hello, and a very warm welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us the film review on bbc news. to take us is mark kermode. what have you been watching? it is a very good week. we have the the wife. we have a kitchen which looks more like a documentary. and black a7, a brooding irish western. the wife, i am really looking forward to hearing about this. it is set in the early

90s, jonathan pryce is an acclaimed author, who wakes up to a phone call saying that he has won the nobel prize. glenn close is his wifejoan, who we see supporting him, looking after him, making sure that everything is in the right place. he is told that his husband is going to be besieged by newspapers try to keep him removed from it. and she says trust me, i will look after him. but there is something that is a little bit darker behind it. here isa a little bit darker behind it. here is a clip. hello, john, you are looking lovely as ever. they are giving your husband the cover of the magazine. they are knocking out a story about bill clinton for him. every brilliant one of them, my friend. bill clinton for him. every

brilliant one of them, my friendm god, this is so unreal. how do i look? you are fine. all good. tell me this isn't some great big fat joke. it is all real, darling. breathe. joe, come on, waiting for you. come on, let's do this. now, that look at the end. glenn close is one of those people that a single look and tell a thousand contradictory stories. they'd then go to stockholm to get the nobel prize and then we flash back to the 19505 prize and then we flash back to the 1950s when they first met where she was a very promising writer and he was a very promising writer and he was a very promising writer and he was a professor. she has put her career on hold in order to service his. it turns out he is a philanderer, he is someone who was unable to praise their son who is also an aspiring writer. gradually we start to discover the back story of this relationship and we start to

see the stress lines in the marriage. what i like about this is glenn close it's central performance is really at the first time i saw it. the second time having seen all the things that the narrative uncovers, it is even more impressive because he realised there are so many moments in which the camera literally just looks at many moments in which the camera literallyjust looks at her face and it is telling you so many different things. yes, she is proud, but there is something else going on behind that. there is some unrevealed story. meanwhile, there is a high arborfor, story. meanwhile, there is a high arbor for, christian slater, story. meanwhile, there is a high arborfor, christian slater, who is scratching at the surface of what he thinks is a underlying malaise of the marriage. it is really well judged. i saw it twice in two days and the second time, i thought, what i thought was a great performance is a really, really great performance. in many ways, it's understatement is the thing that may stop it from getting huge awards. so much of what glenn close does is show don't tell.

it is very contained, but i think... and the timing, politically, the whole narrative behind is so interesting. it could not have been better timed. i think we could have watched this film at any time. it is very well directed. letting the actors have their space and letting them tell their story. i loved it. and i think you will really like it. i cannot wait. skate kitchen, from everything i have seen a red i can't work out if this is a drama or a documentary. it is a drummed up by the same person who made the wolfpack. —— it is a documentary. it is about a group of skater girls. on the lower east side of your city. we have jaden smith to crops up halfway through. he integrates very well with the other actors. what i liked about this, some people said because it has that gritty edge, they have

compared it to that film kids. they cannot be apart. kids was this leering, look at all these young kids and look at all the terrible things they are doing. this is com pletely things they are doing. this is completely the opposite. it is much more like the french film girlhood. it is about the relationships between these young women in these skater groups. the skating does look horribly real. every time they fall off, it looks like they are really hurting himself. ithought off, it looks like they are really hurting himself. i thought it was really good. a proper gritty filter it, but very tender and very sympathetic towards its actors. it isa sympathetic towards its actors. it is a good week. it is sounding like a good week. take us into film number three. is it also good?m does, it is a hat trick. i am not giving a thumbs down to anyone. this is black a7. the title is named

after the worst year of the great irish famine. and in the beginning we see a man who returns home to see his mother has been starved, his brother has been hanged for stabbing a bailiff or trying to evict him and he sets off on a path for vengeance. here is a clip. i understand that it may further bolster your sense of injustice to blame me for your brother's demise. but i do not cause the crops to fail and i am not responsible for people breaking the law. i am merely a servant of the court. i bid you good day. so on the one hand, it is a drama

rooted in history and it has a very serious side to it. on the other hand,it serious side to it. on the other hand, it is a story told like a western. he is being pursued by a character being played by hugo weaving. i really fine ensemble cast. what i liked about it is it ta kes cast. what i liked about it is it takes this very serious and difficult subject and turns it into something cinematic. we get a very cinematic narrative playing out in a landscape that anyone could understand. the film looks terrific. it is beautifully shot. it is a brooding score. it is fairly low budget and occasionally you can see the edges of the budget. frankly, the edges of the budget. frankly, the flaws are easily outweighed by the flaws are easily outweighed by the things that are right about it. it was sincere, and impressive and gripping. it has a real tone and a mood to it. i love it when a film

feels like it is engulfing you in a world. i really felt this did. visually it looks terrific. it is well documented that i am not good with violence, it makes me slightly nervous about this one.|j with violence, it makes me slightly nervous about this one. i think you will be fine with this because i think this story, the narrative pulls it through. it is all part of the narrative, it is not gratuitous. hm. you do not trust me at all. it was scary. ok. anyway. turn into previous editions to see about the stranger. the palestinian nomination. it is a story about a father and son travelling around nazareth to the run—up to christmas. they are taking out wedding invitations, but while they are in the car together they are fighting and falling apart. and you see the

schisms in their relationship. the father and son are played by a real—life father and son. i thought it was terrific. it has a great error of naturalism. it is funny, but poignant, it is personal and political. it is a very small film, you have to seek it out. it is not a wide release. i thought it was terrific. idvd to recommend this week? i prayer before dawn. brilliant performance. directed by the same person who madejohnny mad dog. it is one of those films it is all to do with the atmosphere. you feel like you are in this situation. you know the things sometimes you feel that you can almost smell a movie? you can feel the environment? it isa movie? you can feel the environment? it is a tough watch. it is one that you might find hard to watch. it was a very impressive, if rather difficult, film. what i'm fascinated

with this week is what you're going to pick up next week. what a cracking selection. how fabulous that we have had a week in which there are this many good and diverse films. that is lovely. that is the i°y films. that is lovely. that is the joy of cinema. a little stranger is not that scary. i was very stressed for the whole film. i thought... i was stressed. a few people have had some sympathy for me on twitter for this one. thank you very much. but see what you find for me next week. a very cracking week. enjoy your cinema going. all of our previous programmes are on the high player. i'm sure you know the address. enjoy your cinema. see you next time. thank you for being with us. hello, good evening. you may have

heard us talking about this. you can see this up in the corner of the screen, the swirling area of the cloud. it has hurricane like characteristics. what does it mean? it means that for parts of greece, we could see some severe weather as we could see some severe weather as we go through the weekend. look at the colours there. some heavy rain could cause some flash flooding and some choppy seas. over here, it has been a fairly calm, settled day. we have seen quite a bit of sunshine around. this photo was sent in. blue skies here. blue skies reflected in the water there. on the satellite, you can see a good deal of sunshine. a bit more of cloud for northern ireland and scotland, but still some good spells of sunshine. this evening, we will see the wind strengthening across scotland. some

showery outbreaks for the northern isles. elsewhere, a good deal of dry weather and some clear skies. these are the temperatures. in the countryside it will be a bit cooler. we could see a bit of frost to start the day tomorrow. you might need to scrape the card tomorrow. cloud will increase across northern ireland and scotland. we will see some outbreaks of rain pushing into the northwest. a windy day tomorrow across scotland. temperatures in scotland and the north, highs around 13, ia and the north, highs around 13, 1a degrees. further south, highs and the north, highs around 13, 1a degrees. furthersouth, highs of16 or 17. overnight saturday into sunday, we have this cold front that is coming southeast. behind it we will pick up a fairly brisk breeze. it won't bring too much cloud or rain, but we will see more in cloud

across england and wales on sunday then on saturday. some sunny spells developing. the northwesterly breeze picking up as we move through the day. it will bring in a few showers from the north. temperatures on sunday a little cooler thanks to the brisk northwesterly breeze. we're looking at the low teens in the north, more like mid—teens in the south. as we move into the weekend, there will be some outbreaks of rain. fairly blustery as well. a good deal of dry weather, there will be some sunshine. not looking too bad this weekend. food retailer pret a manger is strongly criticised after a teenager died after eating one of their sandwiches. in gratz centre addressing the remaining members on that committee, some democrats have already walked out, we are expecting a vote to take place in about half an hour's time

to push this through, to a full vote in the senate itself on tuesday. let's carry on listening in. as a judge on the dc circuitjudge kavanaugh judge on the dc circuitjudge kava naugh ruled there judge on the dc circuitjudge kavanaugh ruled there are in fact meaningful, he wrote, quote, law—enforcement agencies use