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Red Sparrow (2018) Review

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
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Classic Review: Whisper of the Heart

Whisper of the Heart is one of the lesser-known films made by anime giant Studio Ghibli. This one was released in 1995, and tells the story of Shizuku, a young middle-school student who loves to read. One day, she discovers that each book she borrows from the library has been rented by another boy called Seiji Amasawa. She becomes curious about him, imagining him to be a wonderful, well-read and intelligent person, and decides to investigate him. Eventually she does, and a romance starts to blossom between the two.

I saw my first Ghibli film almost ten years ago (of course, it was Spirited Away), and instantly fell in love it. Ever since then, I've watched any Ghibli film I could get my hands on, and I'm sure I watched Whisper of the Heart for the first time when I was fairly young.


At its heart, Whisper of the Heart is a coming-of-age film (and a beautiful one at that), but the romance element of this one is incredibly strong. It starts with a classically-tinged rendition of John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads, which is a song choice that I can see a lot of people finding a little cheesy. It's never really affected my enjoyment of the film, but I can definitely understand that it will affect some people's.

That's really the only flaw I can think of in Whisper of the Heart. The animation is gorgeous, and within the first half an hour you really start to care about the two main characters more than you would expect. And of course, the Ghibli stamp is all over it. There are plenty of moments of real beauty in this film, and it is genuinely heartwarming. If you don't have a smile on your face by the time the film ends, you probably have a heart of stone.

This film also has an incredibly interesting sub-plot about the struggles of being an aspiring artist. He's an aspiring violinist, and she's an aspiring writer, and throughout the film, both of them are doing what they feel like they have to do to become competent at their craft, which is a unique part of it and leads to some very enchanting fantasy moments.


Whisper of the Heart is an essential film for Ghibli/anime fans, but I'd recommend this film to anyone who's a fan of coming-of-age or romance films. It's a beautiful, whimsical and often funny story with a lot of start. Within the first act of the film I was won over, and I'm sure you will be too.

Score: A

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