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National Observer
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- National Observer
MOVIES: A US-Canada hybrid and three gems with horse handlers, a tragic pop star and unusual education
It's getting to be festival time again. VIFF in Vancouver is soon to announce its schedule for this year. TIFF in Toronto has been releasing bits of it for some time and this week revealed it all. There are almost 300 features including new work by Sarah Polley, Richard Linklater, Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein) and get this, Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in The Wizard of the Kremlin. Baz Luhrman has a follow to his huge hit Elvis with 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' made up of concert clips, rare film and memories. TIFF will open with a documentary on John Candy and close with Peak Everything a Canadian black comedy that played well at Cannes. TIFF has also stirred up and then backed off its first controversy. It canceled a film about events after the Hamas attack on Israel. Reason given: copyright issues over some footage belonging to Hamas. Security and expected protest seem more likely. 'Censorship' was alleged. TIFF worked out whatever the problems were and yesterday re-invited the film. It is by Canadian director, Barry Avrich. The new movies this week are mostly "in select cinemas" or not previewed here (Nobody 2) but do include three well worth going to see and a caustic view of America. East of Wall: 4 stars It's Never Over Jeff Buckley: 3 ½ Folktales: 3 ½ Americana: 2 ½ EAST OF WALL: Looking for a truly unique film? Try this. It's just as moving as the last film I praised with those words, The Rider, back seven years ago. And it is similar in several ways. Also set in South Dakota, on a horse ranch and feeling almost like a documentary. It's that real. Only slightly fictionalized, the events really happened to the people we see in the film. Writer-director Kate Beecroft found them when she went looking for stories that don't just repeat other movies. She got to know Tabatha Zimiga and her daughter Porshia Zimiga on a ranch near the town of Wall and got them to, in effect, play themselves in the movie, along with other non-professionals plus a couple of actors, Scoot McNairy and Jennifer Ehle, in key secondary roles). Tabatha, with multiple tattoos and half her head shaven, is rebellious and tenacious. She's an ace horse handler. She can tell when the animal has had the bridle on too long ('she can diagnose a horse in two minutes') and how to assure a buyer that it won't kick. She sells horses on Tik Tok (a modern touch) and tutors riders at auctions to put on a show to stir the bidders. She has also taken in stray youths to live on her ranch and is struggling to keep it going while keeping them in line. McNairy arrives as a potential buyer (with a few strings attached to his offer) and Tabatha has to decide on it. And keep some tragic memories under control. It's a powerful story of resilience. And, real. (In theaters) 4 out of 5 IT'S NEVER OVER: JEFF BUCKLEY: I'm glad to finally learn about him through this documentary. I've seen references to him many times and read that his version of Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah is the key interpretation. It was a big hit in Europe, not that much in North America and that may explain my lack of familiarity. Now I know that David Bowie said his one album is the best that he had ever heard and that another industry type called him 'one of the greatest singers of all time.' You get a lot of performances in this film to decide yourself. They are very emotional and with his huge vocal range, powerful. And you get his story. He had a bit of an imposter syndrome possibly because he was distant from, and felt rejected by his father, the singer Tim Buckley. He wasn't even mentioned in his dad's obituary. He was raised by his single mother. She's in the film talking about him as well as two women who had romantic relationship with, former band members and musical stars Ben Harper and Aimee Mann. She described his voice as having 'a boundary-less, liquid quality.' We learn he was influenced by artists from many genres: Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Led Zeppelin. And that constant touring after his album became a hit wore him out. A chance to rest, though, led to tragedy, an early death (drowning) at age 30. Director Amy Berg gets across a strong sense of loss over what his career might have been. The film was a favorite at Sundance. (in theaters) 3½ out of 5 FOLKTALES: Right now, as many go to summer camps, this film is particularly apropos. It gets across the feeling of camaraderie, of learning, of exploration and growth. A bit effusive, yeah, but that was part of my reaction to this documentary about an educational tradition in Norway. Students are allowed time off from school to attend a camp north of the Arctic circle where they train sled dogs and ride the deep snow trails to show what they've achieved. Doesn't sound like a normal education but comments are made like 'a dog can unlock something inside a person'. The principal welcomes the students with the message to 'try to find a new version of yourself.' One student says he was bored by school and needed something different. Another talked about overcoming anxiety. The whole program is designed for students seeking independence and we see them develop from wary and even aloof to spontaneous and accomplished. They bond with the dogs and the other campers. They trade their stories (one says he's 'nice' but 'annoying') and in their vision of the future even the pessimists see things getting better. One narrates the film with the story of the god Odin and the three fates 'that weave our destinies out of yarn.' It gives a fable quality to this film about young people testing themselves and learning from handling the dogs. 'Take chances.' 'Chase a better version of yourself.' That's the optimism and message in this film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady who have been Oscar nominated for previous work. (Theaters in Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver, now; and London, Ottawa, Toronto again soon) 3 ½ out of 5 AMERICANA: There are good intentions and good ideas in this film but I don't think they're particularly well-presented. They look at the American west with a critical eye, trashing the old myths and arguing that they haven't survived at all in today's west. Good to consider alright, especially the clear-eyed view the film has of how the native tribes were treated back then. It even mentions the word genocide and shows a definite second-class attitude among the whites towards them even today. But most of those whites in here are so low-class it's not clear whether we should be seeing this as a comedy and how serious the film is meant to be. And, of course, the guns are quick to come out and shoot at anything. And by anybody. Of course that might be a comment on modern America too, made by the writer-director Tony Tost. He's got an intellectual background, which may explain why his script mentions Franz Fanon and Karl Marx and the religion created by the Lakota Indians. In the film robbers steal a valuable Lakota relic, called the ghost shirt, from a collector to sell for big money. Before the leader can get it sold he's bashed on the head by his angry girlfriend (played by the singer Halsey) and dies. Then various people are after it, including a band of indigenous activists who cite the American Indian Movement and The Black Panthers as inspiration, the collectibles dealer (Simon Rex) and his violent employee (Eric Dane) and a boy who says he's the reincarnation of Chief Sitting Bull. From the Also a chubby lovelorn guy played by Paul Walter Hauser and the waitress/country-singer-wanna-be that he teams up with (Sydney Sweeney, you know the woman in the ad with great jeans). Crowded cast; it thins out when the shooting starts leaving me to wonder about better ways to present such a thesis about modern America. This one is engrossing but awfully scattered. Made in the USA but produced by Bron Studios of Burnaby. B.C. (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5
Telegraph
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Jude Law to play Putin in new biopic
Jude Law has transformed into Vladimir Putin in the first images of the actor filming a new biopic. The Bafta award-winner, 52, is playing the Russian president at the start of his political career in Olivier Assayas's new film The Wizard of the Kremlin. The film is based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Italian-Swiss writer Giuliano da Empoli. Law, who has recently starred as Henry VIII in Firebrand, previously told Deadline his role as Putin 'looks like an Everest to climb'. The new on-set photographs show Law wearing a black overcoat with a suit and tie standing with actors who appear to be playing members of an Arab delegation. The film's plot follows the Russian president's political rise in the early 1990s, in the aftermath of the Soviet Union collapse, through the story of the man who helped him cement his hold on power. The fictional character, named Vladimir Baranov, is based on former Kremlin spin doctor Vladislav Surkov. The synopsis reads: 'Working at the heart of Russian power, Baranov blurs truth with lies, the news with propaganda, directing the entire society like one great reality show. 'Only his love for the magnetic, free-minded Ksenia can turn him away from this dangerous game.' Baranov will be played by Academy Award nominee Paul Dano, who has starred in critically acclaimed films There Will Be Blood and Love and Mercy. Starring alongside Dano and Law will be Oscar-winning Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, who worked with Law on Firebrand in 2023. Speaking ahead of filming, director Assayas said The Wizard of the Kremlin 'is about trying to make sense of the chaos that is transforming our world in the strangest, most disturbing ways'. He added: 'Beyond the passions of men navigating the dangerous fluxes of modern politics, we see the powerful cinematic sweep of history in the making.'
Russia Today
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Russia Today
First PHOTOS of Jude Law as Putin emerge
British actor Jude Law, who is portraying Russian President Vladimir Putin in 'The Wizard of the Kremlin', has been spotted on the set of the film, according to photos circulating on social media. The film follows the story of a fictional political operative, presumably loosely based on former Putin aide Vladislav Surkov, who helps the Russian leader rise to power. The image, shared on Tuesday by Novaya Gazeta Europe, shows Law wearing a dark suit on a stage in Riga, Latvia while surrounded by extras. 'The Wizard of the Kremlin' focuses on Vadim Baranov, a fictional former avant-garde artist-turned TV producer who becomes the chief political adviser to a rising figure within Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) – soon revealed as Vladimir Putin in the 1990s. EXCLUSIVE: First photos of Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in Olivier Assayas' The Wizard of the Kremlin, a movie about 1990s Russia currently being filmed in Riga.📷: Novaya Gazeta Europe — Novaya Gazeta Europe (@novayagazeta_en) March 25, 2025 'Working at the heart of Russian power, Baranov blurs truth with lies, the news with propaganda, directing the entire society like one great reality show,' the film's synopsis reads. The film is based on Giuliano da Empoli's bestseller novel of the same name, published in April 2022. That year, it won the Grand prix du roman de l'Academie francaise. Read more Breaking barriers: How Yura Borisov earned his place at the Oscars Though Baranov is a fictional character, he is considered to be modeled after Vladislav Surkov, a former aide to Putin who served as deputy prime minister and a senior official in the presidential administration, and is often described as the Kremlin's 'gray cardinal'. He is also known as a proponent of 'sovereign democracy', the idea of building a strong state with a focus on the material well-being of the population. More recently, he has predicted the expansion of the 'Russian world' as well as a rapprochement between Moscow and the West. Commenting on the upcoming film, Surkov said, 'No one is safe from this.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that no one contacted the Russian authorities about the film, and that the Kremlin did not know the exact plot of the story. READ MORE: Shakespeare museum to be 'decolonized' over 'white supremacy' claims – Telegraph Law is no stranger to portraying Russian or Russian-linked figures. In 'Enemy at the Gates' (2001), he played renowned Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev in a dramatization of the Battle of Stalingrad. He also starred in 'Anna Karenina' (2012) as Aleksey Karenin, a senior government official in Imperial Russia. Law also played Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes franchise opposite Robert Downey Jr., and received critical acclaim for playing a manipulative pontiff in The Young Pope series.
