Parky At the Pictures (17/1/2025)

(Review of Architecton; William Tell; Alone No More; and Panda Bear in Africa)

ARCHITECTON.

According to Russian documentarist, Victor Kossakovsky, Architecton completes a trilogy that started with ¡Vivan las Antipodas! (2011) and Aquarela (2018). The title seemingly references a word used by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace to assess the power of God and a term employed by avant-gardist Kazimir Malevitch to describe the abstract plaster designs he created in the 1920s. Prior to the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, the intention was to satirise modern architecture and its fixation with concrete. But, instead, Kossakovsky has opted to explore the evolution of architecture, the environmental impact of construction, and the tansience of civilisation in a visually striking and intellectually provocative treatise that confirms his mastery of his craft.

Following a prologue, as a drone hovers above the ruins of some apartment blocks and a couple of churches in Ukraine, we cut to Italian architect Michele De Lucchi examining a huge stone megalith at the ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon. We know how the sides of buildings came to be ripped off to allow us to see the inside of former homes where lives have been left abandoned. But how on earth did an ancient society cart such enormous rocks to such a remote spot and why?

The earth literally moves in the next sequence, as we see boulders and rubble moving with almost aqeous grace, as they are set in motion by a detonation at a quarry. We see the step formation created by decades of excavation in a slow pull-away after a monochrome sequence contrasts shots of a deserted village that has become overgrown and the ruins of an ancien city that have been preserved as a memorial to the ingenuity of the craftsmen who carved the pillars and laid out such an imposing edifice at a time when moving such stones would have been exceedingly difficult. Kossakovsky makes this point by showing how tricky it is for De Lucchi and workmen Malla and Davide laying a circle of stones to create an exclusion space in the garden of the architect's country villa.

As rocks are compacted into rubble, we see the effects of an earthquake in Turkey on a residential area. Once again, private quarters are exposed to drone scrutiny and the tattered façades are contrasted with caves and niches in a craggy rock face Meanwhile, a sodden De Lucchi supervises his circle in steady rain and takes pride in removing the centre staff and declaring himself to be the last human to set foot inside this new sanctuary for all things non-human.

Back on his travels, he surveys more ruins and chats (despite the language barrier) to a caretaker whose job is keeping the place clean. The camera pulls away from the ancient site to show the higgledy-piggledy houses rising above it in the encroaching hills. But such charming expansion is confronted just yards away by urban sprawl, as ugly concrete buildings are crammed together with no sense of organised planning.

The claw of a digger tugs at a delapidated building and it falls. Diggers load up trucks that snarl up the roads leading into a dumping ground. Dust rises, as rubble is deposited and sifted on the edge of another man-made crater. By contrast, De Lucchi and Kossakovsky gather beside the `circle of life' and lament the way we have forgotten how to build beautifully and sustainably. De Lucchi admits to having some structures on his conscience, as he repeats the old maxim about architects influencing behaviour as well as landscape. He hopes his family respect his plot (one of his dogs likes it), but knows things change quickly in a world where buildings now have a lifetime of 40 years rather than centuries.

A little more of this theorising about classical notions of beauty and their relevance in an age of spiralling demand and dwindling resources might not have gone amiss. But, while it brings the themes explored through the mesmerising visuals into sharper focus, the bookending discussion between De Lucchi and Kossakovsky also risks exposing that this can sometimes feel like a rather superficial exercise in contrasting civilisations solely by their architectural accomplishments rather than by the wider historical forces at play and the role played by human foible in designing and destoying settlements.

There are echoes of the work of Edward Burtynsky, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Sophie Fiennes, and Godfrey Reggio in the imagery, which sees cinematographer Ben Bernhard make exemplary use of drones, particularly when peering into the ripped-open high-rise rooms in Ukraine and Turkey in the film's most devastating sequences. Sound designer Alexander Dudarev and composer Evgueni Galperine also make notable contributions, as does Kossakovsky's co-editor, Ainara Vera. For all its skill at provoking thought, however, this feels more like a polished son et lumière presentation than an urgent eco-architectural statement.

WILLIAM TELL.

Ah, the good old days, when Hollywood producers picked projects from the Big Bumper Book of Prestige Stories in the studio mogul's cavernous office. Sadly, pictures about such Boys' Own Adventure icons as Richard the Lionheart and Ivanhoe are much rarer our Game of Thrones era, which makes the release of Nick Hamm's William Tell all the more intriguing. Costing $45 million and running for 133 minutes, this would-be epic has been loosely based on the 1804 play by Friedrich Schiller. But this is no paean to a golden age of Germanic literature. Instead, it's a bold bid to examine the nature of heroism for an age in which it's become unrecognisably debased in the unabashed hope of pulling in enough coin to merit a sequel.

The scene opens in Switzerland in 1307, as William Tell (Claes Bang) is preparing to shoot an apple off the head of his beloved son, Walter (Tobias Jowett), in order to avoid being imprisoned by Albrecht Gessler (Connor Swindells), the Austrian viceroy at the head of an invading army from the Holy Roman Empire who doesn't take kindly to acts of honour or resistance. But, rather than waiting to see whether William is successful in his endeaaour, the action flashes back three days to show how things came to such a pretty pass.

While William and Walter are hunting in the Alps, an Austrian tax collector rapes and kills the wife of Baumgarten (Sam Keeley). Having murdered him in his bath, the farmer escapes across the river and reaches the Tells' village as a storm is about to break. William offers to row him across the lake and looks back to see bloody reprisals being taken against his neighbours. A veteran of the Crusades, William had sworn off combat, but he quickly realises that the Austrians are a threat to his peaceful way of life with wife Suna (Golshifteh Farahani).

Outraged by the news, King Albert (Ben Kingsley) agrees with Gessler that he should try to undermine the Swiss from within rather than imposing force. He orders his half-Swiss niece, Bertha (Ellie Bamber), to be nice to Gessler, but she is rebellious at heart. Much to the frustration of Attinghauser (Jonathan Pryce) the steward, nephew Rudenz (Jonah Hauer-King) hates being sneered at as a peasant nobleman by the Austrians and believes that, by throwing in his lot with the Hapsburgs, he can boost his status at court and his power within his homeland.

Back in Switzerland, William takes Baumgarten to the house of his comrade in arms, Stauffacher (Rafe Spall), a patriot who is married to Gertrude (Emily Beecham). Their resolve to resist the Austrians is intensified when Gessler searches their home and reaches the conclusion that William is a dangerous adversary because he owns such a fine crossbow. He is eager to return home and warns about provoking the Austrians by telling a story about how the bees that had stung his mare to death in Jerusalem perished as a result of their actions.

As Rudenz pledges his loyalty to Albert (much to the dismay of lover Bertha), William witnesses an assault on a hill village and uses his crossbow to kill the Austrian commanders. Realising he is now committed to the cause, he travels to Altdorf to meet with Furst (Amar Chadha-Patel), a monk who hopes to bring the cantons together under the Attinghauser banner. However, Gessel is convinced that William is behind the death of his men in the village and conspires with albino sidekick Stussl (Jake Dunn) to expose him by putting an Austrian helmet on a pole n the main square and then arresting anyone who refuses to kneel in abeyance before it.

While Suna urges her husband to embrace a noble cause and he recalls how they met in the Holy Land, Bertha resists the advances of Gessler when he takes her on campaign. Rudenz is livid when he sees the Austrian disrespect his beloved, but only realises that the king has duped him into helping suppress his compatriots when Bertha opens his eyes and urges him to win her hand by freeing their country.

Meanwhile, Walter wanders in front of the helmet in Altdorf and Stussl attempts to arrest William when he refuses to kneel. As Suna, Furst, and Stauffacher look on, Gessler rides into the square and sets William the challenge of shooting an apple off Walter's head in order to escape jail. Baumgarten tries to spare him the ordeal by giving himself up, but he has a sword plunged into his chest. William asks to suffer the same fate if his family is spared. But Gessler is adamant and marks out 20 paces for the shot, as his troops hold back the crowd. Furst tries to plead for William by going on his knees, but he is brushed aside, as is Suna. Her husband promises her he will not miss and takes the knee to fire.

The point hits its mark and there is rejoicing. But Gessler asks why William had a second arrow in his belt and he admits that he would have fired at the Austrian if he had missed. This prompts Gessler to have William arrested and locked in a barred cart, while he has Rudenz taken into charge for betraying the king. On a roll, he also taunts Bertha for the failure of her sweetheart and promises that she will be his when she resists his crude advances.

While William and Bertha are sent to Austria by river, Rudenz secures the deathbed blessing of his uncle and meets in a cave with Furst and the other canton leaders. Suna makes them swear on their swords to forget petty rivalries to serve the greater cause. She also suggests letting the womenfolk lead the attack on Castle Sarnen by gaining entrance and then opening the gates to the Swiss forces. Meanwhile, William and Bertha escape after their ship is wrecked, only for Stussl to capture the locals who had aided their flight. He persuades Gessler to make himself a target to lure William into the open so they can destroy him.

The ploy misfires, with Gessler taking an arrow in the arm and Bertha having to rescue William on horseback when he is wounded in putting himself at risk to get his revenge. She reminds him that anger blunts purpose and urges him to fight the enemy rather than one man. As she rides back to court to tell her uncle what she has witnessed, William rejoins the patriots, who failed to take Sarnen because their plan was passed on to Stussl, who was ready for them. Gertrude was killed and Suna has to coax William into taking command for a last push against the Austrians. In giving a pep talk, he tells everyone to ask the person next to them whether they are willing to die for each other.

Albert, however, has sent Gessler to Altdorf to hold the town while he raises an army that will conquer the Swiss. He struts the ramparts and banters with William when he comes to demand his surrender. But the Swiss have discovered a tunnel created by those who had been forced to fortify the town and they use the distraction to sneak in under cover of darkness. Gessler blames Stussl for failing to remain vigilant and sends him to defend the gates against a battering ram.

Victory is swift and bloody, with William sparing Gessler to humiliate him. Back in Austria, Bertha escapes from prison after her plea for peace has fallen on deaf ears. She murders Albert by plunging a dagger into his good right eye and rides back to Switzerland to warn William that the king's religious fanatic daughter, Agnes (Jess Douglas-Welsh), has amassed an army to finish her father's work.

Introducing a new character in the final frames to cue up a sequel feels cheeky rather than cynical. But this picture takes itself so seriously that one can only presume that the makers are so confident in the quality of their product that they believe it would be sheer folly to forego a follow-up. They may well be right, as many worse films have spawned franchises and there is much to admire on the craft side of a story that so laudably seeks to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Jamie D. Ramsay's widescreen photography is particularly impressive in creating the illusion that the Italian locations are really 14th-century Switzerland, although Tonino Zera's production design is also admirable in its recreation of Altdorf and Sarnen. Francesca Sartori's costumes have a similar authenticity. But Steven Price's Rossini-free score, Samir Foco's sound design, and Yan Miles's editing are all about creating the scale and sweep befitting an historical epic that doesn't resort to computer-generated imagery - apart from in the apple scene, when it's employed rather poorly in underselling the story's most celebrated moment.

Aiming for more Show than Tell, Nick Hamm's script and direction also err on the ambitious side, albeit with mixed results. The time and place are capably established, while the scenes of intrigue and action are solidly done. However, the characterisation is sketchy and the dialogue portentous, which presents the performers with problems they don't all succeed in overcoming. Connor Swindells is splendidly pantomimic as the villain, while Ben Kingsley achieves an aura of imposing tyranny without having to raise his voice. Adopting a curiously neutral accent, Dane Claes Bang never particularly like the Swiss Braveheart, even when delivering his equivalent of the St Crispin's Day speech. He also struggles with providing a suitable facial response to the flashbacks to the Crusades that are designed to give William some psychological depth. But, at 6ft 4in, he looks the part and approaches the crossbow challenge with a dignified determination that underscores his heroism.

There's no great chemistry with Golshifteh Farahani, but she and Ellie Bamber creditably ensure that Suna and Bertha are much more than mere damsels. We await to see whether Jess Douglas-Welsh will get a chance to strut her sequel stuff. But, as Bamber broke the bad news, there was just the hint of a look in Bang's eye of, `Oh no, not all that again!'

ALONE NO MORE.

Having served their apprenticeship as assistants on such Hong Kong hits as Flora Lau's Bends (2013), Amos Why's Dot 2 Dot (2014), Andy Lo's Happiness (2016), and Sunny Chan's Men on the Dragon (2018), Thomas Lee (aka Thomas Lee Chi-wai) and Daniel Ho (aka Daniel Ho Ying-ngai) team up to make their directorial debut with Alone No More. Also known as An Abandoned Team, this is a heart-warming tale about the benefits of pet ownership that also offers some thoughtful insights into the treatment of the elderly in modern society.

Cross at being forced to retire and eager to get the attention of his daughter, Zoie (Fish Liew), Yam Chun Kai (Lawrence Cheng) puts a noose around a tree branch in the woods. He slips and is stopped from hanging himself by the stray dog that had been following him. The animal fetches help in the form of Una (Amy Lo), who works at a Sai Kung dog sanctuary alongside chatty veterinary nurse, Toby (Bonnie Wong). She arranges for him to be taken to hospital, where she sees him arguing with Zoie, who has refused a cheque he had sent her.

Touched by the dog's affection when she follows the bus Kai is riding, Una urges him to give her a home. However, when the dog runs amuck in Kai's shack while playing fetch, he hands her over to the pound. When Una informs him that she will be put down unless they can convince the desk clerk, Kai helps her track down the dog's former owner, who reveals her name to be Siu Nam (or Roasted Piggy). He agrees to transfer ownership to spare the creature, but Una decides to put her name on the papers until she's sure Kai deserves such a faithful companion.

While volunteering at the sanctuary, Kai becomes fond of Siu Nam and the other dogs and is concerned when Una reveals that someone is leaving poisoned meat lying around to kill strays. Talked into helping pick up litter, Kai bumps into Zoie, who chats with Una as they work. She discloses that her father had refused to let her have a dog as a girl and that this had led them to become estranged after her mother moved out. Una suggests that Kai is learning from his experiences, but Zoie insists that old dogs cannot learn new tricks.

Kai tries to help Una trap a frightened dog who mistrusts humans because it's been so badly treated. He bungles and let's the animal escape, but gets to see some of the scars Una has collected while trying to save strays. However, she is more worried by the fact that the rich uncle of manager Chung Man (Jay Fung) wants him to go to Edinburgh, as this would place the future of the shelter in doubt (moreover, she's got a crush on her boss).

When Chung asks Una to come with him, she is anxious that the shelter will close down. She is also worried about Kai, as Zoie has announced that she is planning to move to Montréal with her husband and daughter. This news breaks at a family gathering and prompts a shouting match between Una and Chung before Zoie accuses Kai of being a worthless father who was always too preoccupied to make her feel loved. Trudging home, Kai locks Siu Nam out of the compound and goes to hang himself again. But the dog finds a way in and reduces him to tears with a plaintiff look.

Shortly after Chung leaves, Una makes up with her estranged mother. But the shelter is doomed to close, in spite of everyone rallying when the poisoner targets lots of neighbourhood strays. Siu Nam gets his scent and pins him down in the woods and Kai arrives in time to grab the knife being raised against his pet. Several dogs die and Una is crushed. But, while walking with Kai and Siu Nam, they find some abandoned puppies and he reminds her of her maxim that every life counts.

The feel-good factor is quickly dissipated by the pre-credit announcement of the death of Little, the dog who played Siu Nam with such soft-eyed energy. She's the absolute star of the show, as she teaches Lawrence Cheng to appreciate the value of life and the importance of belonging. But Ho and Lee wisely rein in the sentiment in exploring the complexities of family life and the fact that so many Hong Kongers choose to emigrate in search of opportunity. They also draw attention to the plight of stray dogs in the city, with the poisoning subplot being based on fact.

The romantic angle doesn't really gel, while Una's problems with her mother too closely echo Kai's troubles with Zoie. But Amy Lo develops an easy rapport with Cheng, whose lonely curmudgeon can seem a touch shouty at times. When he thinks back, however, on playing spacemen with his daughter (with the flashbacks cueing up a quaint walkie-talkie finale) and when scolding his new pet for getting under his skin, Cheng is more nuanced and effective. Malaysian actress Fish Liew demonstrates similar restraint in the story's more melodramatic moments, but there's an authenticity about a debut that brings to mind the everyday sagas of Ann Hui.

PANDA BEAR IN AFRICA.

Film-makers have been cribbing shots off each other since cinema's first flickering. The cinéastes of the nouvelle vague invested their appropriations with knowing irony and dubbed them `hommages'. In today's DJing parlance, the term would be `sampling' and directors Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich employ the technique with shameless skill in Panda Bear in Africa, as they borrow liberally from just about every animation about wild animals made over the past four decades without once making it seem like a direct steal.

It helps that the odyssey is approached with a geniality that is given added brio by the conviction of the characterisation and the bold graphics and colourfulness of the computer-generated imagery. Indeed, these attributes almost make one forget the derivative nature of the enterprise and the prosaic tone of much of the vocal work. Tinies, however, won't care a hoot about such niceties or the geographical liberties taken with the continents of Asia and Africa.

Somewhere in what could well be China, Pang the panda (Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing) spends his days chomping bamboo and playing with his best friend, Jielong (Georgina Verbaan), a young female dragon who has yet to learn how to fly or to emulate her venerable father's weather-changing breathing skills. One day, however, Jielong is kidnapped by a cunning baboon and a doltish crocodile and the plucky Pang stows away on an orangutan's boat heading to Africa in a bid to rescue her.

Jielong has been targeted by Malume (Silas Lekgoathi), the regent uncle to Ade (Namisa Mdalalose), a lion prince whose parents had supposedly been killed by the hyenas from the neighbouring part of the jungle. Malume believes that the dragon can blow icy blasts to freeze his foe and promises his nephew that he is about to receive the best birthday present of his life. However, he hasn't reckoned with Pang, who has joined forces with Jojo (Maurits Delchot), a chatty monkey who claims to recognise the place on the map that the panda has obtained.

Of course, Jojo is bluffing and the pair struggle to get past some pesky meerkats before a camel taxi leaves them stranded in the middle of the desert. Just as they are about to expire, however, they stumble across a verdant vista where they meet Niala (Candice Modiselle), a female hyena who was Ade's best friend until Malume chased her away.

Back at the Lion Rock, Jielong has been delivered and is kept in a cage in a cave with her snout tied to prevent her from breathing ice or fire. Initially disappointed not to have received a hamster for his gift, Ade befriends the dragon and laments that his uncle has got it in for the hyenas because he likes them. Pang also learns from Niala that her kind didn't kill Ade's parents. They had actually fallen into a fast-flowing river while looking for their son, who had snuck into hyena territory to play with her. She had spotted Malume in the bushes and noted that he made no attempt to save his brother, as he wanted power for himself.

Following encounters with rhinos, hippos, and giraffes, Pang, Jojo, and Niala reach Lion Rock in time to liberate Jielong. The latter freezes Malume and allows Ade and Niala to be reunited. The princeling declares the enmity between lions and hyenas to be over, although Malume manages to defrost himself and hurl a spear at Jojo before Jielong's timely discovery that she can now fly saves Pang from a watery end and casts the villain into oblivion.

With Jojo joining Pang and Jielong on the flight back to China to find a new home, all ends cosily. One suspects the makers have sequel ideas in mind, with Ade and Niala maybe making a trip of their own. Clearly, the message about creatures from different habitats getting along is worth making - as numerous Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks animations have been doing in recent times. But, for all the positive notes about friendship, respect for the environment, and a readiness to accept difference, there is something self-conscious about this meld of myth and safari that makes it feel calculatingly cobbled. It shouldn't spoil the fun for youngsters, but most watching adults will be grateful they won't have to answer the many awkward questions that this engaging, but loaded movie throws up.