Spotlight

Spotlight focuses on the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize winning team of newspaper reporters investigating a case of a priest accused of sexually abusing dozens of children. This is a newsroom drama that reveals a hidden conspiracy and cover-up in the tradition of All the President’s Men (1976) and State of Play (2009). 

The film focuses on a team of five reporters known as Spotlight assigned to investigate and research a shocking story no one wants to talk about, and their incredible disturbing discovery. And it’s all based on true events.

When a new editor arrives at the Boston Globe, one of his first tasks is to assign the Spotlight team to investigate a long overdue dropped case of child abuse by a priest that was never followed up with. What they uncover is an abuse scandal of pedophile priests that is far more rampant and far reaching than anyone imagined.

A trusted and powerful institution in the community, an unwillingness to speak against the Catholic Church, and reports of abuse that have been buried and silenced for decades, are some of the difficult and frustrating elements the team is faced with. This is the kind of controversial story that old fashioned newspaper journalism has always excelled at.

Spotlight is an absorbing and intensely gripping thriller that never lets up as the story delves deeper into a disturbing quagmire of statistics and victims who have been silences since childhood. Everyone involved with the investigation instantly recognizes the importance and the ramifications of this shocking story to the citizens of Boston and ultimately the world.

There are terrible secrets that are being kept under wraps by powerful people in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church as well as the justice system on the one hand, and the innocent traumatized victims who have no recourse or hope of compensation or normalization in their lives on the other.

The stakes are high and the film relentlessly reveals new disturbing facts and revelations as we follow each of the reporters while they investigate and uncover different aspects of the story. As the case develops, the scope of the scandal increases, and as more people are pulled in, the story becomes more personal, hitting closer to home for the members of the investigative team.

Spotlight builds suspense through the bewildered newsroom reporter’s reactions while researching records in dark dingy archives, spending long hours typing on their computers and going door to door to interview victims, lawyers and experts on the subject who have been involved in these cases.

It’s a fascinating look at a subject that has recently become all too familiar around the world. Catholic priests accused of molesting children, and the church that protects them by re-assigning them to other churches while lawyers are making loads of money secretly settling the allegations out of court.

The ensemble cast is excellent which include Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Liev Schrieber as the new editor of the Boston Globe, but it’s the story that takes center stage here and is also the main character in the film.

There is a great line in Spotlight as it becomes clear that the scope of the story encompasses all aspects of society; “If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to abuse one.”

JP

Northern Soul

Set in Lancashire England, this coming-of-age tale bursts out of a musical renaissance that takes hold of a small conservative English town in 1974 and transforms it into a hot-bed of modern dance and music. 

Filmed with intimate in-your-face intensity, Northern Soul is a fever dream of dance hall hoards moving wildly in odd spontaneous twists and turns punctuated with karate kicks and fist pumps to a musical sound that starts a massive new dance movement in England.

John (Elliot James Langridge) is a shy awkward kid who is bullied in school by his teacher and at home by his mother. He has a passion for poetry and admires a girl from a distance. He feels useless and inept until he meets Matt (Josh Whitehouse), a passionate rebellious kid who dresses in strange new fashions and moves with a wild dance style that’s more like martial arts mixed with acrobatics.

The dance floor as creative outlet of personal expression set to black American soul music transforms John into a hardcore dancer and in-demand DJ whose new found confidence lifts him out of his dull victimized existence and elevates him to rock star status within the community of his peers. 

Dressed in baggy trousers and tight shirts with wide collars in the latest 70’s fashions, the two teens start their own night club with the music they select themselves. Soon their dance club is packed with young people lining up to get in and take part in the coolest new dance fever. 

With sudden access to unlimited supplies of drugs giving them a heightened feeling of reverie on the dance floor, and his new status as the hottest DJ in town, John finally gets up the courage to talk to the girl he has been admiring for so long.

John and Matt make a pact to save up enough money to travel to America together and bring back vast untapped wealth of music that must exist there. But their intense new friendship is threatened when they are offered a shot at the big time and creative compromises creep into the equation.

Can their relationship survive the drugs and ever elusive success they seek? And where will it take them? As they struggle with authority, intolerance and their growing passion for music, there are harsh life lessons learned, friendships tested and tragic consequences.

The filmmaker’s personal love for the time period and subject matter drives this film and gives it its authentic look and feel. The intensely energetic performances are absolutely mesmerizing, and keep the film constantly captivating. 

Northern Soul exudes a nostalgic coming-of-age experience set to the music of its time that’s similar to other blast from the past films like Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993) and George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973).

Part of the City to City program at this year’s TIFF40 (Toronto International Film Festival), Northern Soul is a fun exhilarating and intense uplifting experience that grabs you with its infectious enthusiasm and energy. 

JP