Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/550022
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 AUGUST 2015 38 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation (12) 10:30, 14:30, 18:00, 21:00 Minions (U) 10:25, 13:40, 16:00, 18:30, 20:55 Ant-Man (12) 10:20, 13:20, 16:00, 18:30, 21:05 Inside Out (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:00, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Knock Knock (15) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Magic Mike XXL (15) 16:00, 18:30, 20:55 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Inside Out (U) 14:10, 16:20, 18:50 (3D), 21:15, 23:45 (3D) Magic Mike XXL (15) 18:30, 21:00, 23:30 The Longest Ride (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 20:55, 23:35 San Andreas (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:05, 23:35 Minions (U) 14:00, 16:30 (3D), 18:40, 21:05 (3D), 23:40 Knock Knock 2 (15) 14:15, 16:25, 18:40, 21:10, 23:20 Terminator: Genisys (12) 18:10, 21:00, 23:40 Spy (15) 16:15, 18:45, 21:10, 23:45 Jurassic World (12A) 14:30, 18:05, 20:45, 23:20 Slow West (15) 14:15, 16:20, 18:20, 20:50, 22:50 Ant-Man 3D (12) 14:20 (2D), 16:00, 18:45, 21:10, 23:45 Clouds of Sils Maria 16:10, 20:55 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Inside Out 3D (U) 11:00, 11:15, 15:50, 20:45 Terminator: Genisys (12) 10:45, 13:20, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Jurassic World (12) 10:40, 13:15, 15:50, 18:25, 21:00 Magic Mike XXL (15) 11:00, 11:15, 13:40, 16:05, 18:30, 20:55 Minions 3D (U) 11:10 (2D), 11:20 (2D), 13:35, 15:50 (2D), 18:05, 20:45 (2D) Return to Sender (15) 11:10, 11:20, 13:35, 16:00, 18:10, 20:45 Ant-Man 3D (12) 10:50, 13:20, 15:50, 18:20, 20:50 ON the hand, the Western is ar- guably the most American genre of them all. The clue is the title, of course, and key examples from the stable (!) also deal with some- times still-raw aspects of Ameri- can history and culture: treat- ment of the Natives, the pitfalls of establishing a country from scratch, and the overwhelming beauty – and attendant dangers – of the vast, unspoiled Ameri- can landscape. So it may seem paradoxi- cal then, that this presumably American-as-can-be genre has also been taken up – time and time again – by foreign film- makers. From the iconic Ital- ian 'spaghetti Westerns' by the likes of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci – which often starred Clint Eastwood – to the influ- ence of the genre on the wider net of world cinema – most notably Akira Kurosawa – the genre has proven to be pliable and easily translated across vari- ous cultures. Australia, perhaps in large part by dint of a similar landscape to its US counterpars, has made its mark too – most re- cently with Nick Cave and John Hillcoat's bruising The Proposi- tion (2005). But we may have come full circle this year. Shot in New Zealand, directed by a Scot and with a principal cast consisting of Irish, Australian and South African actors, this may be the international Western to end them all. When a naïve Scottish teen- ager Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit- McPhee) sets sail to 1800s Colo- rado in search of the love of his life, Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius) he teams up with bounty hunt- er Silas Selleck (Micheal Fass- bender), who offers his services as a bodyguard and guide. But soon enough, the vagaries of Silas's profession catch up with the duo… and as it turns out, Silas may know more about the whereabouts of Rose than he lets on. This impressive debut feature by John Maclean (former musi- cian with lo-fi pop group The Beta Band) is yet another exam- ple of how Westerns, with their archetypal characters and fairy- tale plots, can have universal reach. Filmed in a New Zealand doubling up for Colorado by a filmmaker who's fresh but thank- fully not just stumbling along – Maclean had directed two earlier shorts featuring Fassbender too – Slow West tells a simple story, but its visual texture is rich and quirky. When it comes to directorial debuts – particularly in the case of directors migrating from oth- er artistic disciplines – the worry is always that indulgence will trump good storytelling. Thank- fully, while Maclean sneaks in one prolonged musical inter- lude – featuring a likeable trio of Cameroonian musician-migrants –a rambling storytelling ses- sion by the fire (thankfully, the punch line is worth the wait) and a dream sequence, he also keeps the story trim and effective, so that Silas and Jay's picaresque journey never actually feels like a drifting ramble with no end in sight. And although the entire pro- duction comes draped with hipster-cred – another 'revi- sionist' Western drawing com- parisons to the Coen Bros – its pleasures are entirely traditional. Fassbender's gruff protagonist – whose monotone drawl deliv- ers occasional narration – is a familiar figure, but the Busiest Actor in Hollywood infuses him with both menace and sympathy – he has no back story and no real motivation, but you some- how buy the transformation he undergoes towards the end. The plot also clicks satisfyingly into place: we're privy to important information that Jay isn't, which adds a layer of suspense as the duo trek along the Colorado plains, with Silas's former boun- ty-hunting colleagues – led by Payne (the always on-form Ben Mendelsohn) hot on their trail. And though this is something of a coming-of-age story for Jay, the Coen Bros comparison holds when it comes to the trenchantly funny way his dreams are treated: the son of an aristocrat in love with a peasant girl forced to go on the run in the Wild West, the boy is clearly in over his head. A small, atmospheric triumph whose darkly comic edge is en- dearing and whose traditional backbone ensures it will have a wide appeal... all over the world. By Teodor Reljic No Americans in this Western ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ SLOW WEST ★ ★ ★ ★ SLOW FOOD ★ ★ ★ SLOWLY BUT SURELY ★ ★ SLOW DOWN! ★ SLOW, DEEP AND HARD FILM Close shave: Michael Fassbender (top) and Kodi Smit-McPhee make for unlikely companions in John Maclean's directorial debut SLOW WEST (15) ★ ★ ★ ★ Shot in New Zealand, directed by a Scot and with a principal cast consisting of Irish, Australian and South African actors: westerns don't get more international