ben wheatley, we are both fans of ben wheatley. so, graduation. graduation is from cristian mungiu, the romanian director of 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, which you remember we reviewed here on the programme some time ago. this is another low—key and very intense drama. the story is a doctor, his daughter is on her way to school, is attacked, she gets a broken wrist and the doctor is just simply worried it will affect her exams. he is desperate for her to get great exam grades because he wants her to be able to go and study in britain. he is convinced that she needs to get away because the place they live is not somewhere that he wants his daughter to grow up. all he can focus on is this desire for her to get good exam grades. as a result of it, he gets drawn into a web of duplicity and corruption. that somebody knows somebody who could perhaps ensure the exam grades are ok, but only in return for a favour for a deputy mayor who needs to be moved up in his wait for a transplant. the daughter, understandably, is not pleased about the idea of essentially cheating.

here is a clip. very intense, isn't it? it is, and you see from that, single shot, basically one shot per scene. what i love about this is, it's a perfect blend of the personal and the political. on one hand, it's a story about a father and a daughter, on the other hand it's a story that social corruption is everywhere. every conversation is, ooh, that building's being going on for ages, yes it will be a backroom deal, well, isn't everything? it's a film in which the personalities of the characters completely draw you in, and you believe in their personal stories, but you also understand it is telling a wider story, about what it means to grow up in a society in which everything seems to be sort of slightly on the wrong side

of completely honest. as is so brilliant with this director, what he manages to do is get that point across, but never sounds hectoring, you never feel like what you're watching is a political statement. what you feel you're watching is a really intense drama in which the doctor, for example, he's concerned about his daughter, but has a mistress. at one point he says to his wife, everyone cheats in theirfinal exams. she says, i didn't. and he says, yes, and look where it got you. it's an interesting film about guilt and complicity. some people have compared him to michael haneke, haven't they? because lots of bad things are happening under the surface of the superficially normal society. although i think, personally, i think there's a lot more tenderness, a lot more humanity in what's happening here. haneke's films are terrific, but they're very harsh, very sharp, sometimes accusatory, i think. ghost in the shell. yes, 0k. live action adaptation of a celebrated manga, and a very famous 1995 anime, which people revere for very good reasons. scarlettjohansson is major, a human ghost in a cyber shell in the future.

she's a person, she's a robot, she's a weapon. the film has become the cause of some controversy about whitewashing, about the fact that scarlett joha nsson was cast in this role. it has to be said, the director of the ‘95 anime has said, and i quote, "there is no basis for saying that an asian actor must portray that character". it a controversy that has dogged the film, to some extent. like the plot of the film itself, you can look at this and think, it's a soul of one thing transplanted into a shell which is slightly artificial and slightly more glossy. however, i was strangely impressed by it. i went in with fairly low expectations. and i thought it looked terrific. i think it does a very good job of evoking the future world. people have talked about it looking like blade runner, it looks more like the fifth element, oddly enough. a very cluttered future. i was never bored. i found that, yes it changed and simplified the narrative to some extent, and loses some of the melancholy and depth of its predecessors, but as a piece of multiplex

entertainment, it was better than i expected it to be by quite some distance. free fire. ok, so. the new film by ben wheatley. i'm a huge fan of ben wheatley. the story is in boston in the 1970s there is an arms deal going down between a group of people, all of whom are variously incompetent. the whole thing looks very volatile and looks like at any moment it could fall apart appallingly, and of course it does. here's a clip. 0k, just try not to hit any of the metalwork, because i don't want to get any of those bling burns on my new. . . suit. sorry, what was that? this is from savile row... i don't know about you guys, but i for one think vern‘s merchandise is a real gas. my guess is you're whatever you're paid to be, pal. do you see what you did here? gunfire. good.

0k... i'll overlook it this time. laughter. is there a lot of that? there is. what i really like about it is this, on the one hand it's a tense drama about a bunch of people in a warehouse, all of whom are armed and all whom are fighting each other in various different ways. however, it also has a kind of screwball comedy element. the best way of describing it, it's like a silent movie, slapstick sensibility, but with a soundtrack which reminds you of those loony tunes cartoons, that is really, really brilliantly put together. it keeps you on the edge of your seat. it's tense, but also

very, very comic. it's also very nihilistic. the idea is that all of these people are variously untrustworthy and incompetent. they're all laughed at, from their ridiculous clothes and their foolish mannerisms. vern keeps saying "watch and vern, watch and vern." what i liked about it, i think what ben wheatley and his film making partner amyjump managed to do is make it a cross—genre film, which they always do. 0k, yes, it's a thriller, but also a comedy, but it's a very nihilistic comedy. it's a comedy about the fact that if you take... people have compared it to, they say it's like the last movement of reservoir dogs stretched out... it's not. it's like that sequence in naked gun 21/2, when there's the close—range gunfight, with two people hiding behind the same dustbin, but it's like that, but stretched over 90 minutes. it has an absurd edge to it. it passed the six laughs test in the first ten minutes. it's passed the six laughs test

in the last two minutes. you were laughing all the way through. i'm laughing at you talking about it! 0k, fine, so it's me you're laughing at! but cillian murphy, brie larson, sharlto copley, armie hammer, a really terrific cast, and every single one of them clearly rising to the challenge of this, thinking it's a great script. it's beautifully mapped out. i know nobody ever comes out of the cinema and says this, but the editing is amazing. laughter. i think you sold that quite well. good! the best of the week is get out. this is out in cinemas at the moment. have you seen this yet? no, i haven't see it yet. ok, you really should. it's described by its director as a social thriller, and it's very much influenced by rosemary's ba by and the stepford wives. but it also alludes to other horror movies like red state and green room and also to films like tales from the hood and to sleep with anger. it's a sort of horrifying satire about racism in post—racial america, about liberal, rich white people, with this broiling undercurrent of racism. i saw it in a packed cinema and it really played to the crowd. it's done terrifically well and i think it's great.

briefly, edge of 17 is your dvd. a coming—of—age drama that appears to be written and directed by someone who actually likes the protagonist. it's smart, funny, intelligent and terrific performances from hailee steinfeld and woody harrelson. and kelly fremon craig who wrote and directed it, i think, has done a terrificjob. i thought it was really touching, very tender and very funny. since this is our last film review and i am on holiday from tomorrow, i'm taking it with me. very good, you will enjoy it, you'll enjoy it, but you have to go and see free fire at the weekend. i will do. thanks very much. a quick reminder before we go that you'll find more film news and reviews from across the bbc online at bbc.co.uk/markkermode. and you can find all our previous programmes on the bbc iplayer. that's it for this week. thanks for watching, enjoy the movies. goodbye. hello, before we look ahead to the early days of april, let's take a look back at the weather in march.

i'm going to show you some chance from the met office. the first shows rainfall, brown is below average for the month, so quite dry in the north of scotla nd the month, so quite dry in the north of scotland and dry again in the south. this could lead to impacts further down the line. december, january and march or drier than average. sunshine, delavan average in the south west, drier in the north—west and sunnier in general through the month the weather got better and better. we have sunshine this weekend as well but we started the new month with some april showers, they fade overnight and it should be fine on sunday. showers from the start across the west of england in england and wales, through the day they could appear almost anywhere, heavy and thundery. some sunshine in between the showers and with light winds it should feel warm although temperatures a little lower on friday, shot was pushed down across north—western parts of

the uk, across northern ireland and further into scotland's heavy ones, a rush of sunshine and showers across england and wales, coastal areas perhaps seeing fewer showers, arriving across east anglia in the afternoon, the highest temperatures in the south—west, up to 16 degrees. overnight it will turn chilly, these of the numbers in cities, in the countryside a pinch of frost across scotla nd countryside a pinch of frost across scotland and northern ireland. it will get warmer in the sunshine, a nice day on sunday, a bit of clyde, a small chance of a shower across northern england, winds will be light and there will be some warmth at this time of year so it will feel pleasa nt at this time of year so it will feel pleasant when the sun is out. looking ahead to the beginning of next week that ridge of high pressure sitting across the uk, getting squeezed by weather fronts from the north—west on monday. so for scotland and northern ireland stronger winds and we should see a

band of rain coming in from the north—west, for england and wales a bit warmer, 16—17 likely with a dry day on monday and some sunshine at times. those weather fronts will be marching southeast, as they do so, they become much weaker so again rain to come across the south—east with high—pressure tending to build in behind that. it could be cloudy for a good part of the day in the south east, there might be some showers, other areas likely to be dry, stronger winds in northern scotland, rain and showers not far from here, pleasant in the sunshine, more sunshine to come on wednesday, light winds for all, in the north half of the uk, atlantic let me bring spots of rain onto western hills. rain waiting out in the atla ntic to hills. rain waiting out in the atlantic to arrive at it is getting blocked by this area of high pressure that builds across the uk during next week. the centre of the

high will slowly migrate to become centred over germany next weekend. that will allow the wind direction to change, we will get more of a southerly breeze that will lift the temperatures for most places, it will again be dry with sunshine, we also will open up the opportunity for somewhere the fronts to approach, threatening some cloud and rain. goodbye. no talk on trade until there's a deal on the divorce. the eu rejects the government's brexit plan. as the eu publishes its brexit strategy, it warns of a rocky road ahead. talks, which are about to start, will be difficult, complex and sometimes even confrontational. there's no way around it. we'll be asking how this tough talk has gone down in downing street. also tonight, hard decisions for the nhs in england. why improvements in a&e and cancer care could mean longer waits for routine operations. president trump backs former

adviser mike flynn — sacked over his links to russia — and says he should get immunity from prosecution. closing down centuries of ivory trading in china — we have a special report. and a scotsman makes a flying visit to the newly reopened settle