Kajaki, The True Story (15)

Directed by Paul Katis

4/5

IT WAS dubbed “the day of days” when, on September 6 2006, three British soldiers died and 18 others were injured by landmine explosions while stationed at Kajaki Dam in Afghanistan.

The members of 3 Para were killed and maimed while trapped in a ravine full of unmarked mines allegedly left behind by the “Russians” almost 30 years previously.

Director Paul Katis’s debut feature is a painfully graphic blow-by-blow account of that event, which plays out almost like a horror film. 

It is excruciatingly hard to watch these young men having their limbs blown off and then to witness their subsequent agony as they wait hours to be airlifted to safety due, reportedly, to Nato red tape.

There’s a sense of voyeurism that begs the question of what the point of this harrowing film is. The men’s bravery in trying to save their fellow soldiers lives isn’t in doubt. But do we need a front-row seat to have it rammed home to us?

The 13-year conflict cost billions of pounds and the lives of more than 450 British troops. Why didn’t we pull out sooner? 

That’s the question that comes to mind in watching this powerfully chilling drama which, incidentally,  is most definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Maria Duarte

Paddington (PG)

Directed by Paul King

4/5

FIRST there was the “conscious uncoupling” of Colin Firth as the voice of Paddington and then last week the shock news that the film’s been awarded a PG certificate for dangerous behaviour and mild sex references, later downgraded to innuendo.

Whatever next? 

Fear not, as the filmmakers have done Michael Bond’s much-loved literary creation proud with this charming and delightful live action modern-day adaptation.

Ben Whishaw is perfect as the innocent and beguiling Paddington who arrives in London from darkest Peru to be befriended by the terribly middle class Brown family (Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins) and then gets pursued by an evil taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) who wants to stuff him.

While providing a captivating back story for this marmalade-loving bear it also deals with the thorny issue of immigration as Paddington battles prejudice in the capital.

A socially aware and engaging film for the whole family.

Maria Duarte

Horrible Bosses 2 (15)

Directed by Sean Anders

3/5

THE three lovable but stupid amigos are back, this time determined to be their own bosses as they build their own business from the ground up in this tongue-in-cheek sequel. 

Unfortunately, the man who’s their ruin  (Christoph Waltz) informs them: “The American dream is made in China” and to make a killer profit production has to be outsourced to the Chinese. A sad indictment.

Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis haven’t lost any of their charm, comic prowess or chemistry as the hapless friends who have now moved from murder to kidnapping, with Jennifer Aniston returning as the sex-crazed dentist now in rehab.

Raunchy, hugely funny and entertaining, as sequels go it’s refreshingly not a case of deja vu. 

Maria Duarte

Stations of the Cross (15)

Directed by
Dietrich Bruggermann

4/5

DIRECTOR Dietrich Bruggermann’s film never condemns religion. It’s more of a sardonic apologue, not only for the reactionary aspects of Catholic culture but also about adolescent ingenuousness and frankness. 

Stations of the Cross tells the story of Maria (Lea van Acken), a 14-year-old young girl trapped in her parents’ rigorous religious minset that sees her as a religious soldier who must be “pure for God.” Worried about her 4-year-old brother, who doesn’t yet speak, she thinks of sacrificing herself to save him.

She feels that she deserves her mother’s strict reproaches and that temptations and sins are everywhere. But her struggles to fit in with the strict religious regime increases. It’s not helped with the arrival of Bernadette (Lucie Aron), a pious au pair.

Maria cannot deny fancying her school mate Christian (Moritz Knapp), who is from a different church and doesn’t only sing Bach but the “satanic music” of soul and gospel. 

The protagonist’s trials and tribulations are framed in 14 chapters, each with the name of a station of the cross, in a film containing occasional moments of sharp and grotesque humour. But as a heartfelt spiritual journey, it’s a pretty stunning experience.

Rita Di Santo