Dramatic Oscar contenders often show up late to the party on our big screens, and it’s simply luck that we get most of them at all. It’s simply down to the market and marketing… and the perception our distributors have of the movie going audience in our country. Action and horror movies make money, general dramas don’t, and apparently, neither do solid science fiction movies unless there’s some major movie star attached (because that’s who the audience wants to see, to heck with the story). Of course, the actual machenics of how-and-why certain movies make it to our cinemas is sometimes a mystery. In any case, we have two very solid dramatic movies to savour for now. Hacksaw Ridge opened first, and that’s the based on the true life account of one Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a conscientious objector during the second World War who simply wanted to do his duty to his country and serve in the war, but without betraying his own principles and his faith. The narrative and Mel Gibson’s directing makes this a movie of two halves; the first focussed on Doss’ upbringing, his faith, his principles and how all that pushes him through base training where the other soldiers and training commander can’t believe they have a soldier who refuses to handle a rifle. With the heavy focus on character drama in the first half, it might get a little dull at time, but the acting and performances, particularly Garfield in the lead and aided by Gibson’s direction, keep things intriguing that when the brutality of the second half hits, you have to wonder if our hero would cave and pick up a weapon to defend himself after all. Throughout it all, Gibson is in his element having balanced the two halves of the movie before (see Apocalypto, or even Braveheart, to an extent). The direction and editing is superb keeping the pace from lagging in the first half while keeping the tension of Doss’ actions firmly entrenched. The real-life interviews that close the movie give some perspective on how much was true and how much was dramatised for the sake of the movie, but it doesn’t take away anything from the potency of the movie itself Then there’s Hidden Figures, a dramatic look at the not quite hidden but not widely publicised (or known) aspect of NASA’s history. Even before the movie, I was aware that people had to do the massive work of mathematical calculation involved for the early days of space flight, and that John Glenn relied on a woman’s calculations over that of a machine for his space flight… did not know those people were actually called ‘computers’ (even though it makes perfect sense as that was their job), or that a huge majority of them were black women. I knew some were, just not like a whole department as depicted in the movie. The history and future of Space flight and the endeavours involved is something of an interest. So Hidden Figures follow three of these women in particular. Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) would become the first woman engineer, Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) saw the future of computing coming and took steps to prepare herself in learning about the machines and their coding, but the movie mainly follows Katherine Johnson (Taraji P Henson), a math prodigy, and her journey through the departments of NASA during the time leading to John Glenn’s (Glenn Powell) first orbit, and the social issues she faced. The three ladies do remarkably well, particularly Henson, and she is ably backed by Kevin Costner and Jim Parsons in the majority of her scenes. Each of the women face different aspects of the discrimination in their pursuit for acceptance and equality, fighting for some while others are aided by circumstance (or is it dramatic effect?). The Glenn spaceflight is the major event the movie builds to and while history is on the side of success, (or spoilers), it doesn’t diminish the dramatic aspect of the movie nor its themes and subject matters. Directed Theodore Melfi does well enough in handling the cast and tackling some sensitive moments with delicacy as to not completely brush over the matters, nor make them a point of focus. The story drives forward based on the performances of the three women and their supporting cast members, delivering an insight into several historic events, melding them all into a truly satisfying movie. Hacksaw Ridge (2016) Stars Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Teresa Palmer, Sam Worthington, Matt Nable, Richard Roxburgh, with Rachel Griffiths and Hugo Weaving Directed by Mel Gibson Rating ****/5 Hidden Figures (2016) Stars Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge and Glen Powell Directed by Theodore Melfi Rating: ****/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here.
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