Review: Second Coming

Film review for On the Box

Magic and realism combine like Jamaican patois and cockney English in Debbie Tucker Green’s debut feature. The result of this composite equation is a compelling, atmospheric, and wholly original film.

Set in the suburbs of South London, Second Coming pertains to the definitive meaning of that phrase, without Marshall’s un-expecting mother (Jax) explicitly stating anything miraculous about her pregnancy within the film’s 105 minute running time. Instead, the narrative’s focus remains on the triumvirate of performances from Nadine Marshall, Idris Elba, and their 11-year old son, Kai Francis Lewis.

Suitably, the strength of Second Coming is in its performances, which Green’s directorial style demands a great deal from. Elba is required to tone down some of his strengths in order to play a struggling, but essentially good father and husband. Marshall is a women scarred by her own emotional battles with pregnancy; JJ (Kai Lewis) is her only child from five pregnancies, and it is in Lewis that the high quality watermark of performances is sealed.

The intriguing editing of the film hacks away at time, periodically dropping in on this ordinary family at various stages in Jax’s unordinary pregnancy. Like Richard Linklater’s Boyhood (though the timeframe here is 9 months rather than 18 years), the moments which Green’s camera does drop in on aren’t particularly important in and of themselves. Instead, they provide a complete picture of this family’s everyday life: preparing food, visiting family, and the drawn out tension – and corresponding bursts of frustration – that play out in between.

All the while, and to the frustration of her friends, Jax remains unwilling to open up about her pregnancy. Is there another man? Is she anxious about losing it? Or is the answer something altogether more metaphysical? Answers aren’t particularly forthcoming, and Green isn’t interested in teasing audiences with clues either.

For some viewers, the lack of emotion portrayed by Jax – the film’s central character – could prove testing. Though this sanitization of overt feelings, and the whole process of bottling things up inside, becomes a theme that is explored in the film. With one of the most uncharacteristically melodramatic scenes coming as Elba vents his anger and confusion toward the ‘elephant in the womb’.

Certainly from what is on offer here, it’s clear that Green has the original perspective and flair for cinema that is going to yield an interesting collection of films.

Review: Samba

A film review for Film Feed

The French writer-director team Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache follow the success of The Intouchables with this warming love story set amidst immigration strife.

The film opens at a swanky high-class party in which the camera, in one impressive take, pulls back from the decadence, winds through bustling corridors and settles on Samba (Omar Sy), washing dishes at the back of a hotel kitchen. His employment there is strictly off the books, and when the offer of a proper contract proves too tempting to ignore, he’s seized upon by immigration police – despite having lived in Paris for the past ten years. With nowhere to turn, Samba comes face to face with Alice (Charlotte Gainsborough), a burnt out white collar worker volunteering at the immigration office after suffering from a stress related breakdown.  Samba is to be Alice’s first case, and despite vehement warnings from her co-worker to not get emotionally involved with the people she’s helping, it’s clear there’s a magnetic chemistry between the two of them that can’t be ignored.

Playing against type, Gainsborough’s character is timid, anxious and vulnerable. Samba, on the other hand, is vibrant, optimistic and a little goofy – regardless of the precarious situation he finds himself in. On screen, their relationship is incredible to watch, their vulnerabilities dissipating completely when around one another. Alice forgets all about her hang-ups, the stress and worry that tinge her life, while Samba needs little encouragement to enjoy being with the woman in front of him. For all the seriousness of the issues portrayed in the film, there’s an unashamed light-heartedness, if not sentimentality, in the directors’ approach. Scenes of pain are even more effectively realised when followed by moments of relief, and only every so often does the film’s comic tone feel a touch irksome.

The hit and miss episodes of farce in Samba serve to disrupt the coming together of the central pair as well as highlighting the unbridled resolve of the titular character. While some have taken issue with the film’s insincere treatment of a problem that is so prevalent in France, it really is difficult to resist its charm; a charm embodied by Samba.  

After two huge successes, it will be intriguing to see what Omar Sy turns his talent to next. With stars like Charlotte Gainsborough already queuing up to work with him, he’s quickly becoming on of French cinema’s most bankable exports.

Review: Girlhood

A film review for The Upcoming 

With Girlhood, Céline Sciamma is releasing a third film that’s concerned with, well, girlhood. Her previous features, Water Lilies and Tomboy, both go some way to tackling the lack of cinema invested in the experience of growing up as a girl. Her third, thankfully, is no different.

Set in the projects of a Parisian suburb, the narrative begins with Marieme (Karidja Touré) and her friends talking to one another in a flurry of indistinct chatter; the film’s French title Band le Filles, or “gang of girls”, is possibly more fitting. As the girls walk past a group of lads sitting around a stairway, their chatter ceases, and with that we’re initiated into their mindsets.

The real success of Girlhood is that its themes stick with you long after watching, and so too does Touré’s performance. Starring in every scene, Marieme is a character coming to terms with her gender. While she enjoys the sense of camaraderie she has with her friends, she ultimately understands femininity to be a signifier of weakness – not a trait that sits well with Marieme’s strong and independent personality. As the film continues, it becomes a truly thought-provoking exploration of female power, contained in this patriarchal structure of Parisian tower blocks.

Set to a pulsing synth soundtrack with brief soirées into chart pop, Sciamma’s script and direction really allow you to inhabit the world that these girls belong to. As such, when Marieme is courted by a group of tougher and possibly older schoolgirls, Sciamma doesn’t allow you to easily judge them. This isn’t a case of “bad” corrupting “good”; rather, you get a real sense of understanding as to why the girls adopt this aggressive behaviour. To dance, fight, sing and gossip is to seek a means of escape from a life of subservience that beckons them from the periphery.

Newcomer Touré has a lot to do with the brilliance of Marieme. She is enigmatic, confident and beaming with energy. With the likes of Hunger Games and Divergent dominating Hollywood, it’s refreshing to see such a strong, independent female character existing in the real world reaching our cinemas. Here’s hoping we get a fourth film soon from this interesting and focused director.