Shadows on the Wall | Arthouse Films

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On this page: ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO | RIEFENSTAHL | ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 20.Apr.25

One to One: John & Yoko
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir Kevin Macdonald
prd Peter Worsley, Kevin Macdonald, Alice Webb
with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin, David Peel, Stevie Wonder, Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Shirley Chisholm George Wallace, Billy Graham, Walter Cronkite, Lesley Stahl
release UK/US 11.Apr.25
24/UK 1h41

VENICE FILM FEST

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Using archival film footage and audio recordings, this documentary traces a period in the life of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the context of historical events and cultural touchstones. It's a quick-paced film that feels like time-travel channel surfing. Previously unseen musical performances are terrific, as are the private moments, and the film is equally concerned with the bigger picture of a major shift in global society.

After 18 months living in a Greenwich Village apartment, Lennon and Ono put on their One to One benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in August 1972, the only full-length performance Lennon gave after the Beatles split up. At the time, their life was a flurry of stop the war protests, as they and their fellow musicians created work that spoke out on the key issues of the time. Meanwhile, Lennon and Ono grapple with personal issues, press intrusions and threatened deportation. And there are also clashes within their political movement.

Filmmaker Macdonald illustrates sound clips with gliding new footage that establishes their home and the period. Newly discovered recordings of phone calls are transcribed on the screen. The range of clips is astonishingly varied, depicting news, art, ads, TV shows and much more, all circling back to the way Lennon and Ono soaked this up and let it inform their work. Activist Jerry Rubin is a continual presence, setting up rallies and events. And the performance footage from the One to One concert has been carefully restored, with a beautiful sound mix.

While the pace of this film wanes in a few long stretches, the kaleidoscopic way it is assembled cleverly recreates the barrage of disparate information in the mix, with a range of frivolity distracting us from the serious issues of the day. Lennon and Ono have a warm sense of humour that comes through even in their most impassioned moments. There's also a running sense of how Nixon polarised the nation, which of course adds a zing of present-day resonance.

themes, language, violence 7.Apr.25

Riefenstahl
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir-scr Andres Veiel
prd Sandra Maischberger
with Leni Riefenstahl, Horst Kettner
narr Ulrich Noethen
release 31.Oct.24,
US Feb.25 siff, UK 9.May.25
24/Germany 1h55

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Exploring the life and work of one of the most talented and controversial filmmakers in movie history, this documentary opts for an artistic approach that raises all of the contentious issues without hammering in a specific perspective. It's refreshing that writer-director Andres Veiel allows us to make up our own minds, as this portrait of the iconic Leni Riefenstahl is packed with stunning clips, images and interviews.

Actor-turned-filmmaker Riefenstahl made her directing debut with The Blue Light, screened at the first Venice Film Festival in 1932. Admiring the film, Adolf Hitler befriended her and hired her to shoot his rallies, which resulted in the epic Triumph of the Wills, artfully documenting an event attended by more than a million people over four days in Nuremberg. And her innovative Olympia remains a visually dazzling record of the Berlin 1936 Olympics. Her outspoken admiration for Hitler waned after war broke out, and until her death at age 101, she denied knowledge of Nazi atrocities.

Discrepancies between the facts and Riefenstahl's memoirs are peppered throughout this documentary. These don't necessarily prove anything, but they raise questions and give the film an added thematic kick. Essentially this is an exploration of how difficult it is to truly understand anyone's experiences or motivations. Veiel fills the screen with terrific footage, including interviews with Riefenstahl throughout her life. Some of these clips are outtakes from other documentaries made about her, offering unusual insight into her personality and perspective.

Thankfully, Veiel never tries to find definitive answers. But he includes a number of astonishing details, and also recognises Riefenstahl's serious talents and strong creative mindset. Clips from her films are simply glorious, creating new techniques that reveal beauty on a variety of scales, often using methods that still seem inventive. It's the now-horrific subject matter and behind-the-scenes stories that make her films difficult to watch today, for very good reason. So the provocative question is whether Riefenstahl deserves her place in film history.

themes, language, violence 6.Mar.25

Zodiac Killer Project
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir-scr Charlie Shackleton
prd Catherine Bray, Anthony Ing, Charlie Shackleton
with Charlie Shackleton, Guy Robbins, Lee Nicholas Harris
release US Jan.25 sff
25/US 1h32

SUNDANCE FILM FEST

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In a witty filmmaking inversion, Charlie Shackleton makes a documentary about the movie he never got to make. In doing so, he recounts the story he wanted to tell while gleefully playing cliches of the true crime genre. It's skilfully shot and edited with a knowingly evil grim to give the audience what we expect, all while continually reminding us that we're being manipulated by the art of cinema.

"If we made the film," Shackleton begins with his deadpan narration, there would be something other than a vacant location on-screen. What follows knowingly traces his attempt to make a film based on Lyndon Lafferty's book The Zodiac Killer Cover-Up, which outlines a decades-long investigation into a deep conspiracy about the iconic murders. Shackleton guides us through what he would have done, using material from the public record because he doesn't have the rights to the book. And he explains how he would have pulled the audience in by deploying the tricks of the genre.

Strikingly photographed on location by Xenia Patricia, the film features ping-accompanied cutaways to pointed images and mood-enhancing clips featuring Lyndon and prime suspect Tucker (played by "bactors" Robbins and Harris). We also get glimpses of Shackleton recording his narration in the studio and framed scenes from a wide range of true crime documentaries and dramas, amusingly echoing the imagery that's being described. And Jeremy Warmsley's churning underscore adds a terrific sense of enveloping suspense.

As an experiment in the power of cinema to evoke feelings, even when we know that everything we are watching isn't real, this is an entertaining and remarkably inventive achievement. Shackleton is having a great time playing with proven movie magic while constantly revealing how it's done, and yet we are still drawn inexorably into the mystery, surprised by the obvious twists and carefully led into a brilliantly contrived final sequence that leaves us feeling exactly how the filmmaker wants us to feel.

themes, language 16.Jan.25

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL