Film Review - Grand Tour
Images courtesy of Potential Films.
Grand Tour, shot digitally with supplementation from archival and documentary footage, follows Edward, a civil servant from Britain, from Burma through Asia by train boat and foot as he flees his fiancée Molly. The images from beginning to middle are undoubtedly beautiful to look at, evoking a fascination of the region as viewers are swept into the spectacle of a man on a mission with undying conviction, and a wife who later does the same.
The amalgamation of bold imagery, shifts between time periods, overpowering music, and unconventional storyline may have audiences confused rather than asking questions about what seems to be the theme of the film in the Westernisation of the East. The film first discusses how the West has impacted the East, and then in the second half, how Westerners have a fundamental misunderstanding of the East, and have irresponsible attitudes towards the countries in the region, beginning in the now-war-torn Myanmar (formerly Burma). Initially, there is more attention paid to the beauty of each country, showing us imagery of circuses, leather monkey shows, the landscapes, and the bustling cities, with the story of Edward, filmed on soundstages, guiding the film from place to place rather than telling a story. The second half of the film follows Molly as she trails his path through Asia, representing a shift in tone as the spectacle has worn off and scenes shot on soundstages take precedence over observing the beauties of the country and leaning into the risks of traversing those countries—the bitter reality of a harsh continent.
There seems to be a current fascination with the old in cinema today. Think of the resurgence of films being shot on 35mm and 70mm—The Brutalist filmed in VistaVision, for example—and the most common occurrence (especially amongst amateur filmmakers) of recording digitally and using film emulation techniques to evoke the “film look," think The Holdovers and Mank. It seems, at times, that story may not be the driving force behind this fascination, nor the ability to make something look old (or "cool,” as Gen-Z’s would often describe) but rather the desire to make their work feel "nostalgic.” Grand Tour, at times, feels inauthentic or confused in its motivation to evoke the vintage look. In one scene, after a train wreck early in the film, a cell phone lays in the debris and is picked up by the hand of a survivor of the crash in 1918. What seeks to artfully poke at the themes of the movie may, to some, seem obvious and compelling, and to others, lazy and uninspired—needless to say, it will not be everyone’s cup of tea.
If you enjoy thoughtful films (that have won the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival) and would like to explore a movie that doesn’t follow the “rules”, or give everything to you on a silver platter, this may be the perfect film for you as you escape the hot summer weather with a drink and an ice cream in an air-conditioned theatre.
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Grand Tour is screening in cinemas from Thursday the 13th of February. For tickets and more info, click here.