Eleanor Reviews

**** Based on a novel of the same name, Ender’s Game is the story of Ender Wiggin, an exceptional young man given the daunting task of defeating an alien race which nearly destroyed Earth fifty years previously. One of the main features of Ender’s Game is the use of child soldiers to battle the enemy, a debate illustrated excellently by Asa Butterfield, who plays the eponymous Ender. In some sequences, he seems as powerful as any adult, and then in other scenes he appears to us so physically underdeveloped that you cannot help but wince at the task set before him. The use of children in combat creates rifts between Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and Major Anderson (Viola Davies), but the morality of using young people is not provided to us in a black and white way – we are shown both sides of the argument throughout, and the implications of such a strategy are not shoved down the throats of the viewer. Butterfield plays Ender as an ultimately angry and confused young man, bu

*** DVD Release Essentially a murder mystery, Rashômon is the story of a brutal crime and the aftermath as told from differing points of view. A priest and woodcutter are hiding in the ruined gate of Rashômon when an anonymous man appears from the deluge and questions them about the court case they appeared at that morning. Through a series of flash backs, the film shows the differing stories of the same event until some kind of truth is understood. The story has elements of An Inspector Calls , with an unknown man asking questions about the murder and disclosing uncomfortable truths about human nature along the way. As a study into human psychology, it is a quite interesting film but the repetitive nature of the flash backs to the murder scene become quite wearing and the wronged woman’s hysterical nature is very grating (there is only so much high-pitch wailing that I can stand). Also, like An Inspector Calls , the ‘moral’ of human nature is played in quite a heavy-ha

  ** DVD Release Fifteen years after the atomic bomb obliterated Hiroshima, a young actress visits the city and embarks on a short term love affair with a native man. Over the course of twenty four hours, the pair explore the city and one another. The film begins with an image of two bodies entwined in a sexual embrace, although we cannot see their faces. Inbetween these erotic images, the film adopts a documentary-style narrative, with a female voice describing Hiroshima today. We see scenes of a museum with relics from August 6 th 1945, as well as montages of people with radiation poisoning and children born incredibly deformed. This opening twenty or so minutes is the most interesting, if very morbid, part of the film which soon deteriorates into the a truly bizarre and cringe-inducing romance between two unnamed characters. The female character (Emmanuelle Riva) is in Hiroshima to film an ‘international peace film’ when she meets her lover (Eiji Odaka) and they en

  **** Based on the stage play of the same name, Sunshine on Leith follows the lives of two young soldiers recently home from Afghanistan. The film follows their trials and tribulations as they settle back into civilian life in Scotland, with added musical numbers based on the songs of The Proclaimers . Yes, this is a musical but it isn’t afraid to shy away from the bittersweet nature of life. The opening sequence features our two heroes in the back of a tank in Afghanistan, instantly drawing us into a world of dread. As the camera pans along the line of young faces, they begin to sing ‘Sky Takes the Soul’ in an especially moving rendition. This sets the tone for the rest of the film and an overall premise – that everyone has scars but happiness can be found if you look for it. This being a film about three separate, yet also intertwining, relationships there are the usual ups and downs but the charm of the film takes you along with it. The characters are believable in t

  **** DVD Release In the Wild West, a stagecoach sets out with a group of strangers aboard. What should have been a routine journey turns into a race against time as the group are tracked by Geronimo and the Apaches. In these conditions, the strangers soon come to know each other. The premise of the film is a simple one, and is essentially a character study of each of the strangers. On board are two outcasts in the shape Dallas and an alcoholic doctor, Boone, alongside a gambler, a whisky salesman, a sick woman, a bank manager and the two drivers. John Wayne appears a short way through as Ringo Kid, a man who has escaped from jail but is now on his way back to town to face his sentence. To start with, none of the passengers really know each other, but as the film progresses they become embroiled in each other’s lives and ultimately set out to protect one another. With so many characters, some are obviously overlooked more than others – for example, I would’ve liked to