Tag: World Cinema review
Frère et soeur (Brother and Sister) | 2022 Cannes Film Festival Review
I’m Not One of Your Fans: Desplechin Delivers Camp Classic with Failed Melodrama
No one depicted in Frère et soeur (Brother and Sister), the latest...
Goutte d’Or (Son of Ramses) | 2022 Cannes Film Festival Review
Sun of a Gun: Cogitore Returns with Cryptic Drama on Violence, Exploitation
France’s Clément Cogitore is clearly a fan of the mysterious and inexplicable sinews...
The Woodcutter Story | 2022 Cannes Film Festival Review
One Flew Over the Cuckold’s Nest: Myllylahti Contends Hope Floats in Black Comedy
By their nature, fables provide fanciful cinematic avenues of metaphorical expression as...
Tchaikovsky’s Wife | 2022 Cannes Film Festival Review
Lady Beard: Serebrennikov Delivers Extravagant Recuperation of a Woman Undone
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the 19th century’s most prolific composers, whose music remains an...
Esterno notte (Exterior Night) | 2022 Cannes Film Festival Review
Dead in Red: Bellocchio Returns to Infamous Kidnapping for Television Debut
In his continuation in recuperating fantastical elements of Italian political and criminal history, Marco...
Operation Mincemeat | Review
Get Them to the Greek: Madden Traipses Lightly Through Factual WWII Espionage
Despite it’s presentation as a frothy pseudo-comedy, the events transpiring in John...
Il Buco | Review
Frammartino Digs Deep, But Barely Scratches the Surface
Michelangelo Frammartino’s Il Buco (“The Hole”) is a meditative journey into the center of the earth,...
Reflection | Review
In the Fog Mirror: Vasyanovych Punishes with Numbing Exercise on War & Trauma
Following up on his international breakout, Atlantis (2019), Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych...
Human Factors | Review
The Discomfort of Strangers: Trocker Collapses Paranoia and Perspectives in Brooding Familial Drama
Communication, when you really think about it, is all but impossible. Words...
Lux Æterna | Review
Devil’s Familiars: Noé Stirs a Witches’ Brew in Latest Provocation
For those familiar with cult auteur Gaspar Noé, one either has a taste for his...
Anaïs in Love | Review
She’s Pure as New York Snow: Bourgeois-Tacquet Charms in Effortless, Effective Comedy
With her unexpectedly charming debut, Anaïs in Love, director Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet presents the...
Vortex | Review
All That We See or Seem: Noe Delivers Devastation Through the Definitiveness of Death
There’s no pleasure to be had, whatsoever, in the experiencing...
I Love America | Review
I Never Sang for My Mother: Azuelos Mines Own Experiences for Dynamic Melodrama
Presenting a narrative partially autobiographical in nature with her latest film, I...
Black Box | Review
Guilt By Aviation: Gozlan Delivers Intrigue with Paranoia Tinged Tech Thriller
Director Yann Gozlan returns to the realm of social pariahs in his fourth...
Hatching | Review
The Egg & I: Bergholm Births Straightforward Tween Body Horror
Finland’s Hanna Bergholm makes a splash with her interesting, if ultimately one-note debut, Hatching,...
Firebird | Review
Bird on a Wire: Rebane Resurrects a Familiar Stymied Love Affair in Absurd Melodrama
Over a century ago, Lord Alfred Douglas coined the euphonious phrase...
The Duke | Review
The Goya Next Door: Michell’s Swan Song a Slender Thread of Anti-authoritarianism
We’re primed to believe in the importance of a film whenever we’re greeted...
The Tale of King Crab | Review
Shellfish People: Rigo de Righi & Matteo Zoppis Craft Unique Narrative Steeped in Oral Tradition
For their directorial debut The Tale of King Crab, directors...
Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades) | Review
Same Old Song & Angst: Audiard Misfires with Millennial Love Tugs
Jacques Audiard turns to youth culture amour fou with his latest feature, Paris, 13th...
Aline | Review
The Face of Another: Lemercier Normalizes Weird Choices in Bizarre Biopic
Like something novel born out of a 30 Rock satire (remember the unauthorized Janis...
You Won’t Be Alone | Review
Practical Magic: Stolevski Impresses with Eloquent Folk Horror Trauma
Nature and Nurture are the affixed ingredients in a codependent dance swirling under the surface of...
The Girl and the Spider | Review
A Roommate of One’s Own: The Zurcher Bros. Cast a Spell in Weirdo Existential Melodrama
The two central characters of Ramon and Silvan Zurcher’s enchantingly...
Bull | Review
All the Rage: Williams Returns with a (Familiar) Vengeance
After a decade working in television, British director Paul Andrew Williams finally returns to narrative filmmaking...
The Rose Maker (La fine fleur) | Review
In the Name of the Rose: Frot Elevates Formulaic Melodrama from Pinaud
“What is life without beauty?,” inquires antiquated rosarian Eve Vernet in Pierre Pinaud’s...
Sonne | 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Review
The Sun Also Scheisse: Ayub Explores Identity Politics in Modern European Diaspora
For her directorial debut, Sonne, director Kurdwin Ayub draws on her background as...
Zero Fucks Given (Rien à foutre) | Review
Ground Control: Exarchopoulos Takes Flight in Portrait of Repressed Anguish
For their directorial debut Zero Fucks Given, Julie Lecoustre and Emmanuel Marre opt for a...
Nitram | Review
A Pleasure to Burn: Kurzel Explores the Making of a Murderer in Disturbing Portrait
On April 28, 1996, lone gunman Martin Bryant shot and killed...
Infinite Storm | Review
White Woman in a Blizzard: Szumowska Pitts Watts Against the Elements in True Life Trauma Drama
Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska unleashes her tenth narrative feature...
Mothering Sunday | Review
Woman in Love: Husson Mounts Reticent Portrait of Living Life Out Loud
At first glance, Mothering Sunday has all the impeccable furnishings evident in the...
Ahed’s Knee | Review
Kneedful Things: Lapid Highlights Complex Conflicts in Indignant Screech
The entirety of Ahed’s Knee, the fourth film from Israel’s Nadav Lapid, is formatted to aggravate...
Bloody Oranges | Review
Strange Fruit: Meurisse Gets Gonzo with Slice of Cinema Bizarre
Director Jean-Christophe Meurisse follows up his 2016 comedy Apnee with something a bit more uncomfortable...
Great Freedom | Review
Laws of Attraction: Rogowski Shines Bright in Recuperative Queer Prison Drama
Although there’s nary an upside down pink triangle in sight, Austria’s Sebastian Meise cultivates...
Mother Schmuckers | Review
O Brother, Why Art Thou?: The Guit Bros. Get Down & Out in Bizarre Debut
Something is rotten in the state of Belgium, or so...
My Best Part (Garçon chiffon) | Review
Green Eyes, They’re Crying: Maury Mines Sorrow in Tragicomic Debut
Actor Nicolas Maury crafts his own starring vehicle in My Best Part (Garçon chiffon) as...
Servants | Review
A Separate Peace: Ostrochovský Crafts a Church Noir for Sophomore Feature
For his sophomore narrative feature, Slovak director Ivan Ostrochovský recuperates a uniquely chilling scenario...
Happiness (Baqyt) | 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Let the Sunshine In: Uzabayev Drags Us Through the Wretched Realities of Violence Against Women
The knee-jerk response to the agonizing experience of watching a...
À propos de Joan (About Joan) | 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Ladies They Talk About: Larivière Utilizes Huppert in Shaky Melodrama on Loss & Love
For his sophomore film À propos de Joan (About Joan), Laurent...
A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter) | 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Poor Cow: Koch Devises Solemn Melodrama of a Tortured Romance
Delivering a steady handed narrative as full of sincerity as it is austerity, Swiss director...
AEIOU – A Quick Alphabet of Love | 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Review
The Consonants of Love: Krebitz Gets Caught in an Odd Romance
“It all begins with A,” so begins the omniscient third-person narration of Anna, an...
La ligne | Review
Fists Out of Pocket: Meier Mines Superficial Dysfunction with Uneven Comic Melodrama
Although she’s been working on a variety of documentary and short projects, not...
Incredible But True | 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Review
Beauty Secrets: Dupieux Latest a Strangely Tragic Fable on Human Foibles
The films of Quentin Dupieux, a prolific Belgian director who has spent most of...
Minamata | Review
Man with a Movie Camera: Levitas Aims for Noble Rendering of Horrific Toxic Waste Contamination
You’ve heard it before---corporate greed and government corruption colluding to...
Playground | Review
Suffer the Children: Wandel Explores Bullying Through a Child’s Perspective in Superb Debut
If everything one needs to know is learned in kindergarten, part of...
Ballad of a White Cow | Review
Kismet Kisses: Moghaddam & Sanaeeha Mine Intimate Vengeance in Rich Melodrama
The opening moments of Ballad of a White Cow evokes a quote from Al-Baqarah...
Fabian – Going to the Dogs | Review
The Dog Days Aren’t Over: Graf Puts a New Coat of Paint on the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, aka the German Republic, which lasted...
Air Doll | Review
There is No Substitute: Kore-eda Digs into Our Rubber Soul with Fantasy Flick
Reinterpreting the notion of what it is to truly be living and...breathing,...
The Last Ride of the Wolves | 2022 Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam Review
Fasten your Seatbelt: De Michele Embarks on a Bumpy First Ride
A thematic continuation of Alberto de Micheleʼs last short film, The Wolves (2011), for...
The Worst Person In The World | Review
Sometimes She Loved Them Too: Trier Formulates Winning Composite of Love and Self Discovery
For his fifth film, The Worst Person in the World, Norway’s...
Sundown | Review
Slaughter House Rules: Franco Continues with Cinema of Distress
The English playwright Robert Bolt wrote “Death comes for us all. Even for kings he comes.”...
Rifkin’s Festival | Review
Spain & Glory: Allen Apes His Darlings in Familiar Comedy of Marital Discord
The first entry of Woody Allen’s European banishment in the twilight years...
