I was given Tetro on Blu-ray as a Christmas present but I had delayed watching it as with Francis Ford Coppola’s previous release Youth Without Youth I was actually expecting to be very much disappointed by it, luckily this was not to be the case and its clearly his best entirely original screenplay since The Conversation and his most personal film since Apocalypse Now, I engaged with it so much that I wished it had another 30 minutes running time.

The premise for Tetro is actually very slight Bennie a waiter on a cruise liner, decides to look up his long lost older brother Angelo whilst on shore leave in Buenos Aires.  He discovers him living with his common law wife Miranda (Maribel Verdú) only now he calls himself ‘Tetro’ and claims he no longer wants anything to do with his real family.  Angelo and Bennie are the sons of a celebrated concert conductor although they had different mothers; Angelo’s was an opera singer and died in a car crash whilst he was at the wheel and that, along with another incident between him and his father over a mutual lover, has left him mentally and emotionally scarred.

What struck me immediately about Tetro is how good it looks, I had my doubts as I knew it was shot totally digitally but Mihai Malaimare Junior’s 1080p/24 source HDCAM photography is stunning, shot predominately in monochrome using a 2.35:1 aspect ratio but electing to use a smaller ratio for 1960s home movie style, washed out colour flashbacks and full “Technicolor” for the Powell and Pressburger inspired fantasy ballet sequences.  There is obviously no loss in quality when transferring this to Blu-ray and the film’s visuals are demonstration material and further proof that there will be life after celluloid in this medium.

Newcomer Alden Ehrenreich is a revelation as Bennie, there aren’t many young actors who could hold their own in their screen debut opposite the force of nature that is Vincent Gallo who embodies the damaged Tetro with equal measures of egotistical charm and severe self-loathing; the acting across the board is faultless as with most Coppola productions he insists on a large amount of read-through, rehearsal and improvisational time before shooting and it always pays off in the camera.

Bennie cannot understand why Tetro appears so cold towards him, especially after leaving him a note claiming that he would return to collect him from New York at some point. Both brothers have aspirations to become writers but Tetro along with his past has abandoned his great work, an unfinished play about their father, but when Bennie discovers it in a dusty suitcase he sees not only an opportunity to finish the story but by staging it at the local cafe theatre where Tetro works the lights he can force him to confront his demons.

In the few scenes where he appears Klaus Maria Brandauer brings great presence to the dual role of the elder Tetrocini brothers and Coppola reveals just enough for us to understand the dynamics between the rival siblings; as the maestro Carlo he is effortlessly charismatic, his fame and fortune seducing his son Angelo’s girlfriend, and as Alfredo you see an older man forced to live in the shadow of his younger brother’s success.  These themes are echoed in the future generation of Tetrocini brothers with Angelo envying Bennie’s acclaim when his finished version of his play entitled “Wander Lust” is shortlisted for the top prize at the Patagonia Festival gaining the approval of the mysterious critic “Alone” played by Pedro Almodóvar’s muse Carmen Maura; Tetro had once been her protégée but they had a falling out over artistic differences.

I shan’t spoil the film’s climatic twist which occurs in the extended Patagonia sequence which many critics have dismissed out of hand as self-indulgent without one I’ve read bothering to comment that stylistically it’s very obviously an homage to Federico Fellini and no doubt aware of its unreal quality.  I want to say that Tetro could well be the best film of the decade but I know that I’d be stretching it, however it is certainly Francis Ford Coppola’s best film in a very long time and as such it should be regarded as he is one of the true artists working in cinema today.

I first met Jonathan Owen back in 2013 when I was working on the Cass Pennant documentary Casuals, he was one of the many interviewees who helped to tell the history of the Mod and Casual fashion scene.

As many have testified Jonny is genuinely one of the nicest fellows you’re likely to come across, especially in the entertainment industry, and his winning charm is at the heart of the success of the Svengali project that he has been working on since the first viral debuted on YouTube back in 2009.

The original series of webisodes came to the attention of Mod culture and music fans alike and was hailed by the London Evening Standard as the “best thing on the Internet” at the time.  Featuring a smattering of cameos from the world of Rock, including real-life ‘Svengali’ Alan McGee and Carl Barât of The Libertines, it charts the arrival of former Welsh postman Paul ‘Dixie’ Dean in London with high hopes of promoting the raw and rowdy band The Premature Congratulations to the topper-most-of-the-popper-most.

Whilst the five minute virals focused primarily on Dixie’s naivety and his relationship with his old Valley’s oppo Brian Horse(y) now a successful A&R man, whose contacts include all the leading lights of the British music biz, the feature film expands his world turning the spotlight on his long-suffering fiancée Shell played by the redoubtable, BAFTA award winning actress, Vicky McClure.

Along with the central romantic plot line we also finally get to see The Prems as well as an insight into Dixie’s Welsh roots; particularly effective is the scene where his father played by the late Brian Hibbard tells Dixie that he’s not long for life and they share a poetic moment of pure cinematic gold.  I come back to this scene time and again, not only has it been made more poignant by Hibbard’s own death not long after the film was completed, but because I can’t tell if it’s totally written or completely improvised, either way it’s a marvelous acting tour-de-force by the two men.

The key thing that the film manages to reveal in far greater depth is the fundamental difference between Dixie and Horsey who, on paper, could be considered two sides of the same coin.  Both hail from the same humble beginnings but one has completely reinvented himself cocking a snook at his past, whilst the other totally embraces it.  It’s a shame that Roger Evans’ performance as Horsey seems to have been largely overlooked by the critics, barely being mentioned in most of the mainstream reviews that I’ve read, he is the necessary Yin to Dixie’s Yang and the understated combination of embarrassment, envy and bemusement he displays on screen is one of the movie’s core strengths.

Svengali manages to be at once a satire of the music and fashion scene, with Martin Freeman’s Mod-Elite record store owner and Matt Berry’s outrageously intimidating record label boss providing many of the laughs, but it’s also a romantic comedy, a rags to riches story and a buddy movie; this sounds disjointed but it actually holds together very well.  This is no doubt due to Jonny Owen’s central performance as Dixie, in the frame almost all of the time his warmth, generosity and sincerity ooze off the screen.

In one of the best scenes an exposed Horsey, who spends all of his time with yes men, cut-throat media types and prostitutes, ponders on what Dixie has that he doesn’t and whilst he narrowly focuses on how he is able to spot musical talent it is apparent that the major thing that Paul Dean has over Brian Horse in his life is love; both familial and romantic.  Dixie has kept true to himself and where he has hailed from so consequently, despite walking away from everything he aspired to he retains his dignity and his passion for life.

Svengali has proven that it is possible to make a quality low budget, independent film in the UK that doesn’t have to fit a cookie-cutter mold to reach its audience.  The film’s journey echoes Dixie’s spirit in every frame and it’s a testament to everyone who believed in it and worked on bringing it to the big screen over the years.  I am very excited to see what Root Films, the joint venture between Jonny Owen and producer Martin Root, do next and I wish them continued success.

The Night of the Hunter was the directorial debut of legendary British actor Charles Laughton although due to the largely negative response from both the cinema going public and the critics during its original release in 1955 it was to be his only film behind the camera.  Clearly, the movie was years ahead of its time and is now considered one of the standout classics of film noir and amongst the mostly strikingly photographed films ever made.

Set in a small midwestern town in depression era America Ben Harper (Peter Graves) is driven to commit a hold-up in which two people are killed, on the run he leaves the $10,000 spoils of the crime with his two young children, swearing them never to reveal the location of the money which they hide in his daughter’s toy doll.  Whilst in prison waiting to be hanged Harper shares a cell with a phoney preacher, Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) who is serving a 30 day stretch for stealing a car.  Powell overhears Harper talking in his sleep about the robbery but he wakes up refusing to reveal the location of the cash, a secret he takes with him to the gallows.

On his release Powell visits Harper’s home town and makes a play for his widow Willa (Shelly Winters) who works at the local Soda Fountain, she is struggling to look after her children and feels tainted by the sins of her husband; coaxed both by public opinion that no woman should raise a family alone and the hope that being the partner of a preacher will lead her on the path to salvation she concedes to the will of Harry Powell and marries him.  It becomes clear all too soon that Powell is only interested in finding the loot and he puts pressure on the kids to reveal their secret.

Robert Mitchum who is known for his typically tough and taciturn performances is outstandingly mischievous yet menacing as the devilish false profit Powell and in his key scene uses the tattoos of LOVE and HATE on his knuckles to tell a modern day parable of the battle between good and evil; an indelible movie moment that was brilliantly quoted in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing 30 years later.  When Powell murders Willa and the children flee for their own lives taking a boat down the Mississippi, the film becomes a metaphorical journey from darkness into the light when they reach the end of the river and find sanctuary with Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish) an old woman who takes in waifs and strays.

Whilst the story is relatively simple the film scores highly for its incredible sense of suspense and the stunning visual imagery provided by renowned cinematographer Stanley Cortez taking his inspiration from the great German Expressionists Fritz Lang and F. W. Murnau; the children’s trip down the river is peppered with unusual camera angles and deep focus shots that include various wildlife creatures frolicking by the banks.  The use of sound and music is just as striking and surreal, particularly effective is the two-part singing between the children and Rachel Cooper and later when Harry Powell takes the counterpoint.

The Criterion Collection Blu-ray release sports a miraculous picture transferred directly from the original 35mm negative to a full 1080p/AVC MEPG-4 encode and presented for the first time in the correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio.  The monochrome photography has never looked so sharp with perfect contrast between ebony blacks and radiant whites which are showcased by the shots containing prominent shafts of light and the shadows that encroach on Willa’s bedroom as Harry Powell looms over her.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track is uncompressed and totally appropriate for a movie of its age, so often the attempts to create a 5.1 surround approximation lose the directness, particularly when it comes to dialogue.

The Night of the Hunter has undoubtedly been an influence on the works of Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and the Coen Brothers to name but a few and this hidef release will ensure its unique spellbinding magic will continue to inspire generations of filmmakers yet to come.