Issue 60 - University of Surrey's Student Union

Film Editor: Candice Ritchie | Copy Editor: Sophie Vickery
The Stag | 29 th May 2013
FILM 25
Film
This year has flown by; I can’t believe it’s the last issue already! I’ve had an amazing time as Film Editor of The Stag, it’s given me great
opportunities and I’ve loved reviewing all of the new big screen releases. However, I couldn’t have done it without Tina Morman, who has
been my designer this year – a big thanks to her! I also want to thank Beth Goss and Ankur Banerjee, who have been my regular writers. I am
confident to be leaving the section in the extremely capable hands of Sophia Field. See you next year, Surrey!
Fast and Furious 6
Candice Ritchie -
Film Editor
By Arran Coe, Film Team
This month, the Fast & Furious franchise returned
to the big screen. As expected, the high-octane
sixth installment delivers numinous outrageous
stunts and will fill the hole in your heart that can
only be filled with exploding bridges and gearcrunching
drag races. Federal agent and muscle
man, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), recruits the
old team to take down a group of highly-skilled
havoc-wreaking international criminals. Despite
being settled with a new baby and a surprisingly
understanding wife, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker)
joins the team in an attempt to take down the gang
and locate Letty, who by use of poetic license joins
us from the dead.
The movie provides its audience with the
standard array of edge-of-your-seat action and
snappy one-liners. The chase scenes pertain to their
usual rearrangement of the laws of physics, inviting
us into a world where cars can bring down planes
with ropes, and gravity can be defied if you are Vin
Diesel. It did seem, in the movie theatre, that the
implausibility was not only felt by me; on numerous
occasions an intense moment of action was met
with a ripple of laughter. Despite its overdose of
cliché speeches, and the way bullets bend away
from point blank targets (a little too regularly), Fast
6 did not disappoint. This is not a film to be taken
too seriously, you get exactly what you expect;
speed, violence, muscle, and a great, up-to-date
soundtrack.
You may be thinking that the series has
exhausted itself, and you may be right, but all I
know is that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I will
always have a soft spot for unrealistic action, and
this franchise is yet to let me down. The seventh Fast
and Furious film has already been commissioned for
next summer, and I know I will be forking out my
green; it will be a familiar 90 minutes well spent.
The Baader-
Meinhof Complex
By Ankur Banerjee, Film Team
The Baader-Meinhof Complex (originally Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)
explores the growth and downfall of a radical leftist group in 60s/70s
Germany called the Red Army Faction (RAF) that engaged in terrorist acts
as a form of political protest. It is named after its two main leaders, Andreas
Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. Unless you are German, it’s unlikely that you will
be familiar with the events depicted in the film - based on real-life events
- which makes the film an interesting lesson in modern history. In tone, it
reminded me of Munich due to the similar subject matter - the attack on
the Munich Olympics is acknowledged in this film too - except in this case
the film focuses on the terrorists. The Baader-Meinhof Complex does a good
job of explaining the motivations of the terrorists without glorifying them.
Recommended watch for any history buff.
The Wave
By Ankur Banerjee, Film Team
The Wave, originally Die Welle, is a German
film that does not shy away and does
not tread lightly. The setup for the film
depicts an anti-establishment teacher in a
high school who decides to offer a class on
autocracy as a way of showing how fascism
could have taken hold in Hitler’s Germany,
a supposedly-democratic country - and
things escalate quickly when the students
let the power go to their heads. While
not quite as disturbing as the Stanford
prison experiment (and films based on
it), it is nevertheless considered a classic
in Germany for its presentation of how
national socialism can take root even in
the modern-day world. The film just feels a
tad contrived to be a rated as a “good” film.