David Mills
Michael Caine Collection
Paramount, 15, 337 mins; £29.99 (DVD)
The Union Jack packaging proposes Alfie, The Italian Job and Zulu as the best of British, but in many ways, they are anything but. Misogyny, boorishness, jingoism, Benny Hill: all are present and politically incorrect in three 1960s films whose appeal springs largely from their star’s cool combination of callousness and charm. Zulu, which casts him against type as an arrogant aristo, is a decent stab at showing the horrors of war, with a respectful conclusion. Respect is in depressingly short supply in Alfie, in which Caine’s abundant charisma can’t bridge the divide between kitchen-sink melodrama and light-hearted sex comedy. In 1969’s The Italian Job, Caine forces a few laughs out of a film that is less funny than it thinks it is. There is a detailed documentary about the car chase in the lavish extras package. Three stars
Matthew Davis
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Pieces of April
MGM, 12, 80 mins; £15.99 (DVD), rental
This wry, unsentimental and touching drama has a final scene to melt the most cynical of hearts. April, a 21-year-old indie kid living in a run-down New York tenement, invites her estranged surburban family, including her mother, Joy, who is dying of cancer, for a Thanksgiving meal. But a broken oven means begging her varied, often rather peculiar, neighbours for the use of their kitchens. The acting, particularly from Patricia Clarkson as the angry, acerbic Joy, is fine and sensitive. In a good behind-the-scenes documentary, the writer/director, Peter Hedges, reveals that, while not autobiographical, the film is “seasoned by life”. The basic story line was taken from a real incident, and his own mother died of cancer as he worked on the script. The atmospheric soundtrack is by the quintessential bohemian New Yorker, Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Three stars
Adrienne Connors
Cinema 16 — European Shorts Vol 1
Vital Distribution, E, 210 mins; £19.99
This admirable project brings together 16 short films by a few of the great auteurs of European cinema, and some who’d like to step into their shoes. Among its well-presented treasures are a 1957 short by Jean-Luc Godard, its insouciance anticipating A bout de souffle, and film-school graduation pieces from Krzysztof Kieslowski, Lukas Moodysson and Lars von Trier. It’s intriguing to watch signature styles emerge, but what is most engaging is the willingness with which some now lofty directors return to their earliest work to provide commentaries. Von Trier laughingly recalling how his film school thought his work cruel and politically incorrect is hilarious. Film studies in a box. Four stars
Patricia Nicol