hello and welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us through next week's cinema releases is anna smith. anna, what have we got this week? we've got a real mix, kind of something for everyone in a way. we've got upper operation mincemeat, which is the 1940s kind of wartime spy thriller starring colin firth and matthew mcfadden. then we're going to the jungle for the lost city. this is a romantic comedy with sandra bullock and channing tatum, quite different in flavour. and then finally, we are off to 17th century italy for benedetta, which is the true—ish story of a lesbian nun from controversial director paul verhoeven. 0k. it's a pretty intriguing mix. let's kick off with operation mincemeat, which was the subject of a book by ben macintyre. it's an absolutely

incredible story, isn't it? it's an extraordinary story, and this is the first film based on that book. there have been other films and tv series about this, but it really is an incredible true story in world war two, where british intelligence basically plotted to plant a body in the sea near spain with false documents to imply that the allies were going to be invading greece rather than sicily, so effectively to put the nazis off the scent. and let's see a clip in a second where we see colin firth and matthew mcfadden kind of in shock that their plan mightjust be working. i may vomit. i may vomit with you. every piece of intelligence says the nazis are waiting for us in greece. and every piece of intelligence, may be the greatest deceptionl the nazis have ever played against it. . why do you think churchill.

still believes this can work? because he has to. so, historic dramas based on what feel incredibly current at the moment, don't they, and my children, i know, have been intrigued by this story for years. does the film do justice to the facts? i think the level of detail is fascinating, and i think that's what i found the strongest element of this, is the detail that you see that they go into. there are a lot of scenes with two secretaries that helped out, played by penelope wilton and kelly macdonald, and the four of them have this wonderful repartee. there's a love triangle you don't need. i wasn't interested in that, but i think in terms of that detail, it's told in quite a safe, plodding fashion. there's a lot of fairly obvious exposition. it's quite reverent to the subject matter. but i think if you just want to know how the story played out, it's all in there.

and politically, is it coming from one particular point of view? well, it's a very patriotic british film, i would say. this isjohn madden, who gave us shakespeare in love. i mean, the producers of the king's speech, it's that sort of flavour. i wouldn't say it's up there with those kind of awards—worthy films, but it's a very safe bet if you like this kind of subject. and i think he's playing to the right kind of crowd with this film. because we've seen the darkest hour. we saw the king's speech eight years ago. i mean, these these films can really take off, and it sounds like maybe this one doesn't quite. i think it will play well in certain cinemas. i think for an older crowd, i think it's got a lot of appeal. i certainly found it pleasant viewing, interesting viewing. i thought sometimes when it attempted comedy, it didn't quite work because it is tough subject matter to mine for comedy, but i think it's still a decent watch if you like the like the sound of it. and if you're a colin firth fan, of course, who is, well, who isn't? exactly. i'm definitely going to look this one up. thank you for that. let us move on now to

something very different. the lost city with a bit of harry potter, a bit of brad pitt. yeah. so, that's daniel radcliffe is in this as a sort of megalomaniac billionaire. so, he kidnaps loretta, who's played by the wonderful sandra bullock. loretta is a romantic novelist. she's actually an academic, but she's sort of fallen on hard time and she's writing steamy novels, and she does these sort of public book launches with her cover model played by channing tatum, who's really sending himself up in. this is the handsome himbo, and theyjust at the end of a book launch when daniel radcliffe's character kidnaps loretta and takes her off to the jungle, where he thinks that she can help him find some hidden treasure. this is a classic kind of hidden treasure story. think of films like romancing the stone from the �*80s. this is the kind of flavour that we're looking at, something we haven't seen too much of until recently, and i actually think this genre is coming back, and i thoroughly enjoyed seeing these two actors, in particular channing tatum and sandra bullock, together, slightly flipping the gender dynamic that you normally saw in those films. i mean, he's very clearly smitten with her.

she thinks he's not bright enough for her. she's the smarter one, but she's very, very willing to send herself up. and there's something about sandra bullock that's always so relatable and delightful and very finessed with the comic timing. and she is brilliant at what she does, but she is she being the character that we sort of know and love her for? yes. i mean, that's what we want sandra bullock to do. we want her to be intelligent but slightly ditzy. we want her to be the friend or the person that you want to hang out with and kind of... but also, she produces this film, and she makes sure that it does something a little bit sharper, a little bit different in terms of gender. and brad pitt? brad pitt is so worth seeing this film for and definitely hold on till the end credits watch the whole thing, but he plays the kind jack trainer. this kind of special ops kind of guru. because you see him with comedy so much, he's very good at when he does it. yeah. so i love to see him doing more, and he is indeed doing quite quite a bit more comedy. but definitely brad pitt steals the show. 0k. a bit of light relief. it's like we all need that.

i think benedetta, this is very striking to look at visually, isn't it? it's a stunning looking film. it is hard to describe. it's from director paul verhoeven, who, of course, gave us basic instinct, showgirls and more recently, the rather more thoughtful film l. but he's kind of still known for those tawdry films. it's a french language film based on the true story and the book set in the 17th century italy. and it stars virginie figure as benedetta. now, she is a young girl who claims to have visions. she's very religious. she's devout. she's sent to a convent where she meets a young girl and they develop a controversial relationship. let's have a look at a clip.

i mean, there were lots of controversial elements of blasphemy and sex and power. at what point does it tip into vulgarity, do you think? vulgarity, i think in the erotic scenes, perhaps it does, but very knowingly. i mean, paul verhoeven always has this tongue in his cheek. and you know, this is an element of satire and knowingness in this in how ridiculously over—the—top it is. i don't think anyone�*s expecting it to be fully, historically accurate. it's never dull. what i will say is it's never dull. i had some problems, problems with it. from a feminist perspective, i'm sure many religious people will have problems with it, but it is interesting film—making.

it's going to be offensive? i think if you think it's going to be offensive to you, you'll know and you won't go to see it. i don't think anyone that goes to see this, knowing paul verhoeven and knowing what we've just seen is going to be surprised by what they see. they're going partly for shock value, but also charlotte rampling's in this. it's a great exploration of power dynamics as well. i mean, you know, i definitely have my issues with it, but still really glad i saw it. found it very entertaining. and i do think it's worth watching if you're interested in cinema. and also, that story. it does look, as i said, visually very, very stunning, doesn't it? another movie that we're coming onto, marina, also looks beautiful. i went to see this again last night in the cinema because i only ever seen it on the small screen and i wanted to see it on the big screen. it's set in croatia on the dalmatian coast and absolutely beautiful. this is like going on a holiday watching this film. you just remember what it's like to dive into the sea. absolutely stunning. i think i canjust about remember. yes, a long time ago for most of us. so, it's a lovely story of a young girl who's a teenager

and she's living at home with her parents, not really getting on well with her father, when a friend of the family, played by cliff curtis, comes to stay. and an interesting dynamic, she observes the way he's interacting with her parents, and we see through her eyes herfinding out a little bit more about her parents�* past and also becoming very intrigued by what she sees and perhaps intrigued by this man, thinking he's a very wealthy man. could he save herfrom the situation that she's in? but it's a young female director. it's also exec—produced by martin scorsese, and it's got a lot of weight behind it. i think it's a stunning calling card for this director and really beautiful film to watch. uncomfortable moments because you've got a young teenage girl with these two older men, a father and his friend. does it cross a line? it stays the right side, i think. and as i say, having a female gaze and the female director, it's very sympathetic towards her and it's never looking at her through their eyes. we're seeing the world through her eyes and she's trying to figure herself out. but she's got quite a lot of agency and is getting more and more as

the film carries on. it's emotionally intriguing. and emotionally intriguing. it's like almost like a mystery thriller drama of a woman trying to operate in a patriarchal society, but also kind of having more opportunities than her mother did. so it's fascinating. definitely one. again, i am very keen to go and see — flea. now i've heard amazing things about this movie's fantastic film. many people will have seen it already, but it's out on dvd now, so worth revisiting. it was nominated for three oscars, which actually was ground—breaking at the time because for doc animated and internationalfilm and it's mostly animated and it's a man narrating the story, a very emotional story about the fact that he was a refugee when he was a child from afghanistan, and he's now living in denmark, and he's about to get married, and he's telling his friend, the director, what he experienced, and the emotion in his voice as he retells his story is extraordinary. and the animation really, really brings it to life beautifully with some other voice cast members.

and i think it's testament to the power of the imagination and the power of the animation as well. when i look back and i remember this film the first time i saw it, i was almost seeing it in live action in my mind because it was so vivid and so personal. and it really puts you in this man's shoes. which is maybe you can do because it is animation. yes, it allows you to do things you couldn't do with live action. and again, many people might want to see this because of the timing. we've had this big uk government announcement on on sending refugees to rwanda. we've got ukraine, obviously refugees flooding through through europe. but if you want to try and understand what it feels like, this is one to watch, although it's probably quite painful and difficult as well. it's harrowing in parts, but it feels like something we should all see. it's a timely watch. indeed, i agree. 0k. a really amazing mix of movies, anna. thank you so much for drawing that all together for us and do. tune in for more next time. thanks for watching. bye— bye. hello. saturday was a day of more

widespread warmth across the uk, and for many, easter sunday is a repeat performance. for many, not all, because this would suggest there is some different weather on the way the further west you are. and that initially the case in northern ireland and in north—west scotland, with cloud and some outbreaks of rain as the day begins. it will be coolest in east anglia, down to two or three degrees in places. for most, it is clear to begin with, there will be a few mist and fog patches around. but we do have this atlantic weather front with cloud and outbreaks of rain in northern ireland, initially in the western counties in the morning, slowly moving further east into the afternoon before it gets into belfast, and affecting parts of western scotland initially the north—western western isles butjust edging a little further east going through the afternoon and into the evening, though glasgow could well stay dry until then. and some rain into cornwall and westernmost counties of wales. cooler with the rain, but elsewhere, 20, may 21 degrees in plenty of sunshine. more of wales, the western side of england, western scotland seeing the rain in the evening, there will be clearing to showers

in northern ireland. it does push east overnight and into monday morning, but look how it weakens, so if you do want some rain in central and eastern parts of england, you are likely to be disappointed. now, as the weather front clears on throw into easter monday and it is behind it, well, still perhaps some spells of rain towards north—west scotland where it will be quite windy, and windy, too, in northern ireland. but they will just be a few showers moving on behind this front. it is, though, ushering in cooler air, not cold, just temperatures closer to average for the time of year on monday. but as it has gone through, they will be quite a bit of fine weather around on monday, still. broken clouds, sunny spells, the chance of a shower, more especially in the north and west and mainly for northern ireland, and into western scotland. north—west scotland could well see some longer spells of rain. it will be blustery across north—western parts, breezy elsewhere, and, yes, those temperatures are closer to average, though still above in the east and south—east of england. a greater chance for showers on tuesday in wales in the southern half of england. some could be quite heavy, we could see some rain into parts of northern ireland and western scotland. and then beyond that as the week goes on, and easterly wind moves in. that is still with a lot of dry weather around, just a few showers,

but it will keep temperatures close to average, if not below, especially in eastern areas.

this is bbc news, i'm geeta guru—murthy with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the siege of mariupol may be nearing its end. russia claims it's taken control of almost all of the city. president zelensky warns if his remaining troops are killed, peace negotations with moscow will be over. the mayor of kyiv urges people to stay away from the capital, as further missile attacks could take place. the death toll rises in south africa, following heavy flooding, with a warning more rain may be on the way. and harry and meghan make theirfirst public appearance together in europe since stepping back as senior royals.