A Gangster’s Life review – funny in parts, but not always deliberately

Despite some interesting visuals, not even Tony Cook and Jonny Weldon can lift this poorly produced tale of a pair of dodgy lads hiding in Greece from a gangster Here is an odd film about a couple of dodgy lads who get on the wrong side of a bona fide gangster and have to hide out in Greece. It’s not thoughtless per se; rather, it lacks the resources to bring its vision successfully to screen. Its quirks are sometimes appealing and sometimes amateurish and, while a mixture of influences swirl about, from Bond to Kingsman to Guy Ritchie and even Mission: Impossible, the film-makers don’t have the necessary budget, meaning that it feels at times like a TikTok parody of more expensive films. It is a shame, because there are some interesting visual ideas that go beyond route one filming. Example: a goon beating a man tied to a chair on a crispy manicured lawn is filmed in a lovely wide shot, with a guy in the far distance calmly clipping the hedge. But it’s the post-production that is th...

Infinity According to Florian review - mission to save Ukraine’s extraordinary modernist masterpiece

Oleksiy Radynski chronicles the visionary architect Florian Yuriev’s drive to rescue Kyiv’s Institute of Information from destruction after he was given weeks to live

The extraordinary mind of Florian Yuriev, a visionary Ukrainian architect and artist, visualises an astonishingly holistic view of the world. His abstract paintings brim with geometric colourful shapes and patterns that also carry a sonic component, as each shade has their own tonality. On his piano, whose keys are marked with their designated colours, Yuriev played out his painterly compositions, breaking down the barrier between sound and vision. Shot towards the end of Yuriev’s life, Oleksiy Radynski’s passionate documentary follows the architect’s tireless efforts to save one of his modernist masterpieces from destruction.

Once deemed impossible to build, his design for a cultural centre that later became Kyiv’s Institute of Information reflects the utopian optimism of the space age. Nicknamed the “Flying Saucer” building for its futuristic look, the structure features a disc-shaped theatre perched on a horizontal glass-and-steel hall. With their high ceilings and cavernous curves, the interior of the auditorium evokes a sense of calm and openness. The equilibrium, however, is interrupted by construction noises coming from outside: an intrusive shopping mall might soon merge into Yuriev’s design.

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