Sight and Sound

[FEATURES] Films of the Year The annual S&S critics’ poll uncovers the strongest field of films in a decade, in a year marked by the fallout from political division, #MeToo and identity politics, as well as the growing influence of Netflix and Amazon. Introduction by Nick James = 24 Where the Heart IsIn Roma, a powerful autobiographical tribute to the maid who brought him up, Alfonso Cuarón presents both an intimate insight into family life and an exploration of the political, social and racial complexities of life in Mexico City in the early 1970s. He talks to Nick James. = 56 Disgrace and FavourYorgos Lanthimos’s viperously funny The Favourite is a scabrous tale of intrigue at the court of Queen Anne in the England of the early 18th century. By Jonathan Romney. = 64 Failing BetterThe new biopic Stan & Ollie reminds us that there are few things in life more agonisingly delightful than the films Laurel and Hardy made in their prime. By Matthew Sweet. = 70 Act Natural: the ageing of Robert RedfordOver more than half a century, Robert Redford has effortlessly blended traditionalism, predictability and inscrutability in a host of charismatic performances. By Christina Newland. = 76 Lift Up Your Hearts: The rackety rise of Alexander KordaBefore he became Britain’s only film mogul, Alexander Korda served a long apprenticeship in Europe and across the Atlantic. By Philip Kemp. = 82 [Regulars] Editorial Feast your eyes = 5 Rushes Preview: Films to look out for in 2019 = 6 Interview: RaMell Ross has directed a stunning portrait of rural African-American life. He talks to Kelli Weston = 8 Dream palaces: Peter Strickland finds a haven in Copenhagen’s Husets Biograf = 9 The numbers: Charles Gant tallies 2018‘s box office = 10 Dispatches: Mark Cousins bids a fond farewell to his monthly column = 11 Wide angle Profile: Ela Bittencourt on the provocations of veteran underground filmmaker to his monthly column = 12 Primal screen: Jay Weissberg finds the present looming over the past at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival = 14 Artists’ moving image: Sukhdev Sandhu observes signs preceding the end of the world in Empty Metal = 17 Festivals Tony Rayns reports from Jia Zhangke’s Pingyao International Film Festival = 19 Kieron Corless feels the sting of the Bs at the Viennale = 21 Letters = 143 Endings John Wrathall finds an unexpected echo of Black Narcissus in a Spielberg war epic = 144 Reviews [FILMS OF THE MONTH] Colette = 88An Elephant Sitting Still = 90The House That Jack Built = 92The Image Book = 94 [FILMS] Adrift in Soho = 96The Ballad of Buster Scruggs = 96Beautiful Boy = 97Bergman: A Year in a Life = 98Bird Box = 99Bohemian Rhapsody = 99Destroyer = 100Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald = 101The Favourite = 101Free Solo = 102The Front Runner = 103The Girl in the Spider’s Web = 104The Grinch = 104Hale County This Morning, This Evening = 105Hell Fest = 106An Impossible Love = 107Island of the Hungry Ghosts = 107Kin = 108Life Itself = 109Lizzie = 109Mary Queen of Scots = 110Meteors = 111Monsters and Men = 112Mug = 1121985 = 113Nobody’s Fool = 114The Nutcracker and the Four Realms = 115The Old Man & the Gun = 115On Her Shoulders = 116Papillon = 117The Raft = 118Ralph Breaks the Internet = 119RGB = 119Return of the Hero = 120Robin Hood = 121Roma = 121Sorry to Bother You = 122Stan & Ollie = 123Theatre of War = 124The Upside = 125White Boy Rick = 126 [HOME CINEMA] Age of Consent, Bad Ronald/The Killing Kind, Charlie Bubbles, Daisies, Georgy Girl, Une histoire simple, Hitler’s Hollywood, Invention for Destruction, Monkey Shines, Mary Pickford films: Fanchon the Cricket/Little Annie Rooney, Films by Wim Wenders: Kings of the Road/The American Friend DVD features = 130 Andrew Male gets a tingle from William Castle, artist of the gimmick = 128 Revival: Graham Fuller surveys the wreckage of The Magnificent Ambersons = 132 Television: Robert Hanks on Lynda La Plante’s original Widows and Terence Stamp in 1980s spy drama Chessgame = 134 Lost and Found: Adam Scovell goes to the dark side with Alain Corneau’s Serie noire = 136 [BOOKS] Farran Smith Nehme welcomes a fine biography of Rock Hudson = 138 Nick James mourns the great critic Philip French = 139 David Cairns reappraises director John M. Stahl = 140

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