Tag: World Cinema review
Albatros (Drift Away) | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Bye Bye Birdie: Beauvois Bears Burdens in Old-Fashioned Melodrama
The albatross, a large white seabird with a significant wingspan, has been a symbol of a...
Petite Maman | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Going Home Again: Sciamma Delivers a Slight, Eloquent Slice of Novel Sci-fi
Céline Sciamma has built a formidable filmography on tenuous stages of women’s developmental...
Quo Vadis, Aïda? | Review
And Who Shall Be Able to Stand?: Žbanić Returns to Srebrenica in Harrowing Account of Bosniak Genocide
If cinema has any responsibility as an artform,...
My Salinger Year | Review
Raise High the Roofbeams, Cinema: Falardeau’s Warm Homage Clangs Carpe Diem
“I think that one of these days…you’re going to find out where you want...
Next Door | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Neighbor Labor: Brühl Gruels Through Interesting Scenario, Banal Characters in Debut
Gentrification is supposedly the thrust of Next Door, Daniel Brühl’s directorial debut which showcases...
Introduction | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Prelude Mood: Sangsoo Explores Familiar Themes with Droll Snippets
What might one make of Hong Sang-soo if Introduction was their first experience with the perennial...
I’m Your Man | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
The Girl and the Robot: Schrader Wows with Exceptional Exploration of Love, or Something Like It
Harlan Ellison memorably titled a collection of short stories,...
Natural Light | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
In the Fog: No Light at the End of the War Tunnel in Nagy’s Grim Debut
Following in the well-grooved footsteps of many notable Euro...
Memory Box | 2021 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Analogue Chronicles: The Past is Present in the Latest Memory Exercise from Hadjithomas & Joreige
A veritable remembrance of things past catalyzes the semi-autobiographical narrative...
Night of the Kings | Review
The Grift of Gab: Lacote Walks the Line of Escapism vs. Survival in Magical Sophomore Film
“You look like someone who should be condemned,” remarks...
The Father | Review
Bend It Like Beckett: Zellers Adapts His Masterful Play into Exploratory Film
In Paradise Lost, John Milton remarked “The mind is its own place, and...
Sin | Review
A Judgment in Stone: Konchalovsky Mines Michelangelo in Period Portrait
The mental state, rather than the persona of Michelangelo Buonarroti as he struggled to satisfy...
I Care A Lot | Review
Battle of the Bilk: Blakeson Returns with Topical Con Comedy
“There’s no such thing as good people,” croons the dulcet Rosamund Pike over the opening...
Jumbo | Review
Do Introverts Dream of Electric Carousels?: Wittock Waxes Fatuous in Debut
A finely wrought tradition of European cinema includes a bounty of infamous depictions of...
The North Wind | 2021 IFFR Review
Go for Baroque: Litvinova Invokes Her Muses in a Delicious Feast of Opulent Visuals
“Nobody loves anybody and no one is happy,” remarks the matriarchal...
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet | 2021 Sundance Film Festival Review
If We Shadows Have Offended: Katz Gives the Dogs Their Day in Curious Metaphorical Journey
Perhaps it will be difficult for some to makes heads...
Knocking | 2021 Sundance Film Festival Review
Only This and Nothing More: Kempff Explores Cultural Gaslighting in Parochial Thriller
As in the timeless singsong of Poe’s classic poem “The Raven,” ‘suddenly there...
Beginning | Review
Carpet Burn: Kulumbegashvili Unnerves with Exacting Debut of Violence and Veneration
For decades, the international presence of Georgian cinema was thanks (mostly) to the output...
True Mothers | Review
Mother Has Arrived: Kawase Returns with Intersecting Drama on Motherhood
Recently, Naomi Kawase, a staple amongst arthouse enthusiasts of Japanese cinema, has been drifting ever...
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time | Review
Lover Come Back: Horvat Forges Queasy Love Connection with Projections and Perceptions
For her sophomore narrative feature, the intoxicatingly titled Preparations to Be Together for...
Hunted [Video Review]
Once Upon a Time in Belgium: Paronnaud Goes into the Woods for Violent Retro-Fairytale
The notion of the wolf in sheep’s clothing busts into blurred...
The Dig [Video Review]
Sutton Hoo! Sutton Hay!: Stone Goes Deep in Recuperation of Notable Excavation
Director Simon Stone returns to a particular place during a particular period in...
Shadow in the Cloud | Review
A Face in the Cloud: Liang Cruises on Kooky with WWII Sci-Fi
There’s something to be said for a bonkers mishmash of genre tones and...
Dear Comrades! | Review
24-Hour Party People: Konchalovsky Examines Propaganda and Protests in Reenactment of Infamous Massacre
Sporting one of the most fascinating filmographies of any Russian (or any...
Hunter Hunter [Video Review]
Sheep Thrills: Linden Gets Under Your Skin with Slow Burn Thriller
Canada’s Shawn Linden certainly leaves a lasting impression with his third outing, Hunter Hunter,...
Wild Mountain Thyme [Video Review]
Birds & Bees: Shanley Returns with Shopworn Romance
Director John Patrick Shanley returns with his third feature Wild Mountain Thyme, based on his own 2014...
The Weasels’ Tale [Video Review]
Pop Goes the Remake: Campanella Returns with Ghoulish Remake of Black Comedy
In the 2000s, the New Argentine Cinema gained international prominence thanks to a...
Education | Review
School of Crock: McQueen Turns His Eyes to the Stars in Final Anthology Installment
Across five films spanning a period of 1969 to 1982, Steve...
Luxor | Review
Hotel Spell: Durra Explores the Tenuousness of the Present Through Romance of the Past
She hasn’t quite lost that loving feeling, which seems to be...
Another Round | Review
The Libation Bearers: Vinterberg Explores a Collective Mid-life Crisis in Boozy Black Comedy
Thomas Vinterberg returns to his favored motifs, experimental behavioral portraits of Danish...
Alex Wheatle | Review
Odds Against Tomorrow: McQueen’s Anthology Explores Tribulations of Famed Novelist
For the fourth installment of his five-title Small Axe anthology series, director Steve McQueen recuperates...
Red, White and Blue | Review
A Bridge Too Far: McQueen Explores the Inherent Sacrifice of Community Service in Straightforward Drama
With Red, White and Blue, the third film in Steve...
The Life Ahead [Video Review]
In the Mood for Loren: Ponti Resurrects an Icon in Reticent Remake
It’s been over a decade since iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren appeared...
Stardust [Video Review]
Stars Are Blind: Range Paints a Portrait of the Bowie as a Young Man
The risk with creating a project about a major cultural icon...
Lovers Rock | Review
Joyful Noise: McQueen Makes the People Come Together in First “Small Axe” Segment
Director Steve McQueen surprises with Lovers Rock, the second leg of his...
Malina (1991) | Review
You Can’t Handle the Fugue: Schroeter Burns Bright with Infamous Bachmann Adaptation
What is it about Werner Schroeter’s Malina so seemingly repellant it resulted in...
Monsoon [Video Review]
Weathering Heights: Khaou Searches for Solace in Stodgy Travelogue
The adage born from Thomas Wolfe’s sentiment notwithstanding, the act of revisiting one’s origins through a...
Wolfwalkers | Review
The Call of the Wild: Moore Crafts Exceptional Animated Odyssey in Third Outing
Another example of how rich cultural subtexts can be reformatted for profound...
Mangrove | Review
All for Notting Hill: McQueen Paints the Power of Resistance in Period Courtroom Drama
The first of five installments from Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology,...
Sleepless Beauty [Video Review]
To Sleep, Perchance to Scream: Khvaleev Gets Re-creative with Mind Control
Mind control is the name of the game in Sleepless Beauty, the fourth feature...
Ammonite | Review
The Shell Seekers: Lee Recuperates a Scientist’s Legacy in Languid Love Story
As its title suggests, Ammonite, the sophomore feature from burgeoning director Francis Lee,...
Divine Love | Review
Mighty Aphrodite: Mascaro’s Second Coming Cloaked in Complex Allegory
The Immaculate Conception remains one of the notorious suspensions of disbelief in Christian folklore, and Brazilian...
Dirty God | Review
A Woman’s Face: Polak’s Tender Melodrama Explores Struggle for Self-Love
With her third narrative feature, Dirty God, which also stands as her English language debut,...
Kindred | Review
Gaslight of My Life: Marcantonio Debuts a Familiar Slice of Maternal Psychodrama
“She giveth life and take it away” could have been a fitting tagline...
Mortal [Video Review]
From the Norse’s Mouth: Ovredal Reclaims a Cultural Asset with Unsatisfactory Results
Reclaiming ownership over a reappropriated cultural facet is no easy task, especially when...
Fire Will Come | Review
Fire Walk with Me: Laxe Anchors an Arsonist in Meditative Portrait
If fire is the regenerative metaphor of the phoenix, the same cannot be said...
Koko-di Koko-da | Review
It’s All About Love: Nyholm Returns with Absurdist Allegory on Relationships
If Groundhog Day (1993), the well-liked Bill Murray title about a weatherman who is...
His House [Video Review]
Death as a House: Weekes Finds Woe in Immigration Horror
It’s a trauma so innately horrific on the surface the thought of collapsing it into...
Fairy | 2020 TIFF Digital Cinema Pro Review
Comrade Christ: Melikyan Muses on the Motherland Through the Eyes of Another Waif
Even through their desperate avatars, the oligarchy overrules the Russian populace, one...
Ghosts | 2020 Warsaw International Film Festival Review
Panoptic prison: Okyay’s wonderfully dark debut puts Turkey under surveillance
Turkish filmmaker Azra Deniz Okyay's directorial debut uses micro-stories to discuss substantial socio-political issues. Titled Ghosts,...
