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| Now and then: Nolan's Oppenheimer and Insomnia Photo: Universal Pictures; Warner Bros |
Oppenheimer, Sky Cinema now, and Insomnia, ITVX, streaming now
We don't frequently include two films from the same director in the Stay-at-Home but, then again, we don't subscribe to arbitrary rules either and the opportunity to catch something old and something new (not to mention something borrowed) from Christopher Nolan's back catalogue seems too good to miss. First up you can now stream the Oscar-winning latest from the British director, which details the development of the atomic bomb via the life of Robert Oppenheimer. Whether the film needs to be quite as structurally convoluted is definitely debatable but Nolan does like that sort of thing and you can't argue with the beautifully recreated period detail and the magnetic performances from Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt, among others. From the opposite - and more formulaic - end of Nolan's career, you can catch solid procedural thriller Insomnia. An English-language remake of the 1997 Norwegian movie starring Stellan Skarsgård, this time around it's Al Pacino's LA cop and his partner (Martin Donovan) who are sent to investigate a murder - moved to the perma-daylight of Alaska - alongside a rookie (Hillary Swank). Once there things become complicated due to a lack of sleep, a stakeout gone bad and the machinations of the prime suspect (Robin Wililams, who was on a run of bad guys, making One Hour Photo in the same year). One for those who prefer their plots more streamlined than Nolan's more recent output and this still packs a psychological punch.
Trenque Lauquen, MUBI, streaming now
Don't be put off by the four-hour running time of this two-part film from Laura Citarella, it's well worth it, especially now you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home. A film that is as much about the nature of story and storytelling as it is the tale of a woman who has disappeared, Citarella folds stories of feminism and self-determination, of self-sacrifice and love into her narrative. Over the course of the films, the life of Laura (Laura Paredes) will be interrogated, while she, in turn, investigates other mysteries she encounters. This is a slowburn watch that isn't scared to glide between genres, including historical romance and science-fiction. As Citarella told us: "This is like a moving film, a mutant film. Suddenly you have these fantastical elements and they become like a detective-esque film, but then it is a little bit romantic and then it is contemplative. You don’t realise exactly the moment where the film changes, because it's changing all the time." Hers is a film of multiple pathways, each a journey worth taking.
Four Weddings And A Funeral, 1am, Film4, Tuesday, April 16
Hugh Grant at his bumbling best in Mike Newell's comedy drama, which notched up its 30th anniversary this year. You could argue that Richard Curtis has applied a similar formula with diminishing returns ever since but Four Weddings whips along at pace as romance rises and falls in the English upper middle-classes. It marked the first big-screen role for John Hannah - who gets to showcase his abilities in the key funeral scene - but the cast runs wide and deep, including Simon Callow (being peak Simon Callow), Kristin Scott Thomas and Andie MacDowell. It is especially worth seeing for the lovely supporting turn by Charlotte Coleman, who died all too young in 2001, aged at just 33.
Free Solo, BBC iPlayer, streaming now
Somehow I missed the fact this was on telly at the weekend or we'd have included it in last week's Stay-at-Home - still, if you did too, why not catch up with it on iPlayer? Jennie Kermode writes: 2018 was a year full of impressive climbing documentaries (The Dawn Wall follows a shot at the same piece of rock, El Capitan) and it’s hard to say which was the best overall, but one thing is for sure: Free Solo was the most terrifying to watch. It follows ambitious young climber Alex Honnold as he trains and psyches himself up to have a go at climbing the notoriously challenging cliff face all by himself – freehand, with no ropes and with no safety equipment. It’s shot by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who previously made (and climbed) Meru, so when they start to panic it’s difficult not to feel the same way. In the background, there’s a neurologist who tells Honnold that there’s something physiologically wrong with his fear response, and a new girlfriend who’s unsure if she can cope with loving someone who lives like this. When the slightest wrong move could be fatal, you’ll know what she means.
Deerskin, 2.20am, Film4, Saturday, April 20
Quentin Dupieux never takes things too seriously, so I like to imagine him having a chuckle to himself when he heard that his latest film The Second Act has been selected to open the Cannes Film Festival this year. Here's a chance to catch up with one of his previous films that screened at Cannes - and which offers a darkly comic and playful take on the serial killer genre. Taking its nod from the likes of Hans Christian Andersen’s red shoes, his film centres on a deerskin jacket, which its new owner Georges (Jean Dujardin) believes has “killer style”. That description comes increasingly literal as Georges attempts to reinvent himself after the demise of his marriage, pretending to be a filmmaker. As the bodies start to pile up Dupieux digs into Georges’ obsession while also leaving plenty of question marks over the motives of barmaid Denise (Adele Haenel), who is helping him and it's all handled with Dupieux's trademark playfulness. Talking to us about the film Dupieux said: "Some of my movies are crazy as you said but I think here the film is normal but it is the character who is strange."
Picnic At Hanging Rock, 11.55pm, Talking Pictures TV (Freeview Channel 82), Sunday, April 21
Jennie Kermode writes: Back when they were filming it, supporting cast member John Jarrat once told me, nobody on the team behind Picnic At Hanging Rock had any idea that it would be special. Joan Lindsay's novel had been a sensation on its release eight years earlier, uncertainties about the origins of the story - which is ostensibly fiction but has parallels with several real world events - only adding to the mystery, yet what no one reckoned with at the time was the genius of the then largely unknown director, Peter Weir. His work with cinematographer Russell Boyd introduced something that was completely new even though the story was set in the past, and it's the tension between the romantic vision of daydreaming schoolgirls clad in white with the fear of the unknown that the rock represents which really drives the film, as important to its lingering power as its stubborn refusal to offer narrative solutions. Encapsulating a clash between imported European culture and the untameable nature of the Australian continent, together with the legacy of colonial guilt and expectation, it's a film built on secrets, a riddle as elusive as a golden-haired girl slipping away into the rocks. Read our interview with one of the film's stars Karen Robson.
Since we're on a roll with Nolan - and if you only have three minutes to spare rather than three hours - this week's short selection is his 1997 black and white Doodlebug, an atmospheric little number that doesn't outstay its welcome.
