I'd heard a lot about Keane on its release here, it had a run at my local arthouse but I wasn't especially bothered as the amount of supposed "oscar worthy" performances (what does that even mean, as good as Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire? Not exactly high praise) - it's been on Film Four before but I never got around to it but I've now done so. It's basically the story of a man frantically walking around a station where last september his daughter went missing. We soon find out his state of mind is not just because of his lost daughter because he's like this all the time. So the film follows his paranoid attempts to find the person who took his daughter as well as his getting on with life by living off disability cheques, doing coke and having sex in toilets and befriending a mother and daughter in the same hotel.

I'm really mixed on this film. I suppose it's good, the acting is right on despite being redhead (hence the title) Damian Lewis's lead role being an especially difficult balancing act, Amy Ryan and Abigail Breslin don't have much to do but they do what they're asked to with natural subtlety. The end is also genuinely tense when you realise just what he's doing. That said though I don't really care for it. It's a good, gritty film with fine performances but I can't imagine being in any hurry to watch it again.

I also have been musing over seeing Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee for a while and for reasons which are varyingly ridiculous. I just love the title, it's so beautiful, but that has actually led to me watching some of the worst films I've ever had the misfortune to subject myself to (such as the risibly atrocious Battle in Heaven and The Wayward Cloud) - that coupled with my inherent interest in most things Anna Paquin does (I even watched Darkness, for my sins ) meant I almost felt obliged to check it out. This is the story of the settlement of the Native American Indians from their perspective. Artfully made (sometimes overly so), with some fine acting indeed. Adam Beach in particular impresses, more so than he did in Flags of Our Fathers. Paquin got awards attention for her performance and I'm a bit torn on it really - she has a naturally soulful presence but in truth she didn't have that much to do. Very well made film that does make you interested in the subject.

So after the red hair and the red indians ... The Red Shoes - I've seen bits of this before but this is the first time I've watched it all the way through. The story follows a ballet company whose owner recruits a young dancer at a party and an aspiring composer over breakfast and how they become integral parts of the company's success. As with most Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger collaberations it is almost ridiculously artistic - the 15 minute or so section of The Red Shoes ballet is pure cinema of the highest calibre. In context though it has much more meaning as it not only visualises the effect the ballet intends to have on the audience but also introduces visuals which represent the emotions of the dancer performing it. Marvellous stuff.

All three leads acquitted themselves admirably, the acting is first rate. The story of increasing tension between the owner and his newfound stars fits nicely with the centrepiece as that itself has meaningful parallels with the rest of the film making it just that - a centrepiece rather than a show-off, stand alone scene. It really rings true in the authenticity stakes as well, this is no limp, camp mush like The Turning Point and deals with the drama merely hinted at in that film in powerful ways rather than it descending into a gay-joke. It's dead-on the nail, everything about it feels right, the balance between on stage and off is perfectly realised. Completely deserving of its reputation and status as a bona fide classic and one of the finest british films ever made.