Unhealed Wound – Page 47 – Passion for Art, Movies, and Culture

Marcella –Battling Inner Demons

Written by diana on July 10, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on Marcella –Battling Inner Demons

Promoted as a Scandinavian noir detective series on the streets of Britain, Marcella is written and directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of The Bridge. Two seasons on Netflix, Marcella delves into the psychology of a deeply troubled London detective. In Season One Marcella Backland (Anna Friel) investigates a cold case involving a serial killer who appears to have become active again. At the same time Marcella also has to deal with her disintegrating personal life, where her husband, Jason (Nicholas Pinnock), has made the decision to leave her and take...

“Man in an Orange Shirt”–Thwarted Love

Written by diana on July 2, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Man in an Orange Shirt”–Thwarted Love

Man in an Orange Shirt, commissioned by BBC to celebrate the 50th anniversary of partial decriminalization of homosexuality in 1967, depicts with a modicum of success two love stories spanning seventy years. The first between two gay men hiding their passion and the second involving a duplicitous marriage of one-sided passion. Scripted by novelist Patrick Gale and partly autobiographical, Man in an Orange Shirt revisits prejudice and its impact on all. Spanning three generations in one family, –from wartime Great Britain to the present day,– Man in an Orange Shirt uncovers...

“The Gift”–Nothing is Free

Written by diana on June 25, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “The Gift”–Nothing is Free

The Gift is a 2015 American-Australian psychological thriller written, co-produced, and directed by Joel Edgerton (Academy Award nominated for his role in “Loving”). This is his directorial debut, and it is a winner! Darkly unnerving, The Gift first conveys a vibe of horror, but then the narrative moves in the direction of “Fatal Attraction”, with a deft maneuvering of plot, character, style, and tone. No blood or gore, but a heart-pounding series of scenes without a stewed rabbit. The film stars Jason Bateman (of “Ozark” and “Arrested Development”...

An Inspector Calls–Nothing Will Ever Be the Same

Written by diana on June 17, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 5 Comments on An Inspector Calls–Nothing Will Ever Be the Same

The BBC mystery An Inspector Calls (2015), based upon the 1947 J.B. Priestley play by the same name, is a morality tale for our time. Set in 1912 Arthur Birling, a wealthy self-made industrialist, has hopes of a knighthood and implicit social elevation through the engagement of his daughter to an aristocrat. Inspector Goole (the superlative David Thewlis) brusquely arrives, announcing he is there to investigate the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith. At first the Birling family claims not to know anything about her but Inspector Goole begins revealing that they do. As the Inspector...

“Unforgotten”–The Power to Recall

Written by diana on June 11, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. 4 Comments on “Unforgotten”–The Power to Recall

This British crime drama (PBS Masterpiece Mystery), comprised of three episodes in two seasons, focuses on one stone-cold case per season. Each involves a murder at least three decades old. The detective team– Cassie Stuart (the wonderful Nicola Walker of “Last Tango in Halifax” and Sunny Khan (the perfectly cast Sanjeev Bhaskar of “Indian Summers”)–solve each cold case in a delicate balancing of tension with hints of romance. In Season 1 of Unforgotten the detectives discover the 1976 remains of a teenage boy found in the sub-basement of an apartment...

“The Look of Silence”–Beyond Words to Forgive

Written by diana on June 5, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 4 Comments on “The Look of Silence”–Beyond Words to Forgive

This film (2015) is a companion piece and powerful account of the 1960’s genocide in Indonesia, a follow-up to Joshua Oppenheimer’s debut and Oscar-nominated documentary “The Act of Killing” (2012). Less horrific but more emotionally compelling, “The Look of Silence” is a haunting revisiting of the killing fields of Indonesia and the US’s role in the carnage. (The US purportedly promised gifts to those who rid the country of “communist resisters”.) More than a million people were slaughtered. An Indonesian eyeglass salesman named Adi Runkun...