Mark Kermode on… Kathryn Bigelow, a stylish ruffler of feathers

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From vampire noir to Bin Laden, Point Break to Detroit, the first woman to win an Oscar for best director has never pulled her punches Watching new Jeff Nichols release The Bikeriders , starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy as 60s Chicago greasers, I was reminded of two other movies: László Benedek’s 1953 Marlon Brando vehicle The Wild One , explicitly cited as an inspiration, and The Loveless , the 1981 feature debut of Kathryn Bigelow , the American film-maker (b.1951) who would go on to become the first woman to win a best director Oscar with her 2008 war drama The Hurt Locker . A symphony of leather-clad posing (with just a touch of Kenneth Anger ), The Loveless was a staple of the late-night circuit in the 80s, often on a double bill with David Lynch’s Eraserhead . Sharing directing credits with Monty Montgomery, Bigelow playfully deconstructed masculinity and machismo in a manner that was one part wry to two parts relish. I remember seeing The Loveless at the Phoenix in East
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Last Days at Sea review – evocative documentary about a boy leaving his picturesque childhood behind

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This wistful, moving film follows a 12-year-old Filipino boy as he prepares to leave a remote fishing village for the big city

Venice Atienza’s wistful and evocative documentary is rooted in the liminal space between childhood and adolescence. Having grown up in Karihatag, a remote fishing village in the south of the Philippines, 12-year-old Reyboy is about to leave for the big city, where he will be attending high school. His last days at the seaside are punctuated by everyday routines as well as grand existential questions that can only be asked by the very young – such as, what lies beyond the glittering stars?

Reyboy’s love for his hometown, where mobile phone signals have not yet reached, is vividly portrayed. Through his eyes, every part of this picturesque oasis holds a world of magic, from underwater corals to the smallest pebble. Here, the fishermen share their catch of the day among the villagers; the practice is so matter-of-fact to Reyboy that he cannot comprehend the harshness of metropolitan life, where people are left to fend for themselves.

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