#peter sciberras

Blitz (2024)

Directed by Steve McQueen

- What is it, George? - I just want to say... how nice it is not to be alone.

(David Michod, 2019)

In which Australian director David Michod follows in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Justin Kurzel, and brings to the screen a moody, moody work of old timey British history based upon the work of William Shakespeare. To be clear, unlike Kurzel’s Macbeth, The King is not a straight adaptation of the Bard’s play, rather it simply takes as its loose inspiration the Henriad’s already infamously loose restructuring of history. 

Gone is the Shakespearean language, the comic elements between betrothed, it it’s place Michod has constructed one of the most bombastically melodramatic movies you’ll ever be likely to see. There’s a lot of shouting, lots of intense simmering, big stern speeches, and stirring use of the score. If you can accept it both as bad history, and forgive its sort of vainglorious stylings it really is a hugely watchable movie. 

The aforementioned score of Nicholas Britell, composer of Moonlight’s glorious compositions, and Succession’s soon to be iconic opening theme is the kind of gently moving, soul stirring piece of work you should find yourself humming long afterward. It lends the movie the melancholy weight it seeks. It’s all very gorgeously designed and dressed and shot. Adam Arkapaw, who shot Kurzel’s Macbeth so memorably is on hand here. The King has a more standard sort of look about it, but the battles and fights in particular are well handled in collaboration with Michod’s regular editor Peter Sciberras. They are clear, and they are comprehensible.

In front of the camera Timothee Chalamet is very, very, very moody, almost annoyingly so. He’s got so much tragic simmer going on that I can’t help but feel that teens will be swooning over him, he’s very Michael Corleone, his hesitance and reluctance early on is well played, and coupled with the small glimpses of vulnerability we get later on peeking out from beneath the stony visage it’s a very effective and compelling, and above all tragic performance. He’s ably supported by a very sombre Joel Edgerton, co-writer of the movie, back with the man who brought him to wider attention all the way back in Animal Kingdom. It’s a pretty straight take on Falstaff, but very effective one that works well with Chalamet’s very straight Hal. The great Sean Harris is the other major stand out, communicating so much while doing so little, and shining when his time finally comes to open up. There’s small but no less accomplished works from the likes of Ben Mendelsohn, and Tom Glynn-Carney, Thibault de Montalembert, far too briefly Thomasin McKenzie, and Lily-Rose Depp, wonderfully redefining a role usually played for laughs, imbuing her with smarts, and playing her scene so smartly and full of unknowable mystery that you can never quite tell whether what she’s saying is earnest, or whether she’s toying with her subject. Chip off the old block indeed. In fact the only questionable one on display is Robert Pattinson, reteaming with the director who probably produced his most mannered performance to date in The Rover, he hear is in full sneering, pompous French villainous ham mode. In a movie so generally concerned with dealing in tragic shades of grey and the complications of statehood, he is allowed in on none of that, and I found myself instead waiting for him to bring up hamsters and elderberries.

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Directed by Jane Campion

You expect of me a speech? I have only one to give, and it is the same one I'd give were we not standing on the brim of a battlefield. It is the same one I'd give were we to meet in the street by chance. I have only ever hoped for one thing... to see this kingdom united under this English crown.

Interview with THE POWER OF THE DOG Editor Peter Sciberras

Script contributor Susan Kouguell interviews Australian film editor Peter Sciberras about carefully sustaining and building tension throughout the film, while still highlighting the complexity and surprises built into the characters and the story.SUSAN KOUGUELL JAN 26, 2022 THE POWER OF THE DOG BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as PHIL BURBANK in THE POWER OF THE DOG. Cr. KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX © 2021 Cross…