7,0-7,9, biography, drama,, female director, romance,, true story

“Viceroy’s House” by Gurinder Chadha (UK, 2017)

The weak romance story is offset by a good depiction of the historical and political events surrounding the departure of the English from India.
At one moment in the movie, the partition of India is compared to that of Palestine and of Ireland, other British colonies that have suffered greatly, without however digging deeper into the subject.

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon, Manish Dayal, Simon Callow, Om Puri, Lily Travers, Huma Qureshi
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Writer: Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, Moira Buffini
Cinematographer: Ben Smithard
Editor: Valerio Bonelli, Victoria Boydell
Composer: A.R. Rahman

6,0-6,9, drama,, female director, true story

“Detroit” by Kathlyn Bigelow (USA, 2017)

Begins as an historical drama, and ends as a case of racism, abuse, and corruption by the police

Cast: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Jason Mitchell, Hannah Murray, Jack Reynor, Kaitlyn Dever, Ben O’Toole, Anthony Mackie
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd
Editor: William Goldenberg, Harry Yoon
Composer: James Newton Howard

6,0-6,9, drama,, female director

“The Secret Life Of Bees” by Gina Prince-Bythewood (USA, 2008)

The Secret Life Of Bees

A weaker work in this director’s oeuvre, with unconvincing cast, situations, and dialogues

Cast: Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, Paul Bettany
Written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd
Music by Mark Isham
Cinematography by Rogier Stoffers
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire

drama,

“Equity” by Meera Menon (USA, 2016)

Intricate script shows how women can be as ruthless as men, and much meaner at the same time, eating each other alive while smiling! If ‘sharks’ describe guys, then what could be applied to a woman? Is “tigress”not to noble in this case?
But of course, we all know that it’s the context that transforms us into what we are: “The environment is not separate from ourselves. We are inside it and it is inside us. We make it, and it makes us.” (Yanomami, Brazil)

Cast: Anna Gunn, James Purefoy, Sarah Megan Thomas, Alysia Reiner, Carrie Preston, Michael Izquierdo, Craig Bierko, Margaret Colin
Director: Meera Menon
Writer (story by): Sarah Megan Thomas
Writer: Amy Fox
Cinematographer: Eric Lin
Editor: Andrew Hafitz
Composer: Samuel Jones, Alexis Marsh

8,0-8,9, biography, crime, drama,, female director, romance,, true story

“Alias Grace” by Mary Harron (Canada, 2017)

Alias Grace

The many facets of truth!
Gender roles in Victorian Canada / Excellent female lead

Cast: Sarah Gadon, Edward Holcroft, Rebecca Liddiard, David Cronenberg, Anna Paquin
Director: Mary Harron
Script: Margaret Atwood, Sarah Polley
Cinematography: Brendan Steacy
Music: Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna