“Troop Zero” by Bert & Bertie (2019)

2019 was a good year!

First feature

Good personages, dialogues, humor and direction (8)
Excellent content (9)

 A girl who pees in her bed, a ‘fat’ latina, a black rebel, a boy who’s half a girl, a girl who lost one eye… a broad spectrum of minorities who have to compete against the norm (= ‘normal’ children) 

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,5
Metascore 5,9
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 6,9
Average critics 6,2
Average public 7,6

Cast: Viola Davis, Mckenna Grace, Allison Janney, Milan Ray, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Epps, Ashley Brooke, Johanna Colón, Charlie Shotwell
Director: Bert, Bertie
Writer: Lucy Alibar
Cinematographer: James Whitaker
Editor: Catherine Haight
Composer: Rob Lord

“Where Hands Touch” by Amma Asante (2018)

As in other Amma Asante’s movies, the love story of a mixed couple in an inimical environment.
The themes are very similar to those found in Belle and in A United Kingdom: a web of social constraints that ensue from racial segregation (horizontal) and hierarchical stratification and dominance (vertical inequalities), with love and politics cleverly intertwined. Here too, the main female characters are and remain intelligent and substantial throughout the movie.
However, the direction and acting here are stiff and clumsy

Cast: Amandla Stenberg, George MacKay, Abbie Cornish, Christopher Eccleston
Director: Amma Asante
Writer: Amma Asante
Cinematographer: Remi Adefarasin
Editor: Steve Singleton
Composer: Anne Chmelewsky

“The Governess” by Sandra Goldbacher (1998)

first feature

A movie that shows how science can bridge racial and class prejudices.
Original music doesn’t fit the time and place / a few loose threads in a scenario that could have been more focused.

Cast: Minnie Driver, Tom Wilkinson, Florence Hoath
Written and Directed by Sandra Goldbacher
Music by Ed Shearmur
Cinematography by Ashley Rowe
Film Editing by Isabelle Lorente

“Close-Knit” by Naoko Ogigami (2017)

Slow, charming

Cast: Tôma Ikuta, Kenta Kiritani, Mugi Kadowaki
Director: Naoko Ogigami
Writer: Naoko Ogigami

“Unbroken” by Angelina Jolie (USA, 2014)

Cast: Jack O’Connell, Takamasa Ishihara, Garrett Hedlund, Jai Courtney
Director: Angelina Jolie
Screenplay: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Richard Lagravenese, William Nicholson
Director of Photography: Roger Deakins
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Film Editing: William Goldenberg, Tim Squyres