Ali and Nino | Epic romance set in early 20th-century Azerbaijan

Star-crossed love.

In early 20th-century Azerbaijan, a star-crossed young couple – Adam Bakri's Ali is an Azerbaijani Muslim; Maria Valverde’s Nino is an aristocratic Georgian Christian – find their passionate bond tested to the limit by religious differences and the era’s political turmoil.

A tragic love story based on a classic novel and set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, would-be epic romance Ali and Nino has a more than a touch of David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago about it. And a whiff of Europudding, too.

Sadly, as Ali and Nino’s great love unfolds, it is the latter quality that predominates. And it stops this UK-Azerbaijani co-production from catching fire, notwithstanding its sumptuous period detail and handsome landscapes. A disappointing effort from screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) and director Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy), who is returning to documentary for his next feature, a film about football legend Maradona.

Certificate 15. Runtime 100 mins. Director Asif Kapadia

Ali and Nino available on DVD & Digital from Thunderbird Releasing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv40LSLWCGc

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.