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| Corpse Bride |
We're firmly in the Halloween season at this point and this is a good choice for family viewing. Tim Burton may be a bit hit and miss when it comes to live action films - where his visual inventiveness often fails to be matched by substance - but his stop-animation films are a delight. In this slice of gothic goodness, a nervous young man (Johnny Depp) finds himself accidentally married to a corpse (Helena Bonham Carter). Despite the death in the title and its release on Netflix ahead of Halloween, this is a dark comedy with romance at its heart and considerably less scary for little ones than A Nightmare Before Christmas.
Harriet, 11.05pm, BBC2, Monday, October 21
Jennie Kermode writes: Harriet Tubman is a legendary American figure - daring escapee and rescuer, military heroine, philosopher and political reformer - so there was a prolonged struggle over how, and by whom, her story would be brought to the screen. After numerous white men had been considered as possible directors, and even briefly, a white woman considered for the lead, producers settled on the happy combination of Kasi Lemmons and Cynthia Erivo. The latter may not be American but she adapts perfectly and brings a force of personality to the central role that does justice to Tubman's own, capturing her sincerity and deep religious belief but also her swagger and the delight she took in outfoxing her enemies. The film focuses on the early part of her life and plays out for much of its running time as an in-the-moment action thriller. It assumes a certain amount of knowledge on the part of viewers and is not gratuitous in its depiction of the horrors of slavery, but the tension runs high nonetheless, whilst the complicated inter-state and international politics of the time plays out in the background. Those familiar with Tubman's story will not be disappointed, and newcomers will find it an accessible entry point to a complex history.
In The Earth, 1.15am, Film4, Tuesday, October 22
Jennie Kermode writes: Plants talk to each other. It's not something which is widely recognised because it takes place on a very slow timescale and it mostly concerns things like moisture levels, nutrient deposits and insect behaviour which humans don't find very interesting, but roots connected to delicate networks of fungal mycelia down in the soil are always active. They've inspired a number of fictional works, notably playing a role in Game Of Thrones. Ben Wheatley, with a freer hand than usual and doing his own editing, takes viewers, along with a recently bereaved scientist, deep into a patch of forest where such communications have speeded up and very strange things are happening as a result. The scientist is looking for a missing doctor. He finds outcasts and squatters who seem to have been affected by the woods. By the time he understands how, it will be too late, but whether that's for good or ill is ambiguous in a film which interweaves botany, mycology and folklore with human drama. Powered in part by hallucinatory experiences, it incorporates fantastic visual and auditory montages, inviting altered perception as a means to explore truly different ways of thinking. It's not Wheatley's most accessible film but it's one of his best.
Personal Shopper, 11.55pm, Great Movies (Freeview Channel), Tuesday, October 22
If you're looking for a ghost story with a difference, this left-field number Olivier Assayas should fit the bill. Kristen Stewart, reteaming with the French director after Clouds Of Sils Maria, plays clothes-buying gofer Maureen who works for insufferable A-lister Kyra (Nora Von Waltstätten). She is also trying to come to terms with the death of her twin brother to a genetic condition she may share. Assayas maintains a cool and steady mood as Maureen begins encountering what she believes is the ghost of her brother. The writer/director employs that most commonplace of modern tools - the smartphone - as an unexpected conduit, while Stewart delivers a performance that takes you to the edge of your seat. Speaking after the Cannes premiere, Assayas said, "It's the closest I can get to a happy ending."
The Gravedigger's Wife, 2.25am, Channel 4, Tuesday, October 22
The gravedigger is Guled (Omar Abdi). His working life is spent waiting at the hospital for the dead and he finds himself caught trying to ward off the grim reaper at home after his wife Nasra (Yasmin Warsame) falls ill with kidney disease that only a $5,000 operation can cure. The story, which has a fable-like quality, unfolds in a straightforward fashion as Guled finds himself heading back to a hometown that is unlikely to roll out the welcome mat. Khadar Ayderus Ahmed's debut rests on the strong bond that he shows between the husband and wife and its simplicity is its strength.
Fremont, 10.55pm, Film4, Tuesday, October 22
Fans of Jeremy Allen White from The Bear won't want to miss his sweet cameo role in this offbeat dramedy. The action centres on Donya (Anaita Wali Zada), a translator from Afghanistan, who is now trying to forge a new life in San Francisco’s Bay Area. She works in a fortune cookie factory alongside Joanna (Hilda Schmelling) but leads a largely isolated life. Unable to sleep, she is also seeing a shrink (Gregg Turkington) and, after a sudden promotion, she decides to send a message out into the world that leads to unexpected consequences. Gently absurd but also heart-warming, Fremont makes the radical suggestion that an average life can be just as fulfilling as any other sort. Read what Babak Jalili told us about the film.
The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin, Netflix, streaming from Friday, October 25
Benjamin Ree's Sundance hit documentary Ibelin finally comes to Netflix under an expanded title - although it's true that the story it tells is quite remarkable. Mats Steen was a Norwegian gamer with muscular dystrophy who found freedom through the screen. After his death, his rich social network of online friends was revealed - many of whom he had helped in one way or another. Ree navigates the ins and outs of Mats' life with care, using animated sequences modelled on World Of Warcraft to illustrate the real in-game conversations showing Mats making a difference. The film features contributions from the far-flung friends he made online and his parents. You'll need a hankie or two on stand-by from start to finish. Full review coming soon.
We're looping back to Tim Burton for our short this week, Vincent, which shows early signs of the ideas he would go on to develop in Corpse Bride - and is narrated by Vincent Price to boot.
