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| The Company Of Wolves |
For many children in the UK and beyond, their first encounter with a wolf will be through the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, as a young girl tries to stay safe as she delivers food to her grandma. This adaptation of Angela Carter's book - co-scripted by Carter herself alongside Neil Jordan - is most definitely not for children as it immerses us in the imagined gothic dreamscape of its young heroine Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson) after a cautionary tale from her gran (Angela Lansbury) about men whose eyebrows meet in the middle. Things in this world don't operate by the rules, and the action is fuelled by the subversive sexual undercurrent experienced by Rosaleen as the wolf inspires fear and attraction in equal measure. Although the structure is on the loose side, it's never less than visually arresting and features some down right disturbing transformation sequences.
Drive My Car, 1am, Channel 4, Thursday, December 5
Jennie Kermode writes: Working class driver Misaki helps actor and stage director Yûsuke to navigate more than just the streets of her remote Japanese island in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car, which won Best International Feature Film at the 2022 Oscars. As he struggles with the disappearance of his equally famous wife and his resultant sense of purposelessness and loss of control, Chekov's Uncle Vanye looms large within his consciousness, and he skilfully exploits a brash young actor with a crush on his wife in order to avoid having to take on the title role himself, which could force him to confront aspect of his own personality that he's desperately trying to deny. It's a film about interiors both material and personal, and though it's sometimes a bit stagey, Hamaguchi makes good cinematic use of the island setting, which proves to be more complex than Yûsuke anticipated. The dryness of the script is alleviated by the emotional depth which Hidetoshi Nishijima brings to the leading role. It's an unabashedly literary film from a director who continues to experiment and produce some of the finest works in present day Japanese cinema.
The Quiet Girl, 9pm, Channel 4, Thursday, December 5
Anne-Katrin Titze writes: Colm Bairéad’s superb first feature, The Quiet Girl (Oscar-nominated in the International Feature Film category, Ireland’s first such honour), shot by Kate McCullough (European FilmAward winner), is based on Claire Keegan’s story, Foster. It tells the tale of Cait (magnificent newcomer Catherine Clinch), a young girl in the rural Ireland of about 40 years ago. She is sent off by her parents to distant relatives (Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett as the Cinnsealachs), virtual strangers, to spend the summer while her mother (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) gets ready to give birth to her sixth child in their already too crowded, filthy, poverty-stricken household. Cait’s surly father Dan (Michael Patric) one night tells his wife that “they can keep her as long as they like.” Cait overhears the conversation. Equivalent to Hansel and Gretel’s classic call to adventure it is every child’s nightmare scenario come true - your parents want to get rid of you. It is the core of fairy tales, ancient and true, that wounds can heal, that change is possible, that goodwill and benevolence and honesty can lead the way to preternatural recovery. This is a picture about top-notch parenting, and its opposite. It is supremely hopeful about what can be overcome with love and care, by openness and listening to a child. Nurture in nature is key.
Sound Of Metal, 11.05pm, BBC2, Thursday, December 5
Jennie Kermode writes: The ever-reliable Riz Ahmed received multiple, well deserved award nominations for his role in this film , but his inspired performance is just one among many reasons to watch it. He plays a heavy metal drummer touring with his singer/guitarist girlfriend. They're both addicts who have stayed clean by supporting one another and they have an intense, passionate relationship, but their lives are turned upside down when the drummer discovers that he's going deaf. Coerced into rehab on an isolated farm, he initially does all he can to resist the embrace of the Deaf community there (its members all played by deaf actors in a film which is informed throughout by real Deaf people's experiences) but ultimately the change of pace alters the way that he relates to many aspects of life. Brilliant sound design will immerse you completely in a vivid story about communication, identity and independence.
Henry V, 3.15pm, BBC2 Saturday, December 7
Kenneth Branagh was at the top of his game - and widely touted as the next Laurence Olivier - when he adapted, directed and took on the central role in this faithful and stirring version of Shakespeare's play. Not 30 at the time, he was also the perfect age to play the heroic king rallying the troops for battle with the famous, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends" speech. He lands all the memorable lines impeccably - although that's perhaps no surprise given that he'd become the youngest actor to play the role for the Royal Shakespeare Company, at 23, five years before. This is not just about Branagh, however, the cast runs wide and deep and includes Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Simon Shepherd and Brian Blessed.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, Netflix, from Sunday, December 8
The flamboyant feline hero is back for another action adventure in a sequel that comes up to scratch. Puss (Antonio Banderas) is facing a sticky situation when he discovers that he's burned through eight of his nine lives - meaning the only option seems to be retirement with a cat lady, where he acquires a loyal buddy, little dog Perrito Perrito (Harvey Guillén). Stepping back from the action, of course, proves easier said than done as he finds himself enlisted by former love Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) to find a fallen star. It's a mission that is bursting with humour and action as the trio take on the marauding Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Florence Pugh, Ray Winstone, Olivia Coleman and Samson Kayo), not to mention Big Jack Horner (John Maloney) and even Death himself (magnificently voiced by Brazilian star Wagner Moura). A whisker away from perfect.
Bronson, 12.05am, Great Movies (Freeview channel 34), Sunday, December 8
Notoriously branded "one of Britain's most violent offenders" by the newspapers, Charles Bronson remains in prison to this day. This biopic of his troubled life is, like most of Nicolas Winding Refn's work, delivered with force and a stylish panache. The violence may be too much for some viewers but Refn does manage to avoid any celebration of the criminal even as he digs about in his psyche - and the whole thing throbs with as energy as unpredictable as a sudden punch to the solar plexus. At its heart is Tom Hardy, whose towering performance is big enough to match the mayhem served up by Refn.
This week's short selection is Yard Kings, an award-winner from Vasco Alexandre
