"After the apocalyptic death and destruction of World War II, entire nations struggled to start anew amidst the physical and psychological rubble. There was a steady outpouring of stories that took place in settings that were barren, stripped down, inhospitable. The most famous of these was probably Waiting for Godot, whose stage decoration is described thus: "A country road. A tree. Evening." Such a landscape is itself a statement about the stark reality of existence, one shared by countless postwar movies and books whose characters inhabit deserts, empty beaches, mountain fortresses, bombed-out cities and impoverished villages."
"You get a modern, upmarket version of this kind of arid landscape in Islands, a teasingly spare, slow-burn drama by German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster, here working in English. Set on Fuerteventura one of Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of North Africa it lures you in like a conventional thriller then turns into something less predictable. Looking a bit like Peter Fonda in his scruffy days, Sam Riley plays the quietly sympathetic Tom, a broken-down tennis pro who has ended up on Fuerteventura, a small island that's basically a collection of beaches, volcanic slag and craggy cliffs."
"Although his life might appear enviable days in the sun; nights of dancing, drinking and women eager to party he wakes up with the daily hangover of a man trying to convince himself that purgatory is paradise. This changes when he starts giving tennis lessons to Anton, the young son of a rich married couple the sophisticated Anne (that's Stacy Martin), a former actor, and Dave (played by Jack Farthing), a jerk businessman who specializes in a kind of bullying friendliness. Tom enjoys teaching Anton, and starts doing the family favors. Anne and Dave are dangerously unhappy, and for those of us raised on Double I"
After World War II many stories used barren, inhospitable landscapes to express stark realities of existence, with characters in deserts, empty beaches, mountain fortresses, bombed-out cities and impoverished villages. Islands offers a modern, upmarket version of that arid landscape on Fuerteventura, one of Spain's Canary Islands, where beaches, volcanic slag and craggy cliffs dominate. Sam Riley portrays Tom, a broken-down tennis pro who gives lessons at a luxury hotel that resembles the QE2 docked on the moon. Tom's days of sun, nights of drinking and casual sex mask existential dissatisfaction. Teaching Anton, the son of Anne and Dave, draws Tom into a dangerous, unhappy household dynamic.
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