story that i am sure the french a story that i am sure the french are grouped and fascinated by, and you will be covering it right the way through to the bitter end? well, i haven't booked my hotel, which is... i've been concentrating too much on brexit. i do know that i will be there. have you got your glossy 2018 royal calendar? finally, quickly, come on. there is a picture of people on the front page holding up of people on the front page holding upa of people on the front page holding up a glitter ball, because they are the winners of... yes, 42, the oldest champion in the bbc's show's history. we should also point out he had a fantastic strictly come dancing partner. full credit to her. we wondered if you could give us the inside story as an excavator?” might do, after this. is it going to be in your memoirs? it might be. did

you watch the programme?” be in your memoirs? it might be. did you watch the programme? i didn't, but added watch the final, which was quite interesting. the real star of this, you are quite right, it is ms jones. it is only the second time around for her. she did wonderful choreography. the other thing that is slightly, you know, i get a tear in my ire with the reverend richard coles, who was wonderful. —— eye. it was so coles, who was wonderful. —— eye. it was so professional, the final. all of those competitors, actually, the season of those competitors, actually, the season of goodwill, they worked jolly hard. we will have to lever to there. you can help lexia 's competitors. —— next year's. there. you can help lexia 's competitors. -- next year's. that is all from the papers. thank you to benedicte paviot and robert fox. up next, the film review. hello and welcome to

the film review on bbc news. taking us through this week's cinema releases is mark kermode. what have you been watching, mark? very, very interesting week. we have bingo: the king of the mornings, a film about the dark side of clowning. we have, of course, star wars: the lastjedi, you might have noticed that this is opening in cinemas! and the unseen, a low—key british chiller. bingo: the king of the mornings, this is a really curious looking one. very interesting film, submitted for the foreign—language 0scar although it has not made it through to the short list. it comes on like an episode of the chuckle brothers crossed

with the last third of goodfellas. it is inspired by a real—life story of a kids' tv icon, this is a fictionalised version in which there is struggling actor who has made his name in soft—core sex films and manages to get a break as bingo, this clown on morning television. and realises that he may actually have found something for which he can become celebrated and famous. the downside is, he's not allowed to say who he is, he has to be completely anonymous, so he's caught between fame and anonymity. however, he wants to stretch his wings and see what he can do with the role. here's a clip. now, you can see from that, it has got a strange, slightly cracked tone to it, it is a fantastic performance now, you can see from that, it has got a strange, slightly cracked tone to it, it is a fantastic performance from vladimir brichta as bingo. what i like about it is that it has a bit of the backstage madness of live television, something like network. it also has that... i talked before about goodfellas, that sense as it accelerates, that what happens is success goes to his head, he falls into drink

and drugs and reckless behaviour, but he is tortured because he can't tell anyone who he is. it becomes that classic tale of someone who is famous in one area and completely anonymous and another. it is not without flaws, there are certain moments when the drama oversteps itself somewhat, but i didn't know this story at all. as i said, it's inspired by a true story, and ifound it gripping and weirdly enjoyable, not least because there's something... i mean, clowns are a strange presence anyway... yes. could go either way! can be funny, can be sinister. and we saw the success of it, which has now become the biggest selling horror movie of all time. so, this is something a little bit different, it is not entirely successful but when it works, it has a kind of crazed energy, which is down to the central performance largely, which is very, very magnetic. 0k, a curious one. yes. so apparently there's a new star wars film out! who knew? they should do some

publicity, really. are you a star wars fan? to a degree. i've seen some of them. i live with someone who really, really is, so it is on the list. this picks up almost immediately where force awa kens left off. rey arrives at the island where luke skywalker now lurks, and she is looking for her true self. the thing with any star wars film is that there is a balancing act. light and the shade, between the action and the introspection and also between satisfying the fans and the first timers. i think that rianjohnson who is helming this, who's come from films like looper, has done a fantasticjob. you get all the stuff that you want from a star wars film, the sabre battles, the deep space explosions, the dogfights, but you also get an awful lot of internal character development. what i liked most about this is that it has a number of disparate narrative strands, as they all do, but each character arc is followed through properly. it is a film in which characters do what that character would do. it's a film in which action is character, characters are defined not by what they say

but by their actions. now, i saw it with a home crowd, i saw it at the premiere and in the final act of it, people were laughing, cheering, bursting into spontaneous applause. my suspicion is that that will be matched around the country, because it's very well—made, very confident, there is a little bagginess in it, there is one section on a casino planet, which i think is perhaps somewhat overstretched, but i think it works really well as a film. that said, all star wars films have a divisive element. and nothing is going to satisfy everybody. i have never been a hard—core star wars fan, but i did enjoy this very much. i thought as a piece of masterful storytelling in which it obeys the rules of the characters, the characters make sense. it may be fantastical and inventive but the characters make sense, and that, for me, is the key. and does it look fantastic? oh, yes, it looks fantastic. in a way we sort of take that for granted. it looks really great, but it also feels really solid. it feels like a proper, you know, well—made, stand—alone film. that's excellent.

the unseen. look, it's nearly christmas — have you brought me another horror film, is this what you're doing here? this is a psychological chiller. not really horror. what is the distinction? stick with me. this is written and directed by gary sinyor. this was 12 years in development, it is a story about a young couple who suffer a terrible loss of a child and after that, their relationship is in crisis. ihear him. where? in this room. ihear him. when?

at night. sometimes during the day. you don't believe me. what does he say? he says he loves me... now, you were asking what the difference is between a horror film and a chiller. i think it is a tenuous distinction, however, it is to do with an uncanniness, sense of creepiness. in its early stages, this film is actually very, very well played by the central actors. and it has a real atmosphere of unease, of the uncanny, which is very hard to achieve. i have to say in its later stages it kind of loses some of that, the more the plot starts to explain itself, the more mechanical it

becomes and the less it became interesting. but for its first movement, it does establish that sense of the cold hand on the back of the neck. the genuinely uncanny sense that you're not quite sure what's going on. you believe in the characters, you believe in the situation. and you share their distress. but you also have that sense of eeriness, that sense of unease. it's a very flawed film, and i think overall, as i said, there are missteps in the later acts that let it down. but at the beginning it has an atmosphere which i think validates it, and it is really nice to see something like that going up against a behemoth like star wars: the lastjedi. and it's not a horrorfilm. 0k! i may be just saying that, but it's not a horror film! best out, however, iwholeheartedly, i mean... the rerelease of a classic.

i think this is one of the greatest movies ever made, a matter of life and death. you love it too, right? yes, yes, yes. when was the last time you saw it on a big screen? when i was at university, 300 years ago. i love that image of up in heaven, looking down. very clever, very clever. you need to see it on the big screen, so much of why it's brilliant is the way it looks. the idea of having the other world as being black—and—white, and the technicolor, so gorgeous, the performances are brilliant. and every time you see it, itjust gets better and better and better. and incidentally, that is a film which you can view as a fantasy or you can view as a psychological, you know, psychological romance. i would say it's not a million miles away from... i'm trying! i love your attempt, mark. it is fantastic, it is wonderful, worth seeing on a big screen, you make a good point, i haven't seen it on a for aeons. 0n the smaller screen, dvds...

dunkirk. which i, kind of having seen it on the big screen... want to see it on the big screen. i can't quite envisage watching it on a small one. i've seen dunkirk three times. i have seen it twice on a big imax screen and once on a television screen, although the television screens are now much bigger. when you see it on a small screen, you start to notice things about the cleverness of the structure, the fact that it has these three interweaving time periods. one week, one day, one hour. the fact that it interweaves them so well, sometimes on the big screen you're just so overwhelmed by the spectacle of it, you don't realise just how smart the construction of the film is. watching it on a smaller screen you really admire the narrative... it is a simple narrative but it is told in a way which is really complex and really crystalline. and actually i saw things in it on the small screen that i hadn't seen on the big screen. yes, the big—screen experience is still the primary one but it does work on the small screen,

for different reasons. mark, good to see you as ever. interesting week. thank you very much. quick reminder before we go you can find more film news and reviews online. bbc. co. uk/markkermode. and all our previous programmes are on the bbc iplayer, of course. that is it for this week, though, enjoy your cinema going. bye bye. good evening. if you are going to bed and wondering what is going to happen tomorrow, a contrast. that is north and west. some heavy rain in scotla nd north and west. some heavy rain in scotland and wales. a chilly start in eastern areas. temperatures below freezing. patchy fog first thing in the morning. through the day, the rain goes south and east quickly. behind that, patchy fog in higher ground. brightness in scotland and

northern ireland. mild in double digits. under clearer skies, temperatures falling away. in fact, monday will be a chilly start. a dry scenario that the sunshine coming through to be a better day in prospect. temperatures will be average for this time of year. whatever you are doing on sunday, had a good one. —— have a good one. take care. this is bbc news.

i'm chris rogers. our top stories: as south africa's ruling anc party decides on its next leader, presidentjacob zuma says the future of the party is at stake. austria's new leader outlines his programme with his far—right coalition partner. the 54th national conference is taking place at a time when our movement is at a crossroads. the united nations security council considers a resolution which would challenge president trump's recognition of jerusalem challenge president trump's recognition ofjerusalem as the capital of israel. austria's new leader outlines his programme with his far—right coalition partner. he says he'll be pro—eu, but tougher on illegal immigration. romania's last monarch, who was forced to abdicate by the communist leadership seventy years ago, is buried with full state honours in bucharest.