Yi Yi- 5 Stars

Criterion Collection Cover

Yi Yi, roughly translated as 'One after another' (although the original characters, when placed together, form the Taiwanese word for Two), was the final film made by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang before he sadly died at only 59. It is a film that really defies short description. On the surface it is simply the story of a family living in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and their different everyday struggles and choices. Yet under this simplistic premise, the film is really an examination of human relationships, age, love and, most of all, regret.

The three central characters in the film are NJ, the middle aged father who struggles to maintain his business endeavors whilst also meeting by chance his former girlfriend who he walked out on many years ago; Ting-Ting, the teenage daughter who struggles with the family dependence on her in her mother's absence (the mother heads off to a Buddhist retreat at the start of the film after facing a midlife crisis) and her own development of romantic feelings; and finally Yang-Yang, the 8 year old son and his troubles at school. Surrounding these three central main characters is a huge supporting cast including NJ's brother-in-law, A-Di, who at the beginning of the film marries a film starlet because he got her pregnant despite still being in love with his former girlfriend, a Japanese game designer Ota, who seems to be the only person with any clear sense and ability to express it in the film, and Ting-Ting's friend Lilli, whose mother brings home a string of men, many of whom are abusive, whilst Lilli struggles with her troubles with her own boyfriend.

The biggest difficulty in writing about this film is knowing where to start. There are so many different plot and character threads, all of which contribute different thematic perspectives that it is quite overwhelming in terms of analysis, with each scene contributing another nugget of understanding. It makes most sense, therefore, to dissect each of the main character's arcs in turn, and from there to deviate into supporting characters and their meanings when necessary. Since NJ is seemingly the linchpin of the film as the head of the family, I shall start with him.

Japanese comedian Issey Ogata as the wise Ota

 NJ is a rather typical middle aged father- he loves his family, wants to do better than his own parents did, and yet is so lost in both his personal and professional life that he cannot really connect with them. Professionally, NJ is working with his old school friend in trying to bring about a deal with Japanese game designer Ota. Although NJ is initially reluctant to get involved with games, something he knows nothing about, Ota's wisdom and kindness win him over. Unfortunately, the very qualities in Ota that win over NJ seem to put off NJ's business partners who decide to pursue another cheaper designer Ata, and assign NJ to string Ota along in case the Ata deal doesn't work out. Ota and NJ bond over music and Ota shows NJ some magic tricks with a pack of cards at a bar. For NJ, Ota represents an integrity and honesty that is completely lost in the commercial sector. Moreover, Ota's love of magic and music points to something beyond the simple making of money. One of the most genius technical achievements of the film is Yang's frequent use of overlaying dialogue from one scene onto another visual scene without having us realise it. The best example of this is when Ota's grand ideas about the next generation of gaming are overlayed onto the previous scene of A-Di's wife having an ultrasound. Ota's ideas of creation in gaming are thus linked with birth and the creation of life- Ota is an artist and his work is a creation of life in itself. NJ, drawn by this and put off by the mundanity of his own work and baseness of financial, commercial greed, begins to withdraw from the business. However, the sadness is that although Ota has given NJ an understanding of how life can be so much more, there is not much NJ can really do to bring it about- he is trapped in the busy day-to-day of modern life.

Wu Nien-jen as NJ meets Sherry (Su-Yun Ko) in
a brief encounter

It is interesting how in the film Japan represents a new hope both professionally and personally for NJ, for it is in Japan where he not only meets with Ota but also reunites for a week with his first girlfriend, Sherry. It is in the handling of the relationship between NJ and Sherry that the film reveals its true genius for it turns what could easily be a melodramatic plot line into a bittersweet reflection on times gone by. Sherry and NJ first meet in the film by chance in the hotel where A-Di's wedding is held. At first their conversation is polite but it is obvious, especially when Sherry comments on NJ's child, Yang-Yang, that something has passed between them. Sherry leaves but then comes storming back over demanding to know why NJ left saying 'I waited, I waited!' but before anything else can happen NJ's old school friend arrives and both go back to their former politeness. In many ways this is a reflection of all the film's main characters- there are all these feelings bubbling under the surface that they want to get out, but, for one reason or another, be it social convention, fear of rejection or simple acceptance that the time has passed, they keep it in, bottling it up inside. Yang very rarely shoots scenes in closeup. In one heartwrenching scene, when NJ calls Sherry up, gets her answerphone and apologises for the past, wishing her all the best, the whole thing is shot from a distance. In a western film, we would usually get close to the character's face, see their emotion, hence creating the stage for melodrama which is based on our emotional response. Yet Yang realises that instead, just as everyone in the film never says everything they need to say, so too must we the audience not see everything we need to see. Just as the characters keep each other at arms length, the audience must be kept at arms length too- it is only through this distancing, that we can really understand the distance between the characters themselves. And yet we understand that just as we desire to be closer in the scene, so too do the characters wish to be closer to each other.

NJ and his son, Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang)

NJ and Sherry eventually spend a week together in Japan. They reminisce about their past relationship, sometimes wistfully, sometimes angrily turning on each other. Although they never say it, both are trying to understand what went wrong between them, and, perhaps more importantly, whether if they get together now the same thing will happen again. In the end NJ tells Sherry he has never loved anyone but her. She then leaves the next morning without a word of farewell. NJ says that even if he could go back in time he would still have left her. We understand that they do love each other, but that their time has past. Yet Yang adds another layer to their relationship, although to understand this we must first examine several other characters. Firstly, the next door neighbours are used to emphasise the noble restraint of NJ and Sherry. The woman next door, Mrs Jiang, brings home many different men, some of whom hit her, and in the process she alienates her daughter Lilli. In contrast, NJ and Sherry hold hands, but it is made clear by Yang that they do not go further. For NJ and Sherry love is not the passion of Mrs Jiang and her string of boyfriends- one minute having wild sex and the next screaming at each other- it is rather a soulful search for meaning. Both NJ and Sherry are dissatisfied in their current lives and wish to return to their youth, thus their joint interest in each other. It is not, as Yang would see it, a lowly desire of the body, but rather a higher search for the soul. In this way NJ mirrors his wife's retreat to the Buddhist monastery- what she seeks to find in religion, NJ seeks to find in youth and love. Yet both of them fail, with both of them admitting upon their return to still feeling empty.

The second important relationship is that of NJ's brother-in-law A-Di and his wife and former lover. A-Di's wedding starts the film off but it is apparent that he and his wife do not really love each other. Instead A-Di seems to be more interested in spending time with his ex, Yang-Yang, who tells the grandmother at the beginning of the film that she should have been marrying A-Di. We are never told explicitly what has happened between them, but it seems obvious that A-Di and Yang-Yang were in a long term, loving relationship, until A-Di had a short fling with his now wife, resulting in her pregnancy meaning he had to bow to social custom and marry her. This mistake has now ruined A-Di's life. One of the scenes most poignant images is when the usually cheerful and loud A-Di returns home alone after his baby shower, takes off his shirt and just stands there in the centre of the room. His stomach spilling over the front of his trousers, his messy hair- this is a man who, despite the spacious apartments he is living in and the new wealth of his wife, is deeply unhappy and as he enters the beginnings of the physical decay of middle age, he regrets the action that has saddled him with a demanding, unloving wife and lost him his love and happiness. The following scene, in which his wife returns to find him locked in the bathroom with the gas on and the windows closed, leaves it deliberately ambiguous as to whether this was a suicide attempt or not. Whichever way, we understand that NJ's situation, whilst not ever exactly identical, is replicated time and time again.

Yang-Yang reads to his sister, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee)

Finally, the last important character with which to draw comparisons with NJ and his relationship with Sherry is NJ's own daughter Ting-Ting, and her own tentative relationship. Ting-Ting, at the beginning of the film, watches the next door neighbour's daughter, Lilli, and her boyfriend, Fatty, sneak off to make out (incidentally, distracted by this, Ting-Ting forgets to take the trash out which leads to her grandma having a stroke as she attempts to take the trash out herself, leaving Ting-Ting with feelings of guilt). Ting-Ting befriends Lilli, but it turns out that Lilli and Fatty's relationship is far from ideal and Ting-Ting frequently becomes the go between point between them. As Lilli seemingly begins to follow her mother, and hooks up with other guys, Fatty and Ting-Ting become closer. Perhaps the very best scene in the film is when NJ and Sherry reminisce about the first time they held hands, and realise they are doing so again now, decades later, which is overlaid at the same time with Ting-Ting and Fatty holding hands for the first time. It is simple and underplayed but carries several layers with it. On the surface it seems sweet and romantic- love is both unique and shared by everyone. Everyone has their own unique first time of holding hands with a lover, yet this is an experience with common ground. Yet underneath it all there is a sadder, less romantic implication. Just as NJ and Sherry's teenage relationship fell apart, so too will that of Ting-Ting and Fatty. The regret that NJ and Sherry feel now and the wistfulness for their lost youth will be inevitably repeated throughout time, with Ting-Ting and Fatty, as the next generation, being the symbol of that.

Yang-Yang with his camera- art becomes the only form
of expression for Yang-Yang and Oda

There are many more things to say about Ting-Ting's plotline but, because of space and the fact that aspects of it are the least interesting and convincing of the film (especially the rather contrived murder), I shall move straight on to Yang-Yang. Yang-Yang is in a way the secret hero of the film. In his child's mind he is the only one with true understanding. He asks his father NJ at one point how he knows that they are seeing the same things as each other. NJ responds that he doesn't know. In one small question Yang-Yang sums up all the problems of communication that characters have in the film- no-one quite knows what anyone else is seeing or thinking or feeling, and thus we can never truly know anybody else. Yang-Yang follows up his first question by pointing out that you can never see the whole truth, only half the truth because you can never see the back of your head. He then proceeds throughout the film to take pictures of the back of everybody's heads. This is symbolic of our own self deception and also our failure to ever truly understand anything. It is similar to the magic and music of the Japanese game designer Ota who insists that he cannot explain his tricks: there are some things in life that are greater than us that we cannot explain- true knowledge is in knowing that we cannot explain it.

Ratings: Entertainment: 9 Technical: 5 Intelligence: 5= 19/20 *****

Note: There is still so much to talk about in this film so please do go and watch it. The one further thing I will say is that the actors of Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee) and Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang) who were only 13 and 8 respectively at the time of filming are truly brilliant in this film and go to show that, provided you find the right ones, child actors need not be a 'kiss of death for your movie'













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The Greatest Filmmakers of the Century so Far: Charlie Kaufman and Richard Linklater

Charlie Kaufman and Richard Linklater are, in my opinion, the greatest filmmakers of the 21st Century so far. Granted, we are only 16 years in, and both have careers stretching back to the 1990s, but both Kaufman and Linklater are beyond doubt great filmmakers, although this is not always recognised in the media. Kaufman's genius is probably more strongly certified, with films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) attracting both popular and critical followings, but the commercial failure of his directorial debut, and masterpiece, Synecdoche, New York (2008), has limited his ability to get films made, resulting in him making only two films in the last ten years, one of which Anomalisa (2015), had to be financed via crowd funding. Linklater, in contrast, has had a much steadier career, but one which has seen far less messiah-worship in terms of critical following. In fact, he only really broke through into the mainstream of critical appraisal in 2014 with Boyhood, despite the film utilising very similar cinematic styles and techniques to his previous films such as Slacker (1991) and Before Sunrise (1995). However, here I aim to show how Linklater and Kaufman use very different cinematic styles to produce works of art that, at the core, share very similar themes and ideas about the world we live in: namely, our loneliness and isolation from others, but our hope in love to form a connection which give our lives meaning.

On the surface, Kaufman and Linklater appear to be very different filmmakers, although, it must here be noted, that for five of his seven films, Kaufman has been the screenwriter, not the director, a fact which has occasionally brought him into conflict with the film's producers, such as with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) of which Kaufman claimed director George Clooney moved away from his script and therefore is 'a movie I don't really relate to.' That said, most critics acknowledge Kaufman's pervasive influence on the majority of the film's he has written, so much so that there were doubts about whether Spike Jonze, the director of Being John Malkovich (1999) and Adaption (2002), could really make good films without Kaufman (doubts put down by Jonze's 2013 film Her).

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard
in Synecdoche, New York

Kaufman is probably the foremost absurdist filmmaker of modern times. His films are all characterised by bizarre comic events punctuating the lives of the protagonists. His films are based in 'reality', in that they all are set in typical modern world settings (Being John Malkovich is set in a office, Synecdoche, New York in a theatre, Anomalisa in a hotel) but these settings are twisted and subverted so as to make the world seem irrational and beyond comprehension. In Being John Malkovich the office the protagonist Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) works in is on floor 7 1/2, and as a result is incredibly small, requiring everyone to crouch everywhere, a reflection of the claustrophobia and feelings of imprisonment the trappings of the office environment bring. And that's not even to mention the magic realist plot of the film, in which Craig finds a wormhole into John Malkovich's brain. It is most important to consider, however, Synecdoche, New York, because it is not only Kaufman's best film but also the film upon which he worked on as both screenwriter and sole director, and thus carries the greatest Kaufman mark. Synecdoche, New York is also a film with a realist setting- that of Caden Cotard's (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the protagonist, ever growing theatrical production- but introduces increasing absurdist elements, as both Caden's physical health and his personal relationships begin to fail. The best example is Caden's love interest, Hazel (Samantha Morton), who lives in a house that is eternally on fire, which is meant to symbolise how our choices impact down through the rest of our lives. Another example, is how, at the beginning of the film, the passing of time is shown through a series of incidental objects: the radio says one date, the newspaper another, the milk carton a further one. The point is to give time a loose feeling- Caden's life is dull and monotonous, so much so that he doesn't even notice time passing.

Theatrical Release Poster for Boyhood

This is all in stark contrast to Richard Linklater's humanist realism. Whilst Kaufman skips over time, presenting it as loose and changeable in order to suggest life's monotony, Linklater's Before Sunset (2004) is a real time film, i.e. every minute on screen consists of a real minute of the audience's time (which is perhaps why the film is only 80 minutes long). Kaufman uses the irrational and absurd to emphasise human isolation, whereas Linklater wants to show how people interact with one another in our everyday lives, and that can only be done by slowing down and focusing or the mundane. For Kaufman the mundane is something nightmarish, depriving our lives of meaning and driving us to isolation. Linklater, in contrast, sees the true nature of life in the mundane. Slacker is a film in which various different characters walk around Austin, Texas, talking with each other. Linklater hopes to present the audience with a slice of real life, and asks us to examine how people interact with one another. Linklater also has a sense of life's meaningless, yet he sees a positive way through it. According to Linklater, a 'slacker' is not someone who is lazy or stupid in choosing not to work, or at least, choosing not to take their work too seriously. Instead, a slacker is someone who understands that life is not to be found in the competitive world of careers and work but rather in the important personal relationships we form. This certainly seems to be the case in Boyhood, as by the end of the film it is the father, Mason Snr (Ethan Hawke), who has taken his time to get a career, and therefore has a new family, who is left happy and optimistic whilst the mother, Olivia (Patricia Arquette), who has a successful career, is the one left despairingly saying 'I just thought there would be more.'

Michael (David Thewlis) and Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
in Anomalisa

However, despite their differences Linklater and Kaufman are actually fundamentally concerned with the same question- what is it that gives our lives meaning? This is a very obvious theme to take from any of Kaufman's films, but perhaps is especially clear in Kaufman's animated film Anomalisa in which Michael Stone (David Thewlis) sees everyone else in the world as having the same face and voice (provided by Tom Noonan), except for Lisa who is voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh and has a distinctive facial scar. Michael is at the beginning of the film completely drifting because his life has no purpose- what he needs is some kind of meaning. Linklater's concern is perhaps more subtle because of the realistic nature of his films but his concern with life's purpose is seen fairly clearly in Before Sunset's opening scene in which Jesse (Ethan Hawke) talks about his pretentious idea for his next novel saying 'Happiness is in the doing right? Not in the getting what you want.' Linklater's films are deliberately full of pretentious dialogue about the meaning of life which is not meant to be taken all that seriously- there is no delusion on Linklater's part that this is philosophy- the point is the essence of the characters themselves. Jesse's concern with where happiness lies, reflects a wider human concern of what it takes to be satisfied and happy in life. The point of film as a visual medium is that this should be shown to us not told and that is exactly what Linklater does- the pretentious dialouge doesn't solve the problem of human satisfaction, but the personal relationships between characters and their wants, fears and desires, are what point the way to life's true meaning.

So what meaning, if any, do Kaufman and Linklater find in life? Here again both are in agreement that it is personal relationships, and perhaps specifically for Kaufman, love. In Synecdoche, New York, Caden is constantly drifting and dissatisfied. His first marriage to Adele Lack (Catherine Keener) falls apart and his second marriage to Claire (Michelle Williams) is one of convenience. His true love is instead Hazel but, due to difficult circumstances, and Caden's own social awkwardness, they fail to properly get together until it is too late. Yet the film's main song, the lyrics to which are written by Kaufman, accurately describes a hope inside all of us that love and someone special will save us from life's meaningless mundanity:

'I do my little job
And lead my little life
Eat my little meals
Kiss my little kid and wife.

But somewhere maybe someday
Maybe somewhere far away
I'll meet a second little person
Who will look at me and say:

"I've known you
You're the one I've waited for..."'

Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine
(Julie Delpy) in The Before Trilogy

Linklater places a similar hope in personal relationships. In Before Sunset, both Jesse and Celine (Julie Delpy) are unhappy with the direction of their lives in the past nine years since the first film. Although at first they seem to be much the same as they once were, it becomes apparent that both are much less hopeful and satisfied with life than they were nine years ago. Jesse talks of marrying out of a sense of duty whilst Celine describes how she feels unable to truly connect with anyone. Yet they have hope in each other. Whilst in the first film, they part on an ambiguous note with the audience unsure as to whether they will see each other again, or whether they are even truly suitable to each other (as Jesse puts it in Before Sunset 'Maybe we're only good at talking for one night whilst walking round European cities), in the second film there is a sense that Jesse and Celine really are perfect for each other, and that together they can create a meaningful life together.

Richard Linklater, director of Slacker, The Before Trilogy
and Boyhood

It is tempting, therefore, to say that Linklater is more positive about finding life's meaning than Kaufman. In contrast to the rather cliched, cheesy and hopeful song of finding 'the one', in Synecdoche, New York Caden does eventually get together with Hazel, but on their first night together she dies of smoke inhalation from her burning house. The ever presence of death in Kaufman's film, in fact, makes any hope seem far away, especially as Kaufman seems to imply through Hazel's death that any love and meaning that can be found in life will be fleeting, an idea similarly seen in Anomalisa where Lisa begins slowly to adopt Tom Noonan's voice and thus loses her individuality- in other words Michael's perception of her as someone special turns out to be wrong, she is just the same as everybody else. In contrast, Boyhood is a film of optimistic belief in the power familial relationships. At the end of the film, when Mason Jnr breaks up with his girlfriend, his family are there to support him. He asks his dad what the meaning of life is, to which Mason Snr laughs and replies he has no idea, except that it's important to keep feeling things. For Linklater, meaning is therefore found in our emotions and relationships, whatever they may be, and thus he could be judged to be more optimistic than Kaufman.

Charlie Kaufman, writer of Being John Malkovich,
and director of Synecdoche, New York and Anomalisa

However, this is too broad a brush and ignores the various changing ideas that have influenced the directors throughout their careers. To label Kaufman purely as a pessimist is to ignore the positivity in his films. The clearest example of this is in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which Joel realises that wiping his memory clean of his relationship with Clementine, no matter how sad he feels about it now, is to remove the meaning that the relationship gave him. The final meeting between Clementine and Joel, in which it is implied that they start a new relationship, is probably the most optimistic Kaufman ending, as love in the end wins out, to some extent. It is perhaps not surprising that this optimistic ending resulted in Kaufman's most commercially popular film to date. That said, Anomalisa also has some optimism in its ending. Although Michael is still as self-pitying and despairing as he was at the beginning of the film, the relationship between him and Lisa allows Lisa to begin enjoying life again, symbolised by her optimism at the end of the film, and more significantly by the fact that the friend Lisa is with has her own individual face, instead of the generic puppet face which she has worn for the rest of the film. Meanwhile, Linklater is not entirely optimistic about human relationships. Before Midnight (2013) ends in a climatic and emotionally brutal fight between Jesse and Celine as they argue over their children, Celine's feelings of underachievement, Jesse's alienation from his son and more. In the end, the meaning of love is implicitly disputed. For Celine, love is romantic passion, so when she tells Jesse at the end of the fight 'I'm not sure I love you anymore' it means that they have perhaps lost the social dynamic that first kept them together. However, for Jesse love is something deeper- it is a steady, enduring feeling of companionship and dedication to another person. He realises it isn't perfect, but that no matter what happens he and Celine must depend upon each other to give their lives meaning. It is not an optimistic picture of love- it is not idealised and it certainly isn't implied to be perfect or to last forever- but rather it is the love of real life, guiding us away from dissatisfaction, and that is ultimately what makes Linklater's films great.











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Oscars 2016

As the Oscars are forever wrong in their choices I thought I'd do my own little Oscars for all the films I've seen this year. Of course I haven't managed to see every film this year so I'm sure there will be lots of films left off the list that should be deserving of a place.

Best Film: 45 Years

Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years

45 Years has only been nominated for one Oscar (best actress for Charlotte Rampling) which it probably won't win, but really it should be winning just about everything. Directed by Andrew Haigh it stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as elderly couple Kate and Geoff Mercer who are rocked by the discovery of the frozen body of  Geoff's former girlfriend who died 50 years ago, after falling to her death in the Alps. This is not a detective film- I'll put it out there now that neither Geoff nor Kate had the girl murdered- but rather it is film about love, marriage and how we deceive ourselves. There are moments of discovery and drama, but mostly it's about a slow realisation that you can live with someone for 45 Years and still not truly know who they are. It is moving, intelligent and beautifully acted...and it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture.

Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller, Director of Mad Max: Fury Road

This was a difficult one. The other two major contenders for the award were Alejandro Inarritu for The Revenant (who will probably win the actual Oscar) and Andrew Haigh for 45 Years. Inarritu, for all my slight qualms about the film itself (that it doesn't have all that much to say, that the revenge plot is less interesting than the simple survival, that the main character isn't well defined) has directed a film which is an experience to watch- there are moments in it where you feel the pain that Glass is going through. In complete contrast, Haigh's direction is subtle and quiet but all the more impressive for it- he approaches the film with admirable restraint and poise. However, in the end George Miller wins the day. I didn't enjoy Mad Max as much as other people- the characters weren't all that well defined and I wanted to see more of the world- but the sheer scale of the action, all done with live sets is incredible. There is such an intensity and creative energy to this film that means you can't help but love it, and that is all down to Miller, the man who started the franchise and is now overseeing its resurgence.

Best Actor: Tom Courtenay, 45 Years

Tom Courtenay as Geoff Mercer

Tom Courtenay has not been nominated for the Oscar which has caused quite an outcry in British circles and you can see why. His performance here is one of the utmost intelligence and maturity. 45 Years is a film told mostly from the perspective of Kate, which, for a lesser actor than Tom Courtenay, might make it a struggle to bring Geoff's feelings across. Not the case. We feel Courtenay's sadness and struggle, even as this impacts Kate, the protagonist. Even more impressive, we see a shift in his character throughout, even whilst he retains this sympathy. At first he is lovable and comedic, by the end his physicality takes on an almost grotesque style- his jerking movements and odd intonations show how, in Kate's eyes, he's becoming all the more distant and strange. Geoff's end speech, which I cannot properly describe without explaining the crutch of the film is utterly heartbreaking, and is made so by Tom Courtenay's strength in performance. A quick note should say that although Leo is expected to win tonight it will be a disappointing victory. His performance in The Revenant is supremely dedicated (read the reports of the shoot) but the character of Glass is limited and ill defined- his character can be summed up by survival and revenge. This doesn't give Di Caprio much to work with and so although his performance is good, anyone who was willing to crawl around in the snow for a long time and grow a beard could have done it.

Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Charlotte Rampling as Kate Mercer

45 Years is a brilliant film, and it is Charlotte Rampling's performance that makes it so. She is just amazing. The subtleties of Kate's feelings are portrayed by a slight move of the mouth, a glance, a slight crack in her voice. Throughout the film we see Kate's increasing uncertainty, as her world crumbles around her, and yet it is all done with a serene and realistic calm. There is no breakdown, there is no screaming fit, only an awkward dinner, a silent car journey, small things. And Charlotte Rampling does it all perfectly. The most moving scene of the film is at the end when, during Geoff and Kate's wedding anniversary, Kate goes into the toilet and just stares at herself in the mirror. There is no dialogue, but Rampling's look tells you all about her feelings, her uncertainty, her isolation in this event full of people. There should be a special shout out to Cate Blanchett in Carol who is brilliant as you would expect, balancing a superficial glamour with deeper emotion, and Saoirse Ronan, who gives a very subtle and moving performance as Ellis in Brooklyn.

Best Supporting Actor: Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina

Oscar Isaac as Nathan

This was a tough one. I initially was going to go with Tom Hardy for The Revenant, because his performance creates a strange and intriguing mixture of loathing and empathy (he is so evil and cruel, yet you see how his life at the frontier has shaped him that way). However, in the end I have settled on Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina. It is a wonderfully ambiguous performance, at once funny (Nathan's dance to Get Down Saturday Night is a moment of surreal brilliance), sinister and slightly pathetic, Oscar Isaac's billionaire Nathan is a constant enigma. From the moment he appears, you know there is something wrong and suspicious about him, but what it is you can't place your finger on.

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

Alicia Vikander as Eva

I promise it wasn't intentional that the acting awards would go in duos to two films, but since both leading actor awards go to 45 Years, both supporting actor awards are going to go to Ex Machina. If Oscar Isaac's performance is one of supreme ambiguity and change, Alicia Vikander as the AI Eva is one of a different kind ambiguity. Her initial innocence and slight jerking movements, as well as the seem instability of her body, give her an appearance of fragility- she needs to be protected. However, as the film progresses, this seemingly simple picture of Eva becomes more complex. I want to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say Alicia Vikander's performance captures the subtleties of both sides of Eva and, my God, if she doesn't make a convincing robot I don't know who does.

Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman, writer and director of Anomalisa

This was almost another win for Ex Machina but in the end I couldn't overlook one of my all time favourite film makers, Charlie Kaufman. Anomalisa is a puppet film about a middle aged man, Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) who lives in a world identical to our own, except that everyone else has identical face and voices (Tom Noonan's voice, to be precise). When he meets Lisa Hesselman (Jennifer Jason Leigh), therefore, he believes they have a special connection. Like all Charlie Kaufman's films, this is a film with so many layers. However, its foremost themes are the typical Kaufman ones of loneliness, of living in a world which seems devoid of meaning, and, most importantly and tragically, the hope and desperation to escape this meaningless through love. It may be a puppet film, but it is melancholic to the bone.


Best Adapted Screenplay: Andrew Haigh, 45 Years

Andrew Haigh, writer and director of 45 Years

Based on David Constantine's short story In Another Country, it's 45 Years again- go see it, it's brilliant. (The other real contender was Brooklyn for a very mature adaption of Colm Toibin's novel of the same name- for a film about a love triangle, it's amazingly unsentimental and devoid of 'weepy' moments, yet still maintains that romantic yearning that you'd expect from a period drama romance.)





Best Animated Film: Anomalisa

Michael (David Thewlis) and Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
 in Anomalisa

I loved Inside Out and so it breaks my heart not to give it a single award, but in both the categories it was seriously competing in, it has been beaten by Anomalisa. And, to be quite fair, how could the award for best animated film not go to Anomalisa, a truly daring film by one of modern cinemas true artists. Its boldness is breathtaking- it is all about what it means to be human, yet is done completely with puppets; it has the most realistically awkward sex scene, again, done only with puppets; and it combines comedy, elation and pathos in a way only Charlie Kaufman can. Unfortunately, very few people will see the film, but that says so much about the state of the film industry when genuinely brave and original films like Anomalisa go missing, whilst studios keep churning out more and more remakes and sequels.

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant

Emmanuel Lubezki

Finally a win for The Revenant. Lubezki won the Oscar last year for Birdman which had the continuous shot gimmick. Although the continuous shot did contribute to the film's intensity and the idea that it was a piece of theatre, personally I thought Mr Turner deserved it more for its beautiful response to Turner's artwork and portrait of the changing English landscape. However, this time Lubezki would be fully deserving of his Oscar. The Revenant is a haunting film, and a major part of this is the contrast between the harsh brutality of the acts of men and beasts, juxtaposed with the beauties of nature, filmed lovingly by Lubezki. Not only is the landscape beautiful, but the action scenes are also filmed with technical skill and intensity, using long takes reminiscent of Birdman.

Best Original Score: John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Howard Shore, composer for all of the
Star Wars films

Combining seamlessly the old with the new was what made the latest Star Wars film great, and nowhere more so than the score. The original trilogy is noted for its brilliant scoring, from the opening titles, to Darth Vader's entrance, to Luke staring up at the suns of Tatooine. For the prequel trilogy, one of the few good things about it was its amazing score, especially during the large dramatic fights scenes. Star Wars: The Force Awakens builds on this, with new songs introducing new characters (especially Rey's theme) but also supplementing these new songs with the well known old songs at key moments, such as Darth Vader's theme when Kylo Ren is talking to his burnt out mask. Basically, I'm giving Star Wars: The Force Awakens an award because I love it and want to give it an award. Plus, if you can't give the traditional Star Wars force theme when Rey starts fighting back against Kylo Ren an award, what can you do.




Overall Winners:

45 Years: Best Film, Best Actor (Tom Courtenay), Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling), Best Adapted Screenplay (Andrew Haigh)- 4 awards

Anomalisa: Best Original Screenplay (Charlie Kaufman), Best Animated Film- 2 awards

Ex Machina: Best Supporting Actor (Oscar Isaac), Best Supporting Actress (Alicia Vikander)- 2 awards

Mad Max: Fury Road: Best Director (George Miller)- 1 award

The Revenant: Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki)- 1 award

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Best Score (Howard Shore)- 1 award








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