Cannes got it wrong this year by awarding Palme d’Or to Cristian Mungiu’s very moderate Fjord

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Film about a couple on trial for child abuse isn’t a patch on the director’s previous Palme winner, while other disappointing films seemed to grab the jury’s attention These were the prizes for a Cannes under pressure. The Hollywood A-listers and big-hitters were A-listing and big-hitting at home this year. And what about the international heavyweights from Europe and Asia that highbrow festivaliers are always saying are loads better than the Americans anyway? Well, many of those only showed up in the physical sense. For me, most of the films from the accepted laureates and auteurs were very moderate, and I have to confess being sceptical about this year’s Palme d’Or, Fjord , by Romanian film-maker Cristian Mungiu (who won the Palme nearly 20 years ago with his searing abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days). Fjord is, in fact, a perfect example of an established European star director using a big Hollywood name: Sebastian Stan, playing a grumpy and religious Romanian IT engineer,...
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Band Four review – Hong Kong goes indie as musical family get the band back together

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Three generations of a talented family reunite unexpectedly, but there’s little surprising about their subsequent journey, despite its undeniable charms

You’d have to have a heart of brick to take against this earnest musical drama from Hong Kong about a single parent in an indie band dealing with her failed rocker dad suddenly walking back into her life (after leaving 20 years ago when she was little). It’s a warm and watchable valentine to music and starting afresh. But I did find something a bit make-believe and naive in its feelgood message about the power of music to heal old wounds; the idea that a sentimental chord or two could strum away the kind of pain and resentment it can take years of therapy to work through.

Cantopop star Kay Tse plays Cat, lead singer of Band Four, and single mum to pint-sized drumming prodigy Riley (Rondi Chan). Cat nursed her own mum through years of illness, and it’s at the funeral that her dad King makes an appearance – all of five foot nothing, a ponytail, rock star sunglasses and leather jacket. Real-life musician Teddy Robin Kwan plays it beautifully; beneath the swagger there’s an unmistakable air of genuine regret. King is back to make amends to Cat and he’s got a surprise: a teenage daughter, her half-sister. Cat is fuming but King shamelessly ingratiates himself with little Riley, who is delighted by his new grandpa and auntie.

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