April 2012
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Udine Far East Film Festival 2012: ‘Romancing in Thin Air’
★★★★☆ It may come as no surprise to devoted East Asian film fans when acclaimed director Johnnie To admits his last two romantic endeavours, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (2011) and new film Romancing in Thin Air (2012), were made to easily pass the censorship rules in mainland China. However, it would be disingenuous to…
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DVD Review: ‘Gang Story’
★★★☆☆ Director Olivier Marchal’s latest thriller Gang Story (Les Lyonnais, 2011), starring Gérard Lanvin and Tchéky Karyo, is The Godfather (1972) transposed to rural France. A frequently violent film, it follows the mafia-esque dealings and intricate personal relationships of a south French crime family in visceral and bloody detail.Edmond ‘Momon’ Vidal (Lanvin) and Serge Suttel…
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DVD Review: ‘The Nine Muses’
★★★☆☆ From acclaimed British filmmaker John Akomfrah comes The Nine Muses (2010), a mesmerising hybrid of documentary, installation piece and visual essay that never quite feels as strong as the sum of its parts. Utilising Homeric epic The Odyssey as an anchor-of-sorts, Akomfrah seeks to parallel the myth of lost hero Odysseus with everything from…
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DVD Review: Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy
★★★★☆ During the 1980s – and as one of Spain’s most influential directors – Carlos Saura moved away from his Franco-era political films such as Ana y Los Lobos (1973) and the sensational Cria Cuervos (Raise Ravens, 1976) to focus on his lifelong passion for flamenco. Saura created a sumptuous trilogy examining this quintessentially Spanish…
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Blu-ray Review: ‘La Grande Illusion’
★★★★★ Following its recent StudioCanal digital restoration (in cooperation with La Cinémathèque de Toulouse) and cinematic rerelease earlier this month, Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion (1937) makes its way to Blu-ray this week to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. Singling out the magnum opus of a director as masterful as Renoir is an almost impossible task,…
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Interview: Hyeong-Cheol Kang, director of ‘Sunny’
On the second day of the 14th Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy, CUEAFS member Antoniya Petkova had the distinct pleasure of talking with renowned South Korean director Hyeong-Cheol Kang and producer Han-na Lee, both in town to promote the opening night screening film of their latest effort Sunny (2011).CUEAFS: Sunny did very well…
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Udine Far East Film Festival 2012: ‘Sunny’
★★★★☆ The opening film of the rain-soaked 14th Udine Far East Film Festival, Hyeong-Cheol Kang’s aptly-titled South Korean comedy Sunny (2011) follows the uplifting story of Na-Mi (Ho-jeong Yu), a wealthy housewife living with her family in Seoul, with a beautiful home, full of sunlight, and a seemingly complete existence.Na-Mi spends her days doing housework…
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Film Review: ‘To Rome with Love’
★★☆☆☆ Having outstayed his welcome in London before a brief and pleasant sojourn in Paris, Woody Allen continues his European tour, this time landing in Rome with a heavy (handed) bump courtesy of latest release To Rome with Love (2012). Any hope of seeing a sustained return to form is thwarted almost immediately by the…
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Interview: ‘Avengers Assemble’ press conference
Next week sees the release of Marvel superhero mash-up Avengers Assemble (2012), directed by Joss Whedon and starring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Chris Hemsworth. On Thursday, CineVue were invited to attend a special press conference at London’s prestigious Claridges Hotel, where the stars of the film gathered…
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Film Review: ‘Avengers Assemble’
★★★★★ Critics the world over will be scratching their heads and shaking nervously as they ponder their write-up of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (2012) (previously titled The Avengers). Following an average set of trailers and a suspiciously low-key viral marketing campaign, only chronic liars and eternal optimists will claim they saw this coming. Not only is…
