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APOLLO THIRTEEN: SURVIVAL |
HOLLYWOODGATE |
NO OTHER LAND
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| See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 1.Sep.24 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Apollo Thirteen: Survival Review by Rich Cline | 
MUST  SEE
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 dir Peter Middleton prd Hugh Davies, Clive Patterson with Jim Lovell, Marilyn Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert Jr, Ken Mattingly, Gene Kranz, Glynn Lunney, Susan Lovell, Barbara Lovell, Thomas Paine, Robert Heselmayer, Walter Cronkite release UK/US 5.Sep.24 24/UK Netflix 1h36 BERLIN FILM FEST  Now streaming... |
 Even more thrilling than Ron Howard's excellent 1995 film Apollo 13, this narrative documentary uses superb archival footage and audio interviews to keep us right on the edge of our seats, often gasping for breath, despite knowing where the story goes. Director Peter Middleton cleverly adds recreations of space capsule interiors to create vivid atmospherics, while seeing the real footage and hearing the actual voices makes the film unmissable. The third mission to the lunar surface, Apollo 13 defied superstition by blasting off at 2:13pm in April 1970. Then on April 13th, an explosion crippled the spacecraft as it approached the Moon. "Houston, we've had a problem," said Commander Jim Lovell. While he, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert did what they could on board, the flight crew in Houston was improvising ways to bring them back to Earth with limited water and power. People around the world were transfixed by regular reports, and Jim's wife Marilyn and their four children listened in from home. Using a gorgeous array of pristine historical footage from within the capsule, through the windows and back on Earth, this story is reconstructed seamlessly on-screen, keeping the focus on Jim's and Marilyn's distinct perspectives, while Nasa experts scramble with calculations and simulations. Firsthand narration from them and others continually provides surprising details. And the way all of this is edited together with an expert sound mix makes the film immersive and exhilarating. The liftoff sequence alone is staggering, and the film gets more impressive from there, mainly because it digs so deeply into the hopes and fears of the people involved. Along with telling back-stories, a key note here is that there was little good news at the time, with the Vietnam War raging and violent protests and political assassinations. So the fact that the entire nation unified around this survival story was significantly hopeful. As Marilyn recalls, "I didn't know at the time that they only had a 50/50 chance of returning." And that was before the explosion reduced their chances to 10 percent. This story is a fantastic example of human ingenuity in the face of unimaginable difficulty. And even when things were at their worst, these astronauts took the time to wonder at the beauty of Earth and the Moon from their unique vantage point. This is a film to seek out on a huge screen if possible.
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Hollywoodgate Review by Rich Cline | 
VENICE FILM FEST Now streaming...
|  With a pure fly-on-the-wall approach, Egyptian filmmaker Ibrahim Nash'at takes the audience on an unimaginable journey right into the heart of the Taliban leadership during the year in which they reestablished their control over Afghanistan. The footage is almost heart-stoppingly raw, peppered with real-life humour even as it chills us to the bone. It's a documentary unlike anything else out there, and what it reveals is intensely urgent. In the months following the US departure from Kabul in August 2021, journalist Nash'at secured permission to document the Taliban as they established their regime. But things quickly become far more serious than he expects, as new head of the air force Mansour discovers what the American left behind: airfields full of decommissioned planes and helicopters, plus warehouses full of spare parts. So he and Lt Mukhtar set out to repair the aircraft and train up pilots, leading to a display of military might on the first anniversary of independence. After decades as insurgents, the Taliban installed their harsh rule in 1996, then were overthrown after the Western invasion in 2001. For 20 years, the nation was embroiled in a violent war, but freedom was once again quashed when the Taliban returned to power, again prohibiting women from studying, working or appearing in public. And everyone lives in fear of crossing the Taliban in any way. So it's fascinating to watch these soft-spoken leaders explore their new reality, including these inherited facilities and equipment that boost their confidence to the point that they begin threatening their Tajik neighbours. Keeping his head down, Nash'at quietly films everything. So we are able to see throwaway jokes and silly antics alongside harrowingly ominous conversations, leading to the climactic parade attended by diplomats from China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. The only commentary comes through skilful editing choices, which makes a staggering comment on how the world has divided along new lines. The Taliban leaders' casually militaristic mindset is just as horrific as their ruthless version of Islam. And Nash'at is careful to remember the true victims here: seeing the women and children whose lives are being stolen. So this is a remarkably current, frighteningly urgent film.
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| No Other Land Review by Rich Cline |
BERLIN FILM FEST Now streaming...
|  With a strong narrative and staggeringly intimate camerawork, this documentary gets under the surface of the situation in the Israel-occupied West Bank far more effectively than a news report ever could. This is because its four filmmakers, two Palestinians and two Israelis, have such personal connections to everything that is happening. Most remarkably, their film isn't merely trying to spark outrage: it's a genuine cry for a hopeful solution. In the villages of Masafer Yatta, where Palestinian families have lived for centuries, Israeli forces arrive regularly with bulldozers to knock down houses, leaving residents living in caves. Israel's supreme court has declared this to be army land, so now these homes, farms and schools are illegal. Lawyer Basel has grown up here with activist parents battling against this injustice, and he teams up with Israeli journalist Yuval to make the world see the truth. Alongside home video from Basel's childhood, the footage covers four years up to October 2023, just before the Hamas attack. It's the close friendship between these two young men that gives the film its heart, with conversations that tackle complex feelings as they compare their lives: Yuval can vote and travel anywhere, while Basel can do neither. Their banter is warm and often funny, as Basel teases Yuval about his impatience to change a situation Basel has known all his life. Basel dives into each confrontation with soldiers and armed settlers, capturing their callous brutality on-camera, including shootings and beatings alongside the sudden evacuations of homes and an elementary schoolhouse before they are flattened. It's harrowing to watch the distress this causes throughout the community. And it's infuriating that other nations continue to support Israel as it systematically destroys Palestinian lives. Most important is how the film avoids shouting its messages, simply observing these demolitions and confrontations with raw urgency, then offering quietly honest conversations between the people who are in the middle of it all. These are beautifully shot in close-up and edited to provide a vivid sense of the location. The only politician to be seen is Tony Blair in old footage walking past Basel's childhood home, resulting in the suspension of demolitions only on this street. "This is a story about power," he realised as a young boy, understanding that his people have none at all. And also that they have nowhere else to go. And there are conversations with Yuval that touch movingly on the disparity between them, made even more pointed when Basel's colleague Hamdan comments that he doesn't know how much longer he can have an Israeli as a friend.
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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL © 2024 by Rich Cline, Shadows
on the Wall
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