DVD OF THE WEEK

A SERIOUS MAN ****
Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind

The Coen brothers did exactly what you hope filmmakers will do after winning an Oscar for Best Film – they went back to making their unique quirky films in exactly the way they wanted.
For Coen fans it has been a breath of fresh air after a decade of suspicions that the brothers were slowly sinking into the bosom of Hollywood: No Country For Old Men was a book adaptation; their previous two films were a remake (The Ladykillers) and a relatively conventional rom-com, Irreconcilable Differences. But what has always been most attractive about the pair is the wild originality that has given the world films such as Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski.
Their two films since No Country won the Oscar show them gaining a renewed confidence. For the first time they are billed as 'written, produced and directed by Joel & Ethan Coen”, rather than splitting various credits between them (they still edit their own films also, under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes). And here they have made what appears to be a more personal film, or at least one that connects with their childhoods – Jews growing up in the American Midwest in the 1960s.
A Serious Man is a black comedy, the story of physics professor Larry Gopnik, whose quiet life suddenly appears to collapse. His wife announces she has fallen for the appalling Sy Abelman, his crazy brother lives on the couch, his kids are a nightmare, and some Korean student is trying to bribe him for better grades. Soon Larry is living in a motel and trying to seek spiritual guidance from a trio of singularly unhelpful Rabbis.
It's fast and very funny, a Coen brothers film that fans will treasure and that merits multiple viewing to catch all the subtle humour. Don't let this little gem pass you by.

James Caviezel plunges to earth in the opening seconds of Outlander (**). He is from a far-away planet and his spaceship has crashed in Norway some centuries ago, where Vikings still roam and rampage. Seems he is there to kill a nasty outer space beast which he has inadvertently led to this planet. Vikings and aliens, sounds fun? Well, sadly, not really. Despite a decent cast (John Hurt, Ron Perlman, Sophia Myles) this is something of a dud unless a bunch of Vikings flailing with swords in the dark against a dubious CGI monster turn you on. Lacking is character development and anything – after the initial crash – of any complexity or interest.

The Baader Meinhof Complex (****) is the latest in a run of very impressive German films (Downfall, The Counterfeiters) examining dodgier aspects of the country's past, this time the titular terrorist outfit that fought against the system and blew stuff up throughout the seventies. It's an epic look at the organisation, running to nearly two and a half hours and delves convincingly into the mindset that caused middleclass kids to turn to armed revolt. There are fine performances aplenty and the film remains remarkably unsentimental, allowing some key events to happen off-camera. This is yet another European film that puts to shame the facile efforts of Hollywood.

Fashionistas will undoubtedly be enthralled by this behind-the-scenes look at the editor of Vogue magazine Anna 'Nuclear” Winter and her preparations for The September Issue (***), which, apparently sets the fashion tone for the following year. However, those expecting something as extreme as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (based, apparently on Wintour) will be disappointed. This is a lot more low-key, and while Wintour comes across as disciplined, single-minded, and probably a complete pain in the ass, there are few fireworks on display. Possibly more interesting is Wintour's 2IC who endures her foibles but, again, we see little below the surface. Which is probably fitting for the fashion world.