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Tornado

Director – John Maclean – 2025 – UK – Cert. 15 – 91m

*****

A bereaved Japanese in Britain in 1790 must prove herself as a samurai to survive – unique coming of age historical drama is out in UK cinemas on Friday, June 13th

A 16-year-old Japanese girl (Koki) flees over the moors, through the wood, towards a large mansion. So does a young boy. Their male pursuers walk relentlessly in her direction, but they haven’t seen her. Woe betide her if they do, because their leader (Tim Roth from Pulp Fiction, 1994; Reservoir Dogs, 1992, both Quentin Tarantino; The Hit, Stephen Frears, 1984) addresses one of their number by name then slits his throat. She gets to the house, opens the door, the sudden draught inside causing papers to blow around, but she shuts it pretty fast, sensing the woman inside. A little later, she opens the door, gingerly enters the house. A hiding place, but she must be sure the occupants don’t spot her.

No such hesitancy for the gang following her; they step inside confidently as if they own the place, pushing over and kicking the male occupant while he’s down. They spread out, and a younger man in the party, who we will later come to know as Little Sugar (Jack Lowden frrom Benediction, Terence Davies, 2021; Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan, 2017; ’71, Yann Demange, 2014), son of the gang leader Sugarman (Roth), finds her at the end of an upper corridor whose floor has given way beneath another gang member.… Read the rest

Categories
Features Live Action Movies

The Northman

Director – Robert Eggers – 2022 – US – Cert. 15 – 136m

*****

A 10th Century Viking prince vows revenge on his father king’s killer and sees it through to death – out in cinemas on Friday, April 15th

Young Viking Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak from The Batman) is thrilled when his warrior father King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) returns with a line of prisoners in two to his fortified stronghold and Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). Father and son are devoted to each other, participating in a private ritual involving bodily sounds and consumption of an hallucinogenic liquid that causes the boy to experience a vision of his family line: a tree of life where the trunk is a spine and branches are umbilical cords attached to grown kings as the viewpoint pans up reveal the boy attached to the highest cord. He is now prepared to take over the rule of the kingdom when his father dies.

He doesn’t seem to get on quite so well with his mother, who warns him never to enter her room unannounced. At a banquet in honour of Aurvandil, his dour brother Fjölnir (Claes Bang from The Square, Ruben Östlund, 2017) takes exception to court jester Heimir the Fool (Willem Dafoe).… Read the rest