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Duris is as charming as ever in the lead role, making Gustave likeable even with his tetchy tendencies as a boss and deliberately illicit romantic moves. Gustave's engineering genius is rendered through intriguing explanations and lots of architectural sketches, while his epic love story with Adrienne is lusty but never very deep. Mackey gives Adrienne a nice sense of rebellious intelligence that generates strong chemistry. And in a rather thankless role, Deladonchamps is terrific as the wronged husband.

By taking such an old fashioned approach, Bourboulon essentially sidesteps the central facts of Gustave's story, opting instead for something shamelessly sentimentalised. He also skims over the resonant political themes. So it's a watchable and often engaging movie that centres on a sexy, sudsy romance. Meanwhile, the film offers a tantalising glimpse into the much more fascinating tale of how this great monument came to be built, and the complex man who gave the tower its name.

themes, language, violence, sexuality

26.May.22

Through all of this, Sandeep is given a saintly glow, with a surging score accompanying each beefy closeup. Sesh gives the role some depth with his sheer charisma, some strong internalised feelings and a couple of surprisingly dark moments too. Watching him actually become a commando and begin strutting like a movie star is good fun. His chemistry with Manjrekar's smart-feisty Isha is enjoyably prickly, and scenes with Revathi and Raj are also nicely played to bring out moving details. Meanwhile, Sharma has some strong moments as his flustered commanding officer.

Even if the earnest tone is a bit overpowering, there's plenty in this film to hold the interest, from the magnetic performances to the painstaking, often harrowing recreation of this tragic series of events. Several sequences are staged in ways that leave us gasping for breath, displaying a range of genuine heroism from small acts of kindness to enormous armed stand-offs. So it's almost forgivable that the film's chest-pounding patriotism ends up undermining the deeper meanings.

themes, language, violence

30.May.22

Performances are visceral and complex, as characters bristle against even the most basic stereotypes to revel in their multi-layered fabulousness. With the continually shifting imagery, it isn't easy to keep track of the actors or plot, but the yearning is powerfully felt. Vivid characters with names like Memory, Innocent and Psychology (Umuhire, Rugamba and Niyongabo) add to the sense that this is a parable. And also that there are multiple ways to tell any story.

This is a poetic film you experience rather than simply watch, as it revels in the possibilities if Africans can transcend their historical limitations. The enemy here is the old guard, those in political power who continually put a stop to progress and liberation, which is something anyone in the rest of the world can easily identify with as well. This is a defiant rallying cry for younger generations to stop living in doubt, crush their desperation and take their rightful place leading humanity into a fairer, more promising future.

themes, language, violence

3.Jun.22