Hard Truths

(PG)****

Cold Ice!

Running Time: 1h 37m

Sparks fly easily and endlessly as acclaimed director Mike Leigh turns his sights on exploring the rather tumultuous life of a wayward woman in the penetrating Hard Truths. Watch the turmoil and pressure reach the boiling point in this hard-edged drama from Mongrel Media now causing big debates at select Cineplex Cinemas and Landmark Theatres fortunate to be showing this movie in British Columbia. See it unfold at Vancouver’s Fifth Avenue Cinemas .

Get set for one tour de force performance as we travel to London and head into a rough and tough working class neighbourhood populated by Blacks and Caribbean transplants. Let’s meet Pansy. It’s not hard at all to see the Oscar buzz revolving around the way actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste portrays this mixed-up messed-up freaked-out woman. To her cleaning is everything and she believes everyone in the community is out to get her -including her own family which is made up of son Moses ( now there’s a revealing name for you) and her handyman husband .

Talk about a mean woman. Or confused lass. You will cringe as you see how this lady treats others. Yes, there are probably mean-spirited people out there like this person but the portrayal is just hard to stomach. Contrast this personality to that of her more tolerant sister Chantelle, a hairstylist by day and shoulder to cry on by night. Seeing the difference between these two families is like the contrast between night and day.

Director Leigh definitely knows how to get under the skin of audiences. With Hard Truths we learn just how far some folks will go to endure, struggle and survive. It’s really an emotional high and this movie is high stakes drama at its best.

Bring Them Down

(PG) **

Irish Eyes !

Running Time: 1h 45m

Say what you will, Ireland has a history of making offbeat films. To this list should be added Bring Them Down. Hard-edged to be sure soulful acting highlights this provocative drama from MURI Films and Touchwood PR now making its case heard at select Cineplex Cinemas and Landmark Theatres around B.C.

The Emerald Isle is known historically for Guinness Beer, a famine or two and more recently a far left leaning ultra racist government. On a happier note one of the strengths of the green island has been the wool industry. Lambs play a central role in Bring Them Down in a violent trajectory not unlike the terror found in Silence of The Lambs minus the serial killer at bay.

Here we see the lives of two distinct families who come to blows over their share of the rural sheep industry. Well-fleshed out characters show the slow build up of animosity between Michael, on the one hand, and father and son team of Gary and Jack on the other. Both Christopher Abbot And Gary Keoghan sizzle as the two head down a road of no return. If you can get through some of the ancient Irish dialect you may just understand how bad things have gotten as a neighbour rivalry spirals slowly out of control.

Not for the squeamish Bring Them Down is all about relationships gone sour in a big bad way. Director Chris Andrews also wrote this story which ably shows how stress and strain and misunderstandings can take on a whole new meaning with untold and catastrophic consequences. Surprises abound in this snappy well-acted thriller.

I’m Still Here

(PG) ****

Nowhere Man!

Running time: 2h 16m

With apologies to John Lennon and The Beatles comes along I’m Still Here. Again Mongrel Media continues its winning streak by letting British Columbians see this wonderful thriller that seems to have been taken from the pages of history. Settle in to watch this high stakes drama at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas and select Cineplex Cinemas and landmark Theatres across B.C. Though in Portuguese the English subtitles do not distract.

Rio de Janeiro is said to be one of the most naturally beautiful cities in the world. Over the years South America has been a hotbed of political unrest with Brazil often being the epicenter of such movements. Into this mix comes a bon vivant engineer and his young family. By all accounts Rubens Paiva is a man enjoying life to the fullest. Actor Shelton Mello effectively plays this individual who seems to be living the good life with a wide circle of friends. Blessed with Eunice, a loving wife, the pair don’t seem to have a problem in the world. Trust actress Fernanda Torres to perfectly complement her husband’s upper middle class lifestyle. Ah, but paradise found by the beach can be rather fleeting as the pair find out the hard way.

Remember Latin America has a checkerboard history of uprisings, dictatorships and revolutions . So during this time period when political kidnappings are part of society the Paivas become embroiled in political intrigue.

Director Walter Salles knows how to create atmosphere and in I’m Still Here he pulls out all the stops as the Paiva family’s lives are turned upside down when they are accused of wrong-doing. Just how the pair cope with the misfortune is riveting as are the prisons where the pair end up in.

Told over a series of years I’m Still Here takes us back in time when no one was safe throughout many parts of South America. And with an Oscar-worthy performance from Fernanda Torres it’s a film steeped in history and one that should not be missed.

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By Robert Waldman