A United Kingdom

In an industry which has, in recent years, been accused of lacking diversity, the choice to open the 60^th London Film Festival a few weeks ago with A United Kingdom is a significant one. Amma Asante has made history as the first black woman director to open the festival, and brings a keen filmic interest in issues of race, equality and love. Telling the largely-unknown true story of Seretse Khama, the heir to the throne in Botswana who fell in love and married a white woman in post-war London, A United Kingdom is a pertinent historical romance with an important story to tell.

Amma Asante’s 2013 film Belle explored the beginning of the end of the slave trade in eighteenth-century Britain and, in A United Kingdom, the British Empire is again under the spotlight.  Set in the post-war years which saw the crumbling of British imperialism, the film opens with Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), a straight-talking London girl, meeting Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) at a dance and falling immediately in love with him. The pair soon marry, a mixed-race marriage which, in 1940s Britain, would have provoked much racism and plenty of raised eyebrows. Matters are made even more complicated by the fact that Seretse is soon to become the King of the Bamangwato people of Bechuanaland – now Botswana – and the union between a black man and a white woman is judged to be an international diplomatic crisis. 

A United Kingdom traces the political reactions to the marriage and the hostility with which Ruth was treated both in the UK and in Botswana when she and Seretse returned to the country for Seretse to take up his role. “Black King takes White Queen” scream the headlines as Ruth discovers that it is not only the people of Bechuanaland who are initially hostile to her – whites in the British protectorate also treat her with disdain. Much of this contempt comes from the (fictional) Sir Alistair Canning – played by Jack Davenport – a serpent-like civil servant who is determined to preserve political capital in the south of Africa at the expense of racial and romantic injustice. “Have you no shame?” he demands of Ruth when he learns of her impending marriage leaving her shocked but quietly determined. 

Although idealistic at times, a script by Guy Hibbert contains some nice moments of humour – especially between Ruth and her sister (played by Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael) – and Rosamund Pike’s performance is exemplary. Her portrayal of a woman caught between two worlds runs in perfect harmony with David Oyelowo, who displays a gentle defiance similar to his portrayal of Martin Luther King in 2014’s Selma. In fleeting moments, especially when in the company of his wife, Seretse’s composure breaks down and Oyelowo pitches this emotion perfectly. Asante’s confident direction, interweaving the machinations of the state with debates around British imperialism, racism and romance, draws out nuanced performances from Pike and Oyelowo which retain, at the heart of them, a strong – perhaps old-fashioned – sense of unyielding love. 

When Seretse and Ruth move to Bechuanaland, they leave behind the dreary, rainy streets of London and the dark, grey palate of the film’s opening cinematography is replaced with golden vistas of Africa. The juxtaposition between Britain and Africa, repression and freedom, is clear, but later muddied by the intolerance and inequality faced by Ruth and her husband in both countries. Much of the action flips back and forth between Bechuanaland and the imposing corridors of Whitehall, and the film is largely successful in maintaining a strong narrative and thematic message throughout.

The warm glow of the scenes in Africa does sometimes threaten to airbrush the rather appalling history and, sometimes, events are presented in a cursory manner. Although never appearing on-screen, Winston Churchill, for example, supports Seretse’s claim to return as ruler to Bechuanaland, but a later reversal in opinion when he wins the 1951 election is never explained. Similarly, Ruth’s strained relationship with her family – a potential mine of emotion and drama – is dealt with rapidly. Of course, there is much history to be covered in the film and the centre of the story is, of course, Seretse and Ruth’s romance, and Asante’s focus on issues of race necessarily requires other elements to be sketched, rather than explored deeply.

A United Kingdom is a confident study of a questionable period in British foreign policy where personal relationships and emotions became a weapon in the defence of the ailing British Empire. Amma Asante’s success here is to weave a moving love story into a wider narrative, combining great performances with a true sense of right and wrong. It is a film with an important story which deserves to be much better known. 

Clapperboard Rating: * * * *

Allied

Just like the Second World War espionage undertaken by the central characters in Allied, it is always a dangerous game evoking the timeless classics of cinema. You have to do it really well, because if you don’t, audiences will just sit there wishing they were watching whatever film is being referenced. The star power of Brad Pitt, and the magnetism of Marion Cotillard, combine in Allied, a film which nods to the golden age of Hollywood with a romanticised vision of the war. Unfortunately, it lacks the depth or spark to set pulses racing. 

Brad Pitt stars as Max Vatan, a Canadian intelligence officer who meets French resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (played by Marion Cotillard) during a mission to kill a German diplomat in occupied Morocco. The year is 1942 and the backdrop which plays host to our assassins’ first encounter is Casablanca. The visually-striking opening scenes do much to conjure up wartime style, glowing with an iridescent elegance, even when Pitt is forced to murder a Nazi official to keep his cover intact. Rather bizarrely, the Canadian agent’s disguise is that of a Parisian, and Cotillard’s character seems unperturbed by his lack of a convincing Parisian accent: she calls him her “Québécoise”. 

Allied is something of a love letter to the films of yesteryear, nodding to legendary movies such as Casablanca. Indeed, it owes much to Humphrey Bogart’s film: it opens in Casablanca, the dénouement takes place at an airfield, and a key plot point revolves around La Marseillaise and a piano: “play it again, Sam” is, this time, “can you play it at all?”. 

The plot, although historically questionable and sometimes ridiculous, makes for a likeable film with some entertaining riffs on the spy thriller genre. Marianne Beausejour has constructed an undercover identity for herself in high-society Casablanca in order to get close enough to the German diplomat. Max assumes the role of her husband and must, she informs him, sleep on the rooftop of their apartment, as Moroccan men do after they have made love to their wives. It’s clear that Marianne is in control here.

Their strictly-professional relationship inevitably becomes something more (culminating in a rather indulgent and theatrical sex scene in a car surrounded by a sandstorm) and the pair return to London where they are married. Family life in during the Blitz (a baby has arrived by this point) is shattered for Max, however, when a sinister intelligence official (played by Simon McBurney) informs him that Marianne is suspected of being a German spy. 

 

With director Robert Zemeckis in the driving seat (whose previous credits include Forrest Gump, Back to the Future and The Polar Express) what follows should be a taut and suspenseful drama with plenty of action and intrigue. Somewhat disappointingly, Allied plods along like an over-60s coach tour of WWII heritage, failing to match the Hitchcockian thrills it hopes to evoke, and does little to ignite the romance between Pitt and Cotillard. The whole film hangs on this relationship and, whilst Cotillard throws herself into the role of confident and enigmatic French agent, the chemistry with a Brylcreem-styled Brad Pitt is rather inert. 

That said, the pair do look fabulous. Pitt has (obviously) never had a problem attracting the camera, and Cotillard shimmers in silk dresses and flowing gowns, nodding to the costumes of classic films such as Now, Voyager. Indeed, the poster for Allied is simply an image of Pitt and Cotillard on a black background, hinting at the importance of their love affair and the inherent glamour of their characters. In reality, there’s a distance between the two actors which is never closed, leaving Max’s search for the truth feeling rather inconsequential. 

There are one or two nice touches (a tracking shot following Pitt walking down a corridor after learning of his wife’s supposed betrayal is handled well) and the production quality remains high throughout. Although Allied is perfectly watchable, its failure to construct a meaningful and, importantly, believable relationship between the central characters means that the thrills and emotions intended in the script are never realised. A shame, given the talent both in front and behind the camera.

Clapperboard Rating: * * *

Inferno

This review was first published by The Student Pocket Guide

The news that the History of Art A-level is due to be scrapped angered teachers and students alike. AQA, the last exam board to offer the subject, argued that the number of students taking the subject, and a lack of suitably-qualified examiners, had given it no option but to stop the course. At least, that was the official reason. A more probable motive for the axing may be that AQA saw Inferno – a film so ridiculous and mind-numbing in its take on art history, that they decided it would be best for everyone if students just forgot about the great Renaissance figures of the past. 

It has been 10 years (yes, 10!) since symbologist Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) made his Hollywood debut in The Da Vinci Code, a film based on the best-selling book by Dan Brown. Three years later, he returned to save the Vatican from destruction in Angels & Demons and, in the process, gave critics much to complain about. Now, he’s back, this time battling to track down a virus which threatens to kill half of the world’s population. 

This apocalyptic weapon has been created and hidden by Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster), a billionaire who is concerned that the overpopulation of the Earth will destroy humanity. For reasons which are never fully-explained, instead of just releasing the virus, Zobrist leaves a series of clues to its location hidden in Renaissance art work, and then kills himself by jumping off a tower in Florence. 

Professor Langdon, meanwhile, has awoken in a Florence hospital with a head wound which has left him with concussion and amnesia. In a very exposition-heavy set-up, his emergency physician Dr Sienna Brooks (played by Felicity Jones) explains how he came to be there but elucidations are cut short when an assassin (Ana Ularu) finds Langdon and tries to kill him. The Prof manages to escape with Dr Brooks’ help, and the pair discover a “Faraday pointer” (a posh torch) which reveals an image of Botticelli’s Map of Hell – an artwork inspired by Dante’s Inferno. They realise that a trail has been laid in the image, one which they must follow to prevent the release of Zobrist’s virus.

And so ensues two hours of running, explaining, shooting, more running, even more explaining and a bit more running. Aside from the absurdity of the plot, the central problem with translating Dan Brown’s particular style of prose to the screen has always been the clunky exposition and apparent need from characters to constantly explain what they are doing. 

The screenplay for Inferno (again written by David Koepp, perhaps most famous for his Jurassic Park script) is no different. It often treats its audience as a dumb and unsophisticated mass, clarifying points which need no clarification, explaining things which even the simplest of cinema-goers could appreciate. A major clue for Langdon is found on the back of Dante’s death mask, housed in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. We are helpfully told by one of the characters that a death mask is a plaster cast taken of a person’s face soon after death. Just in case we were unsure. 

Dr Brooks has a keen interest in Dante and his work, and explains to Professor Langdon some of the facts from his life. Such dialogue is literally the well-informed preaching to the well-informed, a tedious intellectual joust between two characters at the expense of the audience. Indeed, the inference is that the great unwashed of the multiplex need educating in complex high art. The action zips around Europe, via Venice which is filmed like one of those adverts for river cruises, but on steroids. As with the other films, implausibility is the name of the game and our protagonists appear to gain access to highly-guarded historic landmarks of Italy with surprising ease. 

Langdon’s quest is hampered by a mysterious security firm, headed by a man called ‘The Provost’ (a playful Irrfan Khan), intent on tracking down both Langdon and the virus before the World Health Organisation, led by Dr Elizabeth Sinskey (played by Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen), get there first. A dénouement in Istanbul is rather anticlimactic, although the film’s opening is rather striking, showing Langdon hallucinating with visions of a grotesque, Dante-inspired apocalypse. 

Despite the frenetic action, it becomes rather tiresome having plot points condescendingly lectured at you, and the plot twist which comes around two-thirds of the way through is about as obvious as a smack in the face. Hans Zimmer scores the proceedings with his usual style (incidentally, his soundtrack for The Da Vinci Code contains one of the best pieces of film music from recent years: “Chevaliers de Sangreal”) and although there is some enjoyment to be had in Inferno, it is stifled by the abysmal screenplay. Tom Hanks is perfectly acceptable in this now familiar role, and Felicity Jones is as great as always, even with such clunky dialogue. Often, people complain that a film is nothing like the book. In the case of Inferno, it is very much like the book. And you don’t need an A-level in Art History to realise that that’s the fatal problem.