‘Ballerina’: A graceful spin-off from the John Wick franchise • FRANCE 24 English

‘Ballerina’: A graceful spin-off from the John Wick franchise • FRANCE 24 English

[Music] [Applause] [Music] I consider what people tell me far less interesting than what they choose not to tell me. Hello and welcome to our cinema show here on Arts 24. I’m joined by our film critic, Emma Jones, to talk about the week’s new releases. Hi, Emma. Hello. We’re starting with a film that’s out today in France. It’s called From the World of John Wick, Ballerina, and it’s directed by Len Wisman. Now, this follows the four hugely successful John Wick movies starring Keanu Reeves, which have made around $3 billion at the box office. So, we can definitely say successful. Emma, in your opinion, what’s the thinking behind this spin-off story? I’m sure the thinking is how to keep the John Wick story alive in some way because you may know this is not a plot spoiler at the end of the last John Wick installment. Um, that reluctant assassin who only wanted to retire in peace. Well, he seemed to die at the end of Yes. But although since John Wick 5 is apparently in the works, I think that with James Bond, as with James Bond, you know, no successful assassin is ever allowed to be killed off. So, Ballerina stars Cuban Spanish actress Anna de Armas as Eve. Now, she is a young woman who’s adopted into an organized crime syndicate called the Ruskar Roma. Now, they appeared in a previous John Wick story. So, Eve goes rogue to find the man who killed her father. He’s known as the chancellor, played by Gabriel Burn. Now, he runs a cult in a charming snowcovered alpine village. This being John Wick, what’s the betting? The ice skates themselves are going to be used as a weapon. Very resourceful. Originally, Ballerina was going to be a pure spin-off movie, but the film is littered with familiar faces from the John Wick universe. They include Angelica Houston, Donn Yen, Ian McShane, and of course, John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves. You’re him, the one they called the [Music] Babayaga. The students will talk about you. How do I get out of here? The front door is unlocked. No, I mean, how do I start doing what you do? Looks like you already have. I think fans will be delighted to see Keanu Reeves in this movie. Although it does say a lot about whether its makers thought Ballerina could be a success without him in it, I feel. And since the film’s budget was around $90 million, I believe there’s a lot riding on its success. Yeah, no pressure there. Well, both Anna Diamas and Keano Reeves have been on the red carpet to promote Ballerina. Let’s hear what Keanu had to say about his co-stars work and what it took for her to achieve all those stunts in the film. [Music] the range of what she’s done is so impressive. Um, comedy, action, drama, satire. I mean, so really a remarkable actress compared to other action films I did before, which definitely helped having a sense of what that was. It this definitely took me to another level and it it was so hard. Um months and months of preparation and training and working on the fights and the choreographies and weapons and you know um a lot of work but it felt it felt very cool and empowering and like actually to be able to pull it off was really really awesome. They killed my father. So, Emma, do you think that Ballerina works as part of the larger John Wick universe? I have to say this is a great action movie and Anad Armas, you know, has already proven that she can do these action roles like in No Time To Die. She’s impeccable in this film and actually I found her more charismatic than Keanu Reeves. I know that’s probably heresy to say something like that, but uh the the only thing is I think by the end, you know, the the fighting which is non-stop if imaginative gets a little bit too tedious for me. That’s my only criticism. Now, there was some story because this film has been delayed. It was made in 2023. Um there was some talk that there were re-shoots of some scenes, but that’s not the case. Apparently, according to Len Weisman, the director, he said there were additional shoots made and he was actually in hospital at the time. So, the original John Wick director, Chad Stleski, a producer on this film, had to take the helm. Now, whatever happens, I think this film should really please fans, and it’s certainly going to do well at the box office, I’m pretty sure. Well, moving on to a film that’s more cerebral than action le Freud’s Last Session. This stars Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Good. is directed by Matthew Brown and Anthony Hopkins actually plays psychoanalyst Sigman Freud who meets the Christian thinker and writer CS Lewis the author of the Narnia series of children’s stories. Did this meeting of these great minds actually happen? Sadly it’s as fictitious as the story line of the two popes which of course Anthony Hopkins also starred in and it kind of reminds me a little bit of this film. It’s an intense discussion of faith as Freud was an atheist as was CS Lewis before his surprise conversion to Christianity. Now, the story is adapted from a stage play and it takes place on the day Britain declares war on Nazi Germany. Freud is in London in the final weeks of his life. He’s suffering from mouth cancer, but he invites CS Lewis over in order to berate him over his conversion. Okay, sounds pretty friendly there. Okay, let’s take a look at the film. Professor Lewis. Yes. Anna Floyd. Ah, nice to meet you. Annie, good luck. Dr. Freud, sit please. Not there. That’s the transformation couch. You be careful. It seems to me, Professor, you never matured enough to face the terror of being alone in the dark. Do you bury your doubts? You bury your memories of the war. [Music] Look, there’s one major reason to see this in cinemas, and that’s got to be Anthony Hopkins. He’s 87 years old. He’s still got work in production. And there might be a distinctive Welsh accent coming from Hopkins, I feel, rather than a vianese one. I’m Welsh myself. I feel I can say that. Um, but he’s still incredibly engaging, particularly in Freud’s scenes with his daughter Anna. Now, played by Babylon Berlin star Liv Lisa Frizz. And Freud clearly has a dysfunctional relationship with his daughter. As for the rest of the film, feels a lot like a stage play. A lot of dialogue about Faith and this being Freudian sex as well. However, there is a really nice feeling of things coming full circle for Anthony Hopkins because you may remember he’s played C. Lewis as well in the 1993 classic Shadowlands. Yeah. So, familiar territory for him there. Well, now we’re moving to a French documentary uh by director Khloe Bahul. It’s called Fragments of a Life. And it’s about what Bahul’s ex-lovers remember of their relationships with her. It was made possible because Bahul had been filming her life since at least the mid1 1990s and has plenty of self-shot archive footage to draw on. Let’s take a look. [Music] [Music] St. [Music] Wow. Certainly a bold idea, isn’t it, to ask your ex-lovers what they remember of about their time with you. I certainly wouldn’t, but it is quite remarkable because Barrow, who’s now in her late 40s, you know, was using a camera um years before the rest of us had a smartphone. I find that absolutely fascinating. So her ex-lovers include both men and women. The film is in French and Italian. Quite a few famous interviewees in there, including um director Rebecca Zlatowski. Now, what I find fascinating about the film is not so much the accounts of of Barrow. You know, not all of that is flattering either, which is which is quite delicious. It’s the era itself because the 1990s where a lot of this took place was an era that if you had something to say in the matters of love, you sent a letter rather than a text. So I love looking at this era and it’s also poignant to see all these faces looking so young in the film. So it’s a really fascinating exploration of lost youth, I suppose, lost love and a lost era. You know, it really is quite a fascinating watch. More analog time perhaps. Well, finally to the big French release of the week now. It comes from director Fabian Gi, sorry. And it’s called Lo P. It stars Sif Cis and Dunipides of the Comedy Frater Troop. Tell us more about this one. Yes, this is based upon a 2020 novel by Luke Blan Villain about Baptist. Now, he’s played by Cece and he is a talented mimic, but he is unable to make a living at his art. That is until he is hired by the famous novelist Pierre Shoen played by Deni Podes to imitate his voice and to answer his phone for him while Pierre gets on with writing his novel. Um before he knows it, Batiste is deeply involved in Pierre’s life and that’s going to have predictably complicated results as you can imagine. Now, apart from the practical question, Olivia of who phones each other these days. Anyway, you know, I I do wish that this film’s portrayal was seem to be more critical or more ironic of Parisian intellectual life and examine the questions of why Baptiste can’t make a living at his art. I think that would be very interesting to explore. But I have to say that Salifis say, this is his first leading role. He’s fantastic in this. The the character of Baptist that he’s created is gentle, empathetic, a really good watch. It makes him really an actor to watch. Okay, we’ll be looking out for him then. Well, thanks for the tip, Emma, and thanks for the roundup this week. We’ll leave you with a taste of that voicemail inspired comedy, London. And do join us here every day for more arts and culture on Arts 24. We’re on social media, too. [Music] [Music] Hello.

Ana de Armas takes on the high-octane stunts as a dancer-turned-assassin in the big-budget action thriller “Ballerina”. Film critic Emma Jones tells us why de Armas’s charisma and talent for physical feats make her a compelling lead for this detour within the John Wick universe.
#cinema #JohnWick #keanureeves

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