Aubrey Malone
The dangers inherent in sport are something we’re all increasingly aware of, not only in boxing and rugby but also American football, despite the amount of protective headgear the players wear. The subject takes on a dark complexion in Concussion (12A), based on a true story.
Will Smith plays Dr Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian pathologist who performs an autopsy on the body of a dead Pittsburgh player called Mike Watson. He discovers the cause of death was brain damage resulting from repeated blows to the head. Over the next few years, he publishes papers on the fact that three other football players died from similar causes.
Such findings make him ‘Public Enemy No.1’ with the National Football League top brass. They fear their coffers may be drained if the papers he’s writing become widely publicised and people start to shun the sport.
They try to suppress his research, which puts him under intense pressure. This spills over into his private life when his wife loses their baby after being stalked. The film is as much thriller as sports movie, as much medical insight as drama. But will it change anything in the long term? That’s the real issue.
Chilean miners
The 33 (12A) is also based on a true story. It deals with the events of 2010 in Chile when 33 miners were trapped in a 100-year-old gold-and-copper mine for 69 days after it collapsed on them. When they realised they had no radio, no medical kits and no ladder to reach a ventilation shaft, panic set in. Neither had they much food – a more pressing need in the searing heat.
Antonio Banderas plays Mario Sepulveda, the man who kept their spirits up by making video logs of their condition. He sent them up to the people on ground level to reassure their loved ones they were still alive as they waited for rescuers to drill enough holes in the mine to get them out.
You can unwind from the twin traumas of these two grace-under-pressure films by indulging yourself in the delightful outrageousness of Capture the Flag (PG), an animated film about a retired astronaut flying to the moon with his grandson and some other young folks. Their mission? To scupper the evil plan of a millionaire to steal the moon’s mineral resources, and also the flag planted by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their iconic 1969 lunar mission.
Victoria (15A) is more disturbing fare. It’s a heist movie set in Berlin featuring a Spanish woman whose relationship with a German man turns sour after a night out. It won the Silver Bear Award at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, largely as a result of the fact that its entire two hours and 18 minutes running time was shot in one elongated take – something not likely to be repeated in a hurry.
You’ll probably need a sharp intake of breath before submitting yourself to the rigours of this ambitious undertaking.