Red Sparrow is a 2018 spy-thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence who worked with Jennifer Lawrence (the star here) on a couple of the Hunger Games movies, but this is a very different beast. Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova (in, it has to be said, a not entirely convincing Russian accent), and Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenarts and Charlotte Rampling star as the film's secondary characters. This one is a pretty big departure from what Lawrence has done in the past, although it has to be said that she's making some pretty bold career choices. I'm not the first one to say that, and for a good reason: it's true. After last year's Mother! it appeared as if she was trying purposefully trying to appear in more "mature" films, and believe me, it doesn't get much more mature than Red Sparrow. The film plays out like one of those schlocky exploitation from the seventies, in that there's sexual violence, sex, violence, torture, and all manner o
Gaga: Five Foot Two is a 2017 documentary film based on the life of world-famous singer-songwriter Lady Gaga, and chronicles the release of her latest album, Joanne, and the lead-up to her performance at the Superbowl. It was directed by Chris Moukarbel (Me at the Zoo, Banksy Does New York) and is filmed in the 'observational cinema' style, which essentially means it was filmed in a way that documents the events of the film exactly as they happened with no embellishment.
Before I get into the review, I should mention that I'm not a particularly big fan of Lady Gaga. It's not so much that I dislike her, but I've never been that interested in the kind of music she makes. Because of that, I knew practically nothing about her, other than she's known for dressing in excessive costumes.
It's good, then, that the documentary delves a lot into Gaga's personal life. When people are making a music documentary, there's always a danger that the film will glorify the musician too much and fail to portray them as a three-dimensional person with good and bad personality traits, but there's none of that here. The main aspect of Gaga's life the film explores is how she deals with the trappings of the fame. She is ultimately a very likeable person, and it makes the film compelling. She has a strong sense of humour and a lot of passion for her work and compassion for her fans. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but by about the twenty minute mark I was won over.
The cinematography in this film is also pretty aesthetically pleasing. Although it was filmed on a fairly low-budget camera, some of the shots of landscapes and moments where Gaga is having flashbacks of different parts of her life are incredibly effective and look great. The stripped-back style of cinematography lends itself incredibly well to films like this.
The only negative I can really think of is that often Lady Gaga does become a bit of a diva, and complains about incredibly inconsequential things like a jacket having the wrong lining, and mistreats her management team for things which are out of their control, but these moments are few and far between, and the film doesn't suffer too much because of them.
Overall, Gaga: Five Foot Two is a creatively filmed documentary and portrays Lady Gaga as an incredibly human figure. I think people who are big fans of Lady Gaga as a musician and a public figure are going to find a lot to enjoy here, and for people who know very little about her, it's an interesting and authentic insight into her life.
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