HIDDEN FIGURES: 3 ½ STARS
The title 鈥淗idden Figures鈥 has a double meaning. On one hand, it refers to the mathematical calculations that went in to making John Glenn the first American man into space in 1962. On the other hand, it describes Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three African-American NASA mathematicians who did many of those calculations.
鈥淭hey let women do things at NASA,鈥 says Johnson, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 not because we wear skirts, it鈥檚 because we wear glasses.鈥
Taraji P. Henson is Katherine Johnson, a math prodigy who can, 鈥渓ook beyond the numbers.鈥 At the beginning of 1961 she and her two car pool pals, mathematician Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and aerospace engineer Jackson (Janelle Monáe), were working in the segregated West Area Computers division of Langley Research Center.
Just weeks before the launch, they are singled out. Johnson鈥檚 genius with analytic geometry lands her a spot with the Space Task Group to calculate launches and landings. Vaughan takes over the programming of the new IMB computer and Jackson is tasked with working on the Mercury capsule prototype.
Each face hurdles due to their race. When Johnson first walks into her new, shared workspace, one of the men hands her an overflowing garbage can as he says, 鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 emptied last night.鈥 Personnel supervisor Mrs. Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) thinks Vaughan is too aggressive in her requests for a supervisor鈥檚 position, and Jackson, despite her degree, is told she can only become a NASA qualified engineer if she attends classes at a local, segregated high school.
鈥淓very time we have a chance to get ahead,鈥 Jackson says, 鈥渢hey move the finish line.鈥
The film focuses on Johnson, but by the time the end credits roll all three women have risen above the societal challenges placed on them to make invaluable contributions to the NASA space program.
鈥淗idden Figures鈥 is a feel good, crowd pleaser of a movie. Based on true events, it portrays an upbeat version of the past. 鈥淗idden Figures鈥 is set in the same time frame as 鈥淟oving,鈥 Jeff Nichols鈥 recent look at the legalization of interracial marriage, but values broad moments over Nichols鈥 more nuanced approach. As a blend of history and uplift, it is occasionally a bit too on-the-money鈥斺淲e are living the impossible,鈥 says Jackson鈥檚 boss Karl Zielinski (Olek Krupa)鈥攂ut engages with its subject and characters in an entertaining and heartfelt way.
Henson is the movie鈥檚 centre and soul, even when she slips into slapstick while doing extended runs to the 鈥淐oloured Bathroom鈥 in a building located blocks away from her office. Those scenes are played for comedy, but make an important point about the treatment of African American people in a less enlightened time.
Monáe is a feisty presence and Spencer brings a hard-earned dignity to Vaughan. In the supporting category, Kevin Costner does nice, effortless work as Al Harrison, head of the Space Task Group.
鈥淗idden Figures鈥 details a little known, but vitally important part of American history. It鈥檚 a good-hearted look at a time of great change both in the macro鈥擜merican cultural shifts in the space race and in terms of race鈥攁nd in the micro universe of how African American women made their mark at NASA.
SILENCE: 4 ½ STARS
Director Martin Scorsese has always been torn between the scared and the profane. His greatest work has always grappled with sin and redemption, populated by characters like "God's lonely man,鈥 truth seeker and psychopath Travis Bickle.
Over forty years ago he did a voice over in 鈥淢ean Streets鈥 that could be inserted (with certain modifications) into his latest film, a seventeenth century epic based on Sh奴saku End艒鈥檚 1966 novel 鈥淪ilence.鈥
"You don't make up for your sins in church,鈥 he says. 鈥淵ou do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bull**** and you know it."
In this case 鈥渢he streets鈥 are a foreign land, but the spiritual journey is not that different.
鈥淪ilence鈥 begins in 1633, with the disappearance of Father Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson), a Portuguese Jesuit priest who has gone missing while on mission in Japan.
Christianity is an outlawed religion and those who hide Christians are tortured and killed. Two young priests, Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garrpe (Adam Driver), acolytes of Ferreira, convince Father Valignano (Ciarán Hinds) to allow them to travel to Japan to locate their mentor.
鈥淗ow can we abandon our mission?鈥 asks Rodrigues. 鈥淗ow do we neglect the man who shaped our faith? We have no choice but to save his soul.鈥
The year is 1640 and they are the last two priests to go to Japan. 鈥淎n army of two,鈥 says Valignano. An arduous journey leads them to a country more dangerous and complicated than they anticipated. Christians are desperate for their word but live in fear. Officials insist, 鈥淵our doctrine is of no use in Japan. We have concluded it is a danger.鈥 If caught by colonels of the country鈥檚 inquisitor Inoue Masashige (Issey Ogata) Christians are first asked to committed apostasy鈥攕tep on an image of Jesus Christ鈥攖o denounce their faith or be killed.
As the bodies pile up around them on their search the question must be asked, are they helping or are they foreigners who bring disaster with them?
鈥淭hink of the suffering you have inflicted on these people,鈥 says Masashige, the cheery faced inquisitor with a squeaky voice, 鈥渏ust for your vision of a church.鈥 If the priests die the Japanese church dies with them but will the suffering of their people be enough to compel them to make the painful act of love ever performed, apostasy?
鈥淪ilence鈥 is a meditative movie about the strength of faith and the limits to which it can be stretched. It is a physical and sacred journey à la 鈥淗eart of Darkness.鈥 A look into obsession, colonialism and martyrdom, it is a deliberately paced鈥攊.e.: a slow, almost glacial tempo鈥攆ilm unafraid to submerge the viewer in the suffering of its characters. Make no mistake, this is no 鈥淧assion of the Christ鈥 with its love of violence and blood. This is a 160-minute movie that examines the intersection of agony and ecstasy, but does so as an exercise of the mind. There are uncomfortable images, but Scorsese plays it straight, presenting the instances of torture as expressions of the power of belief rather than merely physical agonies. The movie may start with a beautifully composed shot of the dismembered heads of two priests, but the violence here isn鈥檛 glamorized, it is organic to the story and even more chilling as a result.
Also, anyone expecting the usual Scorsese stylistic flourishes may be disappointed. There are no Rolling Stones songs or slow motion. There are a few overhead shots, but nothing as showy as the long, uninterrupted tracking shot in 鈥淕oodfellas.鈥 Instead it鈥檚 a classically made film with some serious Kurosawa mojo.
As the Jesuits Garfield and Driver convey divine confidence and yet, as their faith is tested and doubt seeps in, they play their characters as priests battling to do the right thing in the face of suffering and insurmountable odds. Both must make the choice between their beliefs and the stark reality of the consequences of their belief. Both bring humanity to characters who could have been simply portals for some kind of celestial message.
Most memorable is Issey Ogata as the grinning inquisitor Inoue Masashige. The very definition of the ordinariness of evil, he is a cruel man with a smile on his face and a scar on his heart. Think 鈥淚nglorious Basterds鈥檚鈥 Hans Landa with the faux gentility of Auric Goldfinger and you get the idea.
鈥淪ilence鈥 is a rarity, a big, epic film that values introspection. It鈥檚 a companion piece to Scorsese鈥檚 other religious offerings鈥斺淭he Last Temptation of Christ鈥 and 鈥淜undun鈥濃攂ut a more complicated film than either of those. It is about faith, but more importantly, also about the distinction between religion and spirituality and Scorsese does not back away from diving into those murky theological waters.
A MONSTER CALLS: 3 ½ STARS
Conor O鈥橫alley鈥檚 (Lewis MacDougall) needs a friend. A sensitive child with a troubled home life, he鈥檚 being forced to deal with adult problems even though he鈥檚 only twelve-years-old. He is, as one character says, 鈥渢oo old to be a kid, too young to be a man.鈥
The young British boy鈥檚 troubles are many. His mother (Felicity Jones) has terminal cancer so he鈥檚 forced to move in with his strict grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). 鈥淚f you get hungry there鈥檚 spinach in the fridge,鈥 she says on the way out the door. 鈥淒on鈥檛 touch anything!鈥
If that wasn鈥檛 bad enough his father (Toby Kebbell) lives in California and he鈥檚 the favourite of local bully Harry (James Melville). 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry you have to face this,鈥 says dad, 鈥渂ut you have to be brave.鈥
One night, at 12:07, he meets the friend he so desperately needs, a monster yew tree (voiced by Liam Neeson) with roots for legs and long branches for arms. 鈥淚 know everything about you,鈥 he rumbles. 鈥淭he truth you hide. The truth you dream.鈥 Speaking in parables the giant tree tells Conor three stories to help him cope with the trauma in his life.
鈥淎 Monster Calls鈥 is a quiet family drama about growing up and learning to grieve. It鈥檚 an intense topic and one that places it just outside of the kid鈥檚 entertainment category. An off-kilter tale that packs an emotional wallop in its final third, it defies expectations by allowing the characters to react in real ways. This is not sentimental fluff. Conor is in turmoil, plagued by nightmares of his mother鈥檚 grave and, as a result, lashes out in anger. It鈥檚 powerful and upsetting to see a young boy struggle with situations that he can barely understand let alone control.
At the heart of the story is Lewis MacDougall as Conor. He鈥檚 a child with an adult face that imbues the character with an unactorly authenticity that feels utterly real, even when he is talking to a giant tree.
Neeson鈥檚 voice is a thunderous roar that comes on strong, but hides an undercurrent of tenderness and compassion.
鈥淎 Monster Calls鈥 is a heartbreaking tale with a nightmarish climax that will be too intense for kids who may get wrapped up in the story. For everyone else, it鈥檚 a fractured fairy tale with real insight and pathos.
