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 macfadyen. 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 ii, 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 macfadyen kind of in shock that their plan mightjust be working. i may vomit. i may vomit with you. every piece of intelligence says that the nazis are waiting for us in greece. and every piece of intelligence mayi be the greatest deception 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 darkest hour. we saw the king's speech years ago. i mean, 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 cos 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, 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 this as the handsome himbo, and they're just 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 finesse with the comic timing. and she is brilliant

at what she does, but is she being the character that we sort of know and love herfor? 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 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 a bit more comedy. but definitely brad pitt steals the show. 0k. a bit of light relief. it's like we all need that. 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 i7th—century italy. and it stars virginie efira 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 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, murina, also looks beautiful. i went to see this again last night in the cinema because i'd 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, it's 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 her finding 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, this film. 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 a 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. and it's emotionally intriguing. it's emotionally intriguing. it's 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. now, i've heard amazing things about this. flea's a 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, 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 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 cos of the timing. we've had this big uk government announcement on sending refugees to rwanda. we've got ukraine, obviously refugees flooding 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. easter sunday was a dry and sunny day. warm across the southeast we have seen some changes out west with the front pushing unit outbreaks of rain and clouds also increasing bre�*s methods going to be for easter monday, a cooler and fresher things

of the few showers sported around. frontal system working its way towards the east of the country during this evening and overnight, barely anything on it before it reaches the side of the country but it will leave a legacy of cloud particularly across the northern half of the country will do be quite blustery and which will be a future and you'll see some clear spells. blood pressure to the northwest of the country for easter monday. and it will be breezy or and dragging some cooler air of the atlantic around the area of low pressure as you can see in the blue hue there. it starts easter monday but it will be a quite a bit of sunshine around in the afternoon and will start to see cloud building up anywhere with the arch are developing most of the showers across the northwest of the country and the weather will be quite blustery as the winds will be a feature here. in the western aisles and into northern ireland. once bit of sunshine around in the afternoon and will start to see cloud building up anywhere with the arch are developing most of the showers across the northwest of the

country and the weather will be quite blustery as the winds will be a feature here. the western isles and into northern ireland. wednesday letterfor and into northern ireland. wednesday letter for the south and temperatures will be notable and the low 20s across the southeast of the country, 16 or 17 degrees for easter monday afternoon and the low teens further north and west. showers continue across england and wales look at some clear spells too, whether from look at some clear spells too, whetherfrom pushing look at some clear spells too, whether from pushing to the northwest of the country to bring outbreaks of rain and it's going to be a chilly night in the northern and western areas and a touch of frost and farmers just take note. so, and to stay beer in between but systems and the pressure pulling away to the north and means will be turning later and it's a chilly start to the date for tuesday and left that weather front across western ireland bring figure cloud of rain and sunshine in the afternoon few showers will develop and smoothies will be heavy and slow moving because the wind will be light a come from 12 to 15 degrees. hike taking charge again for wednesday onwards and a lot of dry weather around towards end of the week and coming in from the east

would tend to be a little bit warmer towards the rest of the country.

this is bbc news. welcome if you re or around the globe. our top stories... ukrainian fighters in besieged mariupol ignore a deadline set by russia to lay down their arms. five people are reported to have been killed in russian shelling of the city of kharkiv. we have a special report from the east of ukraine, about those who have decided to stay put and face an impending russian offensive. also coming up, the archbishop of canterbury strongly criticises the uk government's plan to send illegal asylum seekers to rwanda. the details are for politics and politicians. the principle must stand the judgment of god, and it cannot.