I Wish

(Hirokazu Kore-eda/2011/Japan)

I Wish is a delightful story of two brothers whose parents have separated, each taking a child and living miles apart in separate cities; causing the siblings to conspire to secretly reunite in a plan to get their mum and dad back together. The film is one of comic observation of folk and the little quirks of life as they get through their daily routines, aspiring to bigger things with the same hopes and wishes as all of us. It’s ultimately a coming of age drama as the brothers each realise the folly of their machinations but it is cut through with the belief in magic that only children can unquestioningly accept. The scene with the elderly couple grabbing some precious, vicarious good vibes from having the kids stay over for a night is sublime. Kore-eda has an ability to tell a story in simple terms but striking a universal gong of shared experiential and existential spirit. As I said at the outset, an absolute delight.

(3.5/5)

The White Balloon

(Jafar Panahi/1995/Iran)

Through the observation of a young girl in Tehran attempting to persuade her mother to buy a better goldfish for the New Year celebrations, an Iranian tradition called haft seen involving a table display at New Year with the fish symbolising life, Jafar Panahi presents an incisive and light hearted look at Iranian society in the mid 90’s. But the wider social context is not the focus of the film; it’s a very welcome by product of the narrative but the weight of the mission of seven year old Razieh to keep hold of her money and get to the shop in time to buy a fish slowly increases as the film progresses. Panahi manages to build a dramatic tension from the simplest of premises and the plight of the children attempting to retrieve the money from a gulley becomes almost nail biting. It is a brilliant portrayal of how small events can be so enormous in the lives of children amidst the hustle and bustle of the grown up world. It’s a great debut with a great script from Abbas Kiarostami.

(3.5/5)

Ready Player One

(Steven Spielberg/2018/USA)

Here is a fine example of taking a great book and transforming it into a mediocre film. Spielberg must have been on autopilot here, the nuance and excitement of the novel is reduced to cinematic trope and bland, box ticking Hollywood script fare.  Disappointing on many levels but it is Spielberg and even a run of the mill effort elicits a few decent action sequences.

(2/5)