Pick of the week
Lee
Lee Miller’s life is the sadly familiar case of a female artist whose work has been overlooked because of her collaboration with a famous man, in this instance as a model for Man Ray. It’s her subsequent career as a war photographer that director Ellen Kuras and star Kate Winslet focus on in their fierce film. Winslet – in a role she was born to play – is the magnetic, forthright Lee, a woman who won’t take no for an answer. When the second world war breaks out, she nabs a job taking pictures for Vogue, getting herself front and centre for the London blitz, liberation of Europe and, chillingly, the discovery of the death camps – snapping away in fury and shock at the inhumanity she sees.
Friday 1 November, 11.50am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
***
Moonage Daydream
Brett Morgen’s trippy documentary about David Bowie eschews the musical nuts and bolts for a kaleidoscopic sweep through the performer’s life and personal philosophy, all told in his own voice. Brilliantly edited from a vast array of footage (interviews, gigs, films, photos, art, animation), it begins with Ziggy Stardust then traces his continual reinventions down the years. It’s far from comprehensive – there’s no Angie Bowie or Tin Machine, and little prior to Ziggy – but it nails the shape-shifting quality of a musician always ahead of the curve.
Saturday 26 October, 10.10pm, Channel 4
***
Martha
For UK readers, Martha Stewart is like a supercharged cross between Delia Smith, Alan Titchmarsh and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. The first female self-made billionaire in US history, she built an empire of books, magazines and TV shows based on domestic tips and an aura of homespun authenticity, then lost it all when she was jailed for lying about a stock trade. Through interviews with her, plus candid excerpts from her diaries and letters, RJ Cutler’s fascinating documentary gives us a real sense of “the original influencer” in all her contradictory glory.
Wednesday 30 October, Netflix
***
Midas Man
Perhaps because he died aged 32 in 1967, the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein hasn’t had the spotlight he deserves. Joe Stephenson’s biopic tries, mostly successfully, to redress the balance. With no original Beatles music in the film (possibly due to cost) there is much dancing around the big events, but Epstein’s own life – expanding the family’s Liverpool furniture business into music, amphetamine addiction, a secretive, then-illegal sex life – is plenty in itself, and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd plays him with a compelling mix of nervous energy and single-minded charm.
Wednesday 30 October, Prime Video
***
Enys Men
Following his inventive no-budget feature debut Bait, Mark Jenkin has stayed in Cornwall for an evocative ghost story. Mary Woodvine plays a lone researcher on a small island in 1973, there to monitor a clump of nondescript flowers. But visions of the place’s past – tin miners, fishing folk, a priest – and her own memories start to intrude on her routine. With the grainy look of a recently unearthed old film and a soundtrack in which every noise seems weighted with meaning, it’s a beautiful, haunting drama.
Thursday 31 October, 11.15pm, Film4
***
Music By John Williams
After all these years, it’s still a surprise to realise John Williams is the author of so many superb soundtracks. Laurent Bouzereau’s affectionate tribute to the greatest composer in the history of cinema rightly spends a bunch of time on his long collaboration with Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Schindler’s List, those five “spiritual” notes in Close Encounters), but then there’s Star Wars, Home Alone, Harry Potter … The son of a jazz drummer and a dancer, Williams has also found time to conduct and create pieces for the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter. A bringer of joy.
Friday 1 November, Disney+
***
Freedom
Actor turned director Mélanie Laurent has clearly taken on board the success of Netflix crime series Lupin. This fact-based caper about 1970s robber Bruno Sulak (Emily in Paris love interest Lucas Bravo) lays into Lupin’s romantic “gentleman thief” angle while ticking off its protagonist’s incident-packed career. From supermarket robberies in the south of France to jewel heists in Paris – with a couple of prison breaks and a love story involving accomplice Annie (Léa Luce Busato) thrown in – Laurent keeps it sunny, sexy and largely free from violence.
Friday 1 November, Prime Video
