Unforgettable, Their Finest and Lady Macbeth

Three films with strong women as the star. I cannot remember if this has ever happened before. Not only that, but the trailers when I went to see the last of these again featured women in the starring roles; My Cousin Rachel, Wonder Woman, Mrs Sloane and Atomic Blonde. Good to see.

Unforgettable comes from the same stable as Fatal Attraction, What Lies Beneath and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. An unhinged ex wife. That's all you need to know. This time it's Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson who square up over a forgettable man. An excellent original screenplay from British writer Christina Hudson and good work from first time director Denise Di Novi. I liked how the clothes worn by the two stars were so different, and the sets and cinematography were all fine for a limited budget. Why is it that in these movies, we always see the woman out running? Probably to show off the hills of Southern California.

It's Gemma Arterton who just about holds together Their Finest, a whimsical story with a serious background. London in the blitz is an uncomfortable place to be. So the scenes shot in Devon are a more suitable place for the light hearted nature this film tries to portray. The mixture of witty dialogue and war is a little strange, but in the hands of Bill Nighy (playing himself again) it is always fun. Lone Sherfig directs with aplomb and there is great attention to detail in the 1940's costumes, sets and design.

When a very small movie gets 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and even Camilla Long in The Sunday Times gives it five stars, it must have something. And that is a drama which is so raw and powerful that it leaves you breathless at the end. It must have been tricky to cast twenty one year old Florence Pugh as Katherine in the title role of Lady Macbeth, but she is extraordinary. Is it too early to talk about an Oscar nomination?

I had only heard about the Russian novel Lady Macbeth of Mtensk from recently reading Julian Barnes' The Noise of Time where Shostakovitch adapts the book for his opera of the same name. This time the story is set in the nineteenth century close to a British north eastern coast. When you buy a young woman for an older man's wife, and take her far away from civilisation, you really don't know what you are getting into. With her husband and his farther absent for long periods, what is a strong lass to do?

First time director William Oldroyd has worked marvels with a tiny budget. Some TV dramas must get more. The house and the landscape are eerie places. Oldroyd has cast black and mixed race actors in some surprising roles, but these work really well and add to the disquiet this movie brings. Then there is the sound. The absence of any background music was strange and uncomfortable to begin with, but after a while it was fine. The noise of doors and shutters opening and closing and other little sounds were therefore magnified in an otherwise silent house. There was one instance when Katherine is sitting silently and all you hear is a slight rumble from outside and you have to guess what that might be.