I found it hell to watch a tortured Princess Diana splitting apart in Spencer, the latest film from Pablo Larraín (Jackie). Spencer is a fairy tale. It re-imagines three days over Christmas as the royal family gathers at Sandringham to celebrate the festive season, a decade after Diana (Kristen Stewart) was first invited there. Now…
Pablo Larraín is a Chilean filmmaker of distinctive style. Much loved in art house circles, his films are often marked by slow narratives punctuated by arresting visuals – and occasionally violence. His latest film to reach these shores, Ema (actually made in 2019) follows a similar pattern. Larraín’s Jackie (2016) was one of my favourite…
Pablo Neruda was the pen-name (and later legal name) of Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, who lived from July 12, 1904 to September 23, 1973. In 1971, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Lyrical, poetic and steeped in politics, Neruda is what I would term a “festival” film; one for purists. It’s…
