Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival - first films announced

Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival - first films announced

Four New Zealand Feature Films And A Web Series To Have World Premieres at Festival

Four New Zealand feature films will receive their World Premiere screenings as part of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2020 At Home – Online, and at selected cinema screenings across the country.

And, for the first time ever the Festival will screen a Web Series in its entirety. This year’s homegrown selection includes four documentaries and one episodic drama.

Festival Director Marten Rabarts said programming New Zealand films for the 2020 Festival has been challenging due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions which brought shooting and post-production on a number of films to a halt or caused significant delay.

“We’re very proud to present this programme of films from Aotearoa for this year’s Festival. We’ve worked closely with all the filmmakers to ensure these films can be part of the Festival.”

Rabarts adds that as well as screening online as part of NZIFF At Home – Online, all five Aotearoa films will also be screened in cinemas.

“As COVID-19 restrictions began lifting in New Zealand, we have been exploring options to present a selection of films in many of our favourite cinemas and venues, and this includes the five Aotearoa films. We expect to reach agreement in the coming days as to which cinemas will be welcoming us for the 2020 hybrid edition.”

Details of screenings in cinemas and venues will be announced on Thursday 25 June alongside the announcement of the full festival programme.

The confirmed New Zealand films for 2020 are:

Before Everest

Director/Producer/Screenplay/Photography/Editor: Richard Riddiford
“I’d never share a rope with him” is about as damning a comment as anyone can make about a fellow mountaineer. Sir Edmund Hillary’s words about Earle Riddiford in his last autobiography set the uneasy tone of this nuanced documentary by Earle’s son Richard Riddiford.
“In his final autobiography, Hillary wrote some fairly damning remarks about my father... Why had Hillary been so ungracious? ... He was as close to a god as a mortal could be in our country, but it had been my father who had helped get him there.” — director Richard Riddiford

LOIMATA, The Sweetest Tears

Director: Anna Marbrook
Director Anna Marbrook honours the last voyage of the great waka maker, sailor and mentor Ema Siope in this chronicle of journeys – journeys of migration, spirituality, voyaging, healing and coming home.
“A stirring and visually gripping documentary… honouring the life and times of great woman whose wake will be felt for years to come.” — Michael Andrew, Asia Pacific Report

Rūrangi

Director: Max Currie
Premiering their forthcoming web series as a special festival presentation, director Max Currie (Everything We Loved, NZIFF14) and writer Cole Meyers’ queer and trans-positive drama swells with character, heart and filmic sophistication in ways rarely seen in the web series form. Rūrangi was previously selected for the prestigious Frameline – San Francisco LGBTQ+ Film Festival (June 2020) which was cancelled due to COVID-19.  Rūrangi is fully worthy of its Film Festival world premiere and we’re proud to be part of its journey into the world.

The Girl on the Bridge

Director: Leanne Pooley
In the increasing public discourse on mental health, Leanne Pooley’s inspiring and fearless documentary tracks an extraordinary young woman’s journey from suicide survivor to advocate for those struggling. The fact it leaves you hopeful and with tangible advice makes it vital viewing.

Tupaia’s Endeavour – The Director’s Cut

Director/Producer/Editor: Lala Rolls
Re-edited from both the Māori Television series and with new material, Lala Rolls’ fascinating quest to examine what happens to a Tahitian high priest and navigator when he travels across the Pacific – and further on towards England as a translator and guest (or is it as a living trophy?) – aboard Captain James Cook’s HMS Endeavour.

Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival is run by a charitable trust to enhance local appreciation of, and engagement with, global art and culture by providing access to a diverse range of high-quality film.

The full 2020 Film Festival programme will be announced on Thursday 25 June and the festival will run from 24 July – 2 August.

Queen & Slim: DVD Review

Queen & Slim: DVD Review 

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya,  Jodie Turner Smith 
Director: Melina Matsoukas

Queen and Slim desperately wants to be a classic, a "black Bonnie and Clyde" as they even refer to themselves but in truth the rambling drama feels more like a missed opportunity than a gritty timely social commentary.Kaluuya and Smith are strong enough as the two leads and the film early on has a kind of intimacy that a good relationship drama requires as we first meet the pair on a first date.

Soon after that, their date takes a disastrous turn when they're pulled over by a police car....

However, the film's leaps of logic and suspensions of disbelief prove almost fatal after the initial horror of the police assault takes place. 

Shot in an almost verite style the unfolding drama grips as the duo are caught in an all too familiar scenario, and one that would provide a rich source for drama.

Yet once they set out on the run, the detours prove to be more of a distraction and threads of the two being the touch paper for a societal revolution jar more than cohesively gel.

Though the divisions between the community over whether to support or condemn are a worthwhile thread, they’re always secondary to the proceedings with the film's style being the sole raison d’être as it plays out amid moody shots, music-video stylings and intriguing camera angles.

There’s an easy charm and charisma to Kaluuya's character as he negotiates his way through the maelstrom; equally Smith goes from spiky to soft and back again with speed and the emotional whiplash is giddying, but finally satisfying.

Ultimately though Queen & Slim is more about style than great substance; sure, there's some commentary going on under the hood, but this is far from the classic it could be - despite the work of the talented cast, thanks to a messy approach and a need to fine tune the script.

Dark Waters: DVD Review

Dark Waters: DVD Review

Todd Haynes' safe and formulaic legal chiller Dark Waters is a solidly told tale, albeit one that never quite finds a way to rise into the upper echelons of drama, despite the presence of Mark Ruffalo.

Ruffalo is Robert Bilott, a newly-minted partner of a US legal firm that defends industrial companies.

When a farmer (Camp, in one of the more lively and complex roles of the film) shows up on his doorstep wanting to fight those who he believes have poisoned his land and his cows, Bilott finds himself torn between duty and a light familial connection to what's going on.

But as Bilott begins to investigate the malfeasance of local industrial giant Dupont (with Alias' Victor Gerber as their figurehead), he discovers the case has much more horrific wider consequences.

Dark Water is a solidly told film, anchored by the mutedly dogged performance of Ruffalo and supported by the growing outrage of Camp.

Yet, in telling it in a non-showy way, and scattering it across the timeline (A narrative necessity given how long Bilott's case has been going against Dupont), the film occasionally stutters to raise some real drama. It prefers a more quiet outrage that boils under as the reality of Dupont's shenanigans are gradually exposed.

There are moments that chill, and revelations that abhor, but Haynes' delivery of them is more restrained than perhaps it could be, as the effects on communities and even the world comes to light.

There are also times when the exposition floods some of the legal proceedings and montages of lawyering - and certainly Hathaway feels wasted after early promises threaten to expose the sexism within the boys' club industry.

Yet for all its dialled down touches, Dark Water does present a compelling story - albeit one that is good, rather than great.

The Invisible Man: Blu Ray Review

The Invisible Man: Blu Ray Review

Upgrade's Leigh Whannell turns his hyper-kinetic hand to another update of The Invisible Man story.

This time around, The Handmaid's Tale's Moss plays Cecilia, who's trapped in an abusive relationship with beau Adrian. Finally making the jump to escape, Cece believes her world is changed, and due to his apparent suicide, she's free.

However, she soon comes to believe that Adrian's not dead and is out to get her.

But can she convince those around her this is actually the case?

Essentially a film about gaslighting, and one woman's fight back against it, Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man is atmospheric intrigue from the get-go.

Haunting and a grippingly bleak expose of the legacy of abuse, Whannell's script makes the most out of a harried Moss, who gives her all and revels in her misery when there's no one else onscreen. (Or is there?) Her Cecilia has enough seeds of doubt sewn to make you question whether she's right, or what exactly is going on - though admittedly, the title is The Invisible Man and not The Invisible Woman.

But it's the director who's primarily the star of the film.

Employing techniques he used to visual excellence on Upgrade, Whannell brings his  use of syncing the camera to the film's most chilling moments. Whether it's a sequence in a kitchen, or a brutal encounter within a hospital, Whannell channels a kind of kinetic brilliance that marks this revamp of The Invisible Man out when it comes to the action.

Long wide shots of empty unsettling spaces, a la early Paranormal Activity, promote a kind of queasiness as the film practically invites you to scan the screen, searching for the titular character and putting you in the mindset of unease thrust upon Cecelia.

Granted, the film's really about a woman's crusade against endless negativity and systematic and systemic ignorance, but it never loses sight of the fact that at its heart, it's about a primal horror and terror.

It's just that this terror is more psychological and excellently conveyed by Moss' character.

Ultimately, it's so engrossing and unnerving, that it may allow you to skirt over some of the script's hokier edges, occasional predictable moments and odd lapses of logic which occur among some of the more obvious jump scares.

At its heart though, The Invisible Man offers terrifying thrills among its subtle fearscape (its use of sound is superlative as well) - as much of a rollercoaster as a psychological breakdown, against all odds, The Invisible Man remains one to be seen.

Guns Akimbo: Blu Ray Review

Guns Akimbo: Blu Ray Review

Frenetically edited and frantically paced, Jason Lei Howden's Guns Akimbo is the triumph of style over substance.

But it's nothing without the 110% commitment of its lead, Daniel Radcliffe, who proves terrifically game and fantastically physical in his pursuit of the story.

Radcliffe is Miles, a low-level coder who lives in Shrapnel City. Recently dumped and bored with his work, Miles stumbles onto the live fight site Skizm and delivers some high-level trolling of those dwelling within.

However, those in charge of Skizm aren't impressed and decide to make Miles the star of their next death match, bolting guns to his hands and pitting him against the current champion, psychotic killer Nix (Samara Weaving, in a sneery punkish role).

But Miles isn't ready to die yet...

Guns Akimbo is relatively shallow, a series of fight sequences set to heavy metal renditions of 80s pop music tunes. Quickly edited, with swirling cameras that seem to suffer from ADHD, the film rarely stops for a moment to breathe, delivering some impressive kill sequences, and some gun fu that's to be admired and enjoyed in a Friday night popcorn entertainment way.

There is some commentary of life in the social world versus the real world, but to be frank, it's not smartly delivered, nor is it radically challenging.

Meshing the juvenile with the video game shooter mentality works well for the film, elements of Crank and Death Match blended together, but it does struggle to deliver anything more than this as it breezes through its 90 minutes run time

Where Guns triumphs though is in its two leads - Radcliffe's overly committed to Miles' disastrous situation and delivers a performance that is comedic and impressive, his everyman schlub loser caught in the crossfires of his own doing. Samara Weaving is equally enjoyable as Nix, a drugged up psycho who's addicted to the kills, she gets to deliver the lion's share of the film's best lines.

In truth, the villains are a little vanilla, and some of the peripheral characters are merely there for exposition rather than to flesh things out, but Guns Akimbo mostly delivers a blast of neon-soaked bubblegum fun. Sure, it riffs on its own video game mentality (dispatch a load of bad guys, take on the final big boss), but there's a reasonably disposable ethos to Guns Akimbo that sees you through the repetitive nature 

Win a copy of Bloodshot

Win a copy of Bloodshot

To celebrate the release of Bloodshot, thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy.

About Bloodshot

Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life as the superhero Bloodshot by the RST corporation.  

With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force –stronger than ever and able to heal instantly.  

But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too.  

Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out.

All you have to do is email your details and the word BLOODSHOT!

Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com
 Or CLICK HERE NOW  

Seberg: DVD Review

Seberg: DVD Review

With its perils of surveillance of the innocent story, you'd expect Seberg to be a seething commentary on the contemporary ills Americans face.

But in truth, Seberg's simplicity is what cripples its tale of the downfall of Jean Seberg (Stewart, in a largely vacant shell of drama until the final third of the film kicks in).

Stewart is Seberg, an American actress who garnered fame through her part in Jean Luc Godard's Breathless in 1960. When Seberg is seen supporting the Black Panther movement via way of Anthony Mackie's Hakim Jamal, the FBI is ordered to wiretrap and surveil her as part of the FBI COINTELPRO programme.

As the surveillance steps up, Seberg's grip on life starts to falter, and an FBI Agent (O'Connell) begins to question whether his bosses are doing the right thing...

The drama is present in Seberg, and the stage is set for an explosive showdown that lays bare the perils of defamation, the cost of the stalking and the clash of ideologies within. Yet, by laying out broad brush strokes and having a lead who doesn't feel she inhabits the role, the fault lies squarely in the script of Seberg, which is too light and fluffy to really deliver the bite it needs.

Vaughan's pro-FBI man is merely a monster, and O'Connell's wavering is presented too simply. The conflict is nowhere explored nearly as much as it could and should be in Seberg. Presenting Seberg as Joan of Arc early on aims to show her martydom but the film does little other than to portray her as a victim throughout, which is intentional, but unearned thanks to the weak script.

In the final third, as the consequences ramp up, Stewart delivers something close to searing, but it's really too little too late as the muted feel hits the film and cripples it.

Seberg is nowhere near as searing as it should be, and its chance to condemn, lay blame and berate those who gifted Seberg with her unwanted paranoia is squandered, when it should have been seized and milked to maximum dramatic effect.

The Last Of Us Part II: PS4 Review

The Last Of Us Part II: PS4 Review

Developed by Naughty Dog
Platform: PS4

Wracked with but not wrecked by spoilers dropping before release, and with the weight of expectation squarely on its story, The Last Of Us Part II is a fulfilling exercise in atmosphere, as well as the tropes of the survivor genre much seen in the likes of the Walking Dead.

Naughty Dog has so ferociously guarded this release to heighten the enjoyment of fans that it's repeatedly asked for spoilers to be held close to the chest, and for story details to be kept confined as well.

It makes a review difficult in some ways, but not impossible - loosely, the game centres around Joel and Ellie once again and their life in the post-Infected world years after we last saw them. Once again, a mission rears its head and it's back into the world of The Last Of Us we go.

In many ways, The Last Of Us is very familiar to anyone who's spent a modicum of time within the survival genre, be it comics, games or TV series.

There's once again the message of doing what it takes to survive and the cost of which doing so wreaks upon you - Battle ye not with monsters, lest ye become a monster as Nietzsche said. And much of that ethos is etched throughout The Last Of Us Part II.

As factions arise, groups rise and fall and the game progresses, the dourness settles like a heavy choking mist over proceedings. It's all a world away from the strumming guitar lessons at the start and the innocent snowball fight that sets up the prologue of the game; but it's a welcome touch of levity before the light is dimmed irrevocably and almost irretrievably.

Naughty Dog's included some new touches to their game to ensure this doesn't feel like a retread of the 2013 original.

There are more vicious encounters, a few newer creatures that present a fair few problems in a resource-free world, and things like dogs and Bloaters (a kind of infected) which can track you. The game sticks largely to its MO, and delivers superbly, if with familiarity throughout.

Corridors where your torchlight is the only illumination before that jump scare? Check.

Gorgeous cut scenes and world building that explain every ounce of the craft and demand from the higher ups that's gone in to the visualisation of the performance? Check.

A sense of creeping desperation as the game proceeds and you know you're running out of weapons and bits necessary to survive? Check.

Scenes where you're on horseback and ploughing through snow with flakes settling on your clothes a la opening of Red Dead Redemption 2? Also, Check.

If this seems like it's cocking a snook at Naughty Dog for repeating itself, it's truly not; it's a recognition that these were the highlights of the original game, and the sequel takes the same beats and amplifies them where necessary. It's even taken some of the same mechanics and gameplay beats, edges and sequences as Uncharted 4 and twisted them into their own.

It's the narrative that provides the thrust this time around - less a game about survival, more about what it means to survive and what the cost is, The Last of Us Part II's elegaic edge has a maudlin quality that's in keeping with its stealth kills and vicious encounters. Each death felt like a small piece of my soul was being sacrificed and began to wear heavy on my mind as the story progressed.

Encounters are more brutal, and more frenzied - the viciousness is omni-present, and the softer edges of the story (such as they are) complement it well and needed when they come. Flawed individuals make up the story, and serve as a reminder of humanity - or the crippling lack thereof - in this post-apocalyptic world.

New enemies emerge, and new ways to defeat them are needed; throw into that mix as well a feeling that the environment can throw anything at you without warning, and it's no wonder the over-riding feeling of The Last Of Us Part II is one of unease and almost crippling fear among the stealth and stalking.

There are some new skills to learn throughout, but the basics of the first game are in tact, and make diving back into the world easy enough. And touches like subtitles and guided audio cues will give all players the chance to be part of Joel and Ellie's world, rather than seasoned Last of Us gamers. It's things like this which add to the craft of The Last Of Us Part II and speak volumes to how gamers should be treated.

There are occasionally one too many flashbacks, something frustratingly akin to the Lost effect, where the player is drawn out of the game at the tensest of moments, leading to a feeling of delayed gratification. But each flashback, as it comes, serves to deepen the character engagement and then subsequently lose the player in a few hours of diverted gameplay.

A few glitches have also hit the game in its pre-launch status; a couple of times, characters have blended with walls, and even gone below the game itself, forcing a restart, but these minor bugs will hopefully be ironed out at launch.

Graphically, The Last Of Us Part II looks incredible - overgrown areas sing with both reality and flourishing touches. Walk past the snow on a tree and it'll fall off onto the ground, walk through water and the ripples carry on - every inch of Naughty Dog's craft is evident in every corner of the screen (even if the game's more a guided open world, than an actual open one).

However, it has to be said, The Last Of Us Part II is not the game you'd expect, and that's no bad thing at all.

It may lack the novelty of the first game in some parts, but in others, it's deepened and enriched the experience, and developers have aimed to provide more of a conflicted gamepath than a straight rescue mission of the first.

It tears up a rulebook, changes the rules for storytelling and consistently shakes the core of what makes a triple A title on the platform. And you'll hate it in parts, forced to relive moments that consistently cause you pain - but at the same time, you'll deeply admire Naughty Dog's determination to try something different with the story-telling narrative.

The Last of Us Part II is a game of consequences where the web of revenge envelops all from the centre out, and where the strands surround players who appear on the peripherary. To that end, while the story's still Ellie's, the world feels deeper, more real and more terrifying. The violence appals more this time around, shrouding a lot of the world in ugliness.

It may be one of the PlayStation exclusives to hit the PS4 platform before the arrival of the PS5, but The Last Of Us Part II is a challenging, enticing, sickening and engaging follow up to spend plenty of time in in the darkness of the winter months.

The Last Of Us Part II releases exclusively on PlayStation on June 19
This reviewer was given a pre-release copy of the game from the publishers and PlayStation NZ.

PlayStation 5 Future of gaming event live

PlayStation 5 Future of gaming event live

It's here!

Watch the future of gaming with the PS5 launch event today at 8am!

PlayStation 5 revealed Friday June 12

PlayStation 5 unveiled

PlayStation will finally unveil more details of its PlayStation 5 line up on Friday June 12 at 8am.

Jim Ryan of Sony says: "With each generation, from the first PlayStation to PlayStation 4, we aim higher and we push the boundaries further, to try and deliver better experiences for our community. This has been the mission of the PlayStation brand for more than 25 years. A mission I have been a part of nearly since the beginning. 

"There are few things as exciting as the launch of a new console. While this road to launch has been a bit…different, we are as thrilled as ever to bring you with us on this journey to redefine the future of videogames.

"We’ve shared technical specifications and shown you the new DualSense wireless controller. But what is a launch without games? 

"That’s why I’m excited to share that we will soon give you a first look at the games you’ll be playing after PlayStation 5 launches this holiday. The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe. 

"Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware. This digital showcase will run for a bit more than an hour and, for the first time, we will all be together virtually experiencing the excitement together.

"A lack of physical events has given us an amazing opportunity to think differently and bring you on this journey with us, and hopefully, closer than ever before. 

"This is part of our series of PS5 updates and, rest assured we will still have much to share with you."

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See you Friday, 12th June at 8am (NZST) for a look at the future of gaming on #PS5

A post shared by PlayStationNZ (@playstationnz) on Jun 8, 2020 at 4:26pm PDT

The Trip To Greece: Film Review

The Trip To Greece: Film Review

Cast: Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, the wonders of Greece
Director: Michael Winterbottom

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan reprise their Trip persona for the fourth time.

And while the third time is apparently the charm (not so in The Trip To Spain's case), it feels like now really is the time to wind up this over-inflated travelogue series for good.

It's something which those involved have said will happen with this Hellenic outing, but in parts, this film feels like a retread of everything that's gone before and a greatest hits package of the Coogan-Brydon relationship.

Except in parts, this trip around Greece, as the pair follow Odysseus' journey, delves more in the maudlin and melancholy, a welcome touch from the incessant one upmanship that's been seen so many times before. Sure, the banter between Brydon and Coogan becomes more desperate as the duo tackle more impressions, but it really does start to grate the fourth time around.

This time, it's peppered with touches of the portentous as Coogan trumpets being known for his BAFTA for Stan Laurel, but hints at being tired of only ever being awarded for work playing other people; and Brydon's continual talk of being a light entertainer feels more savage as the legacy suffocates him rather than leaving him feeling fulfilled.

As with the previous films, this has been crafted out of the 3 hour TV version, and most of the intricacies and rhythms of the food tasting and the locations have been scythed through - which is a great shame.

The star of the Trip is still Winterbottom, whose eye for magnificent shots is evident once again.

But Brydon and Coogan prove to be game enough company - from a swimming competition that's more an old man's pissing contest to the constant jabs, their exploration of friendship is a more poignant and potent affair to spend time with, rather than a tiresome retread of who can do the best impression.

If this Trip to Greece truly is the last, it's a welcome end to the series which should have been a two course menu, rather than an endless degustation of middle-aged mimcry and midlife melancholy.

Sorry We Missed You: DVD Review

Sorry We Missed You: DVD Review

Ken Loach's latest piece of socially shocking miserabilism in the UK is a savage indictment of how the everyday family is being beaten down by those abusing the system.

And yet, in among the blood-boiling moments of Sorry We Missed You, Loach displays elements of everyday love and compassion along with humour that helps you along the 100 minutes of what plays out.

Kris Hitchen plays Rikki, the head of a family who is scrabbling day to day to make ends meet. Taking the chance to become a franchisee of a delivery company, Rikki finds himself part of a contract that serves the masters better than it does the servants.

Coupled with the fact his wife Abby (Debbie Honeywood) is working 14 hours a day as a carer, the pair is left hardly any time for their two children.

Stretched as thinly as it will go, something is likely to snap in Rikki and Abby's lives...

Clothed in savage condemnation of the zero hours' slavery, Loach's film promotes a growing sense of depression, as well as a sense of latent activism in the audience.

But it's the realism here, and the intimate relatability that gives Loach his power in this film - a growing sense of desperation from both Hitchen and Honeywood creates an aching, gnawing sense of disillusionment as events threaten to swallow them up.

There's nothing here that's played for easy drama, merely a growing sense of a maelstrom about to encompass the everyday family. And because of that it's even more horrifying to behold.

There's an anger in Sorry We Missed You, but Loach is restrained enough a director to realise that simply playing out events will get the required results in the audience. It's horrifically affective and affecting - ultimately, Sorry We Missed You is one social drama not ignore - both on screen and off it. 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: DVD Review

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: DVD Review

A male-free zone, the luxurious Portrait of a Lady on Fire from Girlhood's Celine Sciamma is in no hurry to get where it's going.

It's the 1700s, and Merlant is Marianne, a painter brought in for a commission of Adele Haenel's fresh-out-of-the-convent Heloise, who's about to be married off to a man she's never met. Heloise has already registered rebellion for this portrait destined for her husband-to-be, refusing to sit for her likeness to be captured.

So Marianne decides to be Heloise's companion by day and to paint her likeness by night.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film that luxuriates in the slow burn, and frames itself on fanning the flames of nascent desire.

Back and forths, stolen glimpses and caught looks add much to the burgeoning relationship between the two, and Sciamma lingers when needed and pulls back when expected.

It helps that Merlant and Haenel take their characters on a journey they need, and prove to be such bedfellows for a story. A side story involving the house maid and a situation proves to be a diversion, detracting from what really matters here.

The camera flirts between capturing Marianne's furtive glances, destined to capture details for her pictures and with Heloise's acknowledgement and potential misinterpretation of these glimpses, never once deciding to vocalise either way which is which. It all boils over to a head for obvious reasons, but the simmering before the bubble over is enjoyable to watch.

It may be a little heavy handed in some of its imagery and narrative at times (a long section on Eurydice overplays the looking/ being caught looking metaphor too much) and it may meander on its two hour journey, but Portrait of a Lady on Fire lends much to the story of desire and intimate voyeurs - even if it does so via stiffly starched formal presentation.