‘An orgy of antisemitism is overtaking the west’: Son of Saul’s László Nemes on Hollywood hypocrisy

His extraordinary Auschwitz film won every award going. Now the Hungarian director is back with new drama Orphan, as well as a Jean Moulin biopic at Cannes. He talks about resurgent global prejudice – and refusing to be lectured by the film industry ‘overclass’ We’ve been talking for less than five minutes when I spot the swastika. It’s just above the head of László Nemes, one of Europe’s most acclaimed directors, as he sits in the suite of a London hotel, talking about Orphan, his intensely personal new film that dwells on – among other things – the impact of the Holocaust on the generations that followed. It’s an ancient, Hindu swastika, part of a decorative wall-hanging – but still. I’m halfway through a question when I notice it. Nemes laughs; of course, he’d seen it immediately. “I wanted to point that out to you,” he says. “It is so funny. Before leaving this room, I will take pictures.” Mind you, he’s had worse. “When I was at the San Sebastián film festival with Son of Saul , t...

The Last Breath review – Julian Sands’s last film is solid shark-meets-shipwreck thriller

A group of friends are terrorised by a shark while exploring a shipwreck in an unremarkable film that marks Sands final outing onscreen

In most respects this suspense-thriller with aquatic antagonists is pretty unremarkable, apart from the sad fact that it was British actor Julian Sands’s last film before he died while hiking. It’s a shame that he didn’t have a more interesting role, but few get to choose their swan song. Sands has a strictly functional supporting role here as Levi, a grizzled boat captain originally from Blighty, looking for the wreck of a ship that went down in the Caribbean during the second world war. Unable to dive any more because of an injury, Levi stays onboard supposedly knitting (even though the red hat he wears looks more like a misbegotten crochet project) while his younger crewmate Noah (Jack Parr) searches the ocean floor.

Then not long after they finally find the wreck, a posse of Noah’s friends from New York show up hoping to enjoy a diving holiday. Levi’s chance to get out of debt by charging one of the richer visitors a ridiculously large fee to see the wreck is the act of greed which surely dooms most of the ensemble. That said, we’re clearly meant to root for Sam (Kim Spearman), Noah’s ex who is now a doctor and presumably the most sympathetic of passengers because she gives a local kid with an infected wound sound medical advice and $20 for a tatty bracelet. From the start it’s obvious that obnoxious and entitled finance bro-cum-influencer Brett (Alexander Arnold) is a dead man swimming. The outcomes for supporting characters Riley (Erin Mullen) and Logan (Arlo Carter) are less foretold by genre convention, but given they are all about to meet a huge shark, don’t hold your breath.

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