The Lesson is among the New Park films in Chichester

By Phil Hewitt
Published 13th Oct 2023, 06:05 BST
An Autumn Afternoon (contributed pic)An Autumn Afternoon (contributed pic)
An Autumn Afternoon (contributed pic)
Ken Loach returns with The Old Oak (possibly his final film) in which a young Syrian woman and a pub landlord join forces to unite two traumatised communities in the north-east in the veteran director’s forthright, hopeful film.

If it is his last effort then it is a testament to a director who has never abandoned his beliefs.

The Lesson stars Richard E Grant and Julie Delpy. Liam, an aspiring and ambitious young writer, eagerly accepts a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author J.M. Sinclair. But soon, Liam realises that he is ensnared in a web of family secrets, resentment, and retribution. Sinclair, his wife Hélène and their son Bertie all guard a dark past, one that threatens Liam’s future as well as their own. An Autumn Afternoon was Ozu’s final film - widower Hirayama was a former captain in the Japanese navy and lives with his twenty-four year-old daughter Michiko, who stayed single to take care of him. Michiko lives a happy life with her father but Hirayama feels that it is time to let her go and tries to arrange a marriage for her. A superbly composed family drama about a father and daughter both intent on sacrificing their own happiness for each other. Often hailed as the best concert film of all time, Stop Making Sense features the artsy groove of Talking Heads playing the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in 1983. The concert’s physical staging elements, introduced in pieces and segments, create an aura of pristine unease.

Richard Warburton