands, it was long believed that no one would ever see the man’s original vision again (the prints that survived were often missing twenty plus minutes, were chopped up and were changed to suit the meddling hands of re-releasers – some had added narration, others injected Baroque scores and changed the intertitles).

Bringing to life the fierce bulldog, the prolific orator, the never wavering backbone of a nation during wartime that was Winston Churchill, Gary Oldman has placed himself as the early frontrunner as Lead Actor this Awards season (already having taken home the honour at The Golden Globes). Transforming into the stately politician by way of superlative make-up work and masterful acting, it is as if the man himself has been regenerated, mumbling growl and all. Before delving into the depths of Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, I must indulge myself and pass along a few examples of Churchill’s legendary wit. Constantly at odds with fellow politician Lady Astor (the first female Member of Parliament), she targeted him by saying, “if you were my husband, I’d poison your tea”, to which he dryly replied, “Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it!”. Another retort finds Astor pointing out that he was drunk, to which he responded, “but I shall be sober in the morning and you, madam, will still be ugly”. This should give you an idea of what to expect from Anthony McCarten’s script – a Churchill-ism if I’ve ever heard one; “would you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you”. Another one for good measure finds the man in the washroom while one of his aids tells him that he “needs to reply to the Lord Privy Seal”, to which he explains, “I am sealed in the privy, and I can only deal with one shit at a time”.

The title of Hidden Figures, one of 2017's Academy Award Best Picture nominees, has a double meaning. Speaking to the mathematics that is at the heart of the space travel film, it more subtly references the story of its three African American female leads, who, despite playing a big part in Space Race history, have been lost to time. . . until now. Depicting the combative duality of the Cold War, writer/director Theodore Melfi (who adapts Margot Lee Shetterly’s book of the same name, along with Allison Schroeder) captures the essence of this complicated time. On the surface, it is America versus Soviet Union – funnelled through the propaganda-filled battle that centres around who will win the Space Race; though, more specifically, it portrays the civil rights battle, a world where, in 1961 Virginia, everything is still segregated. Written with deft precision, dialogue like "Civil Rights ain’t always civil", which is uttered by Levi Jackson (Aldis Hodge), succinctly represents this era; while a scene that appears towards the end, where mathematician Katherine G. Goble (Taraji P. Henson) hurriedly delivers some updated calculations for John Glenn’s (Glen Powell) all important mission – only to have the door slammed in her face after all of the white personnel have been ushered into the room, highlights the atrocities and unfairness of the era, while also showing how far we have come and how much farther we still have to go.