April 2012
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Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2012: ‘My Way’
★★★☆☆ Je-kyu Kang’s My Way (Mai Wei, 2011) is expansive, flamboyant and the more-than-suitable ‘event’ film selected to kick off this year’s 2012 Terracotta Far East Film Festival. Currently standing as the most expensive South Korean production to date, Kang’s feature is markedly reminiscent of a number of over-the-top American war epics through its extravagant…
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Special Feature: The case of Joe Eszterhas vs. Mel Gibson
A film was released last week that wasn’t projected at any cinema. There was no poster, nor advertising campaign, although there have been some trailer teasers available on the internet. It starred Mel Gibson in a role madder than Mad Max or Martin Riggs, and was scripted by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, which exposed anti-Semitism (like…
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Special Feature: Popcorn Horror iPhone app
Popcorn Horror – the Frankenstein creation of independent filmmaker Felix Gilfedder – is a film app like no other. Founded in Scotland in 2011, Popcorn Horror offers user-generated, bite-sized horror shorts from around the world, all within easy reach of your iPhone. Perfect for horror junkies looking for their daily fix, or independent horror filmmakers…
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Interview: ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ press conference
Lasse Hallström’s latest endeavour Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011), an adaptation of the Paul Torday novel, charts the waters of bonnie Scotland, the Thames and, bizarrely, the rivers of Yemen. To find out more about the film and its flowing journey into production, CineVue was in attendance at the recent London press conference for the…
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Interview: Eugène Green, ‘The Portuguese Nun’
This week saw the release of Eugène Green’s The Portuguese Nun (2009) (review here) – a fascinating, yet highly unconventional existential journey through Lisbon following an actress as she deals with issues of loneliness, love and divine will. CineVue were lucky enough to catch up for an interview with Green, a director with a clear…
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Film Review: ‘Edge’
★★☆☆☆ Carol Morley’s 2010 feature debut Edge is likely to be one of the most frustrating and misguided releases of the year. This dreary story, written and directed by Morley (responsible for last year’s wonderful documentary Dreams of a Life) and starring Maxine Peake, Marjorie Yates and Joe Dempsie, plays like an overextended episode of…
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Film Review: ‘The Gospel of Us’
★★★☆☆ Michael Sheen stars in director David McKean’s The Gospel of Us (2012) – a big screen adaptation of the groundbreaking National Theatre of Wales performance arts play The Passion which took place last Easter in Port Talbot. Consisting of a weekend long staged contemporary re-imagining of the last day’s of Christ, the play also…
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International Buddhist Film Festival: Programme roundup
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the International Buddhist Film Festival, a celebration of films inspired by Eastern philosophy and held in conjunction with the Buddhist Art Forum at the Courtauld Institute of Art. With a varied programme encompassing both drama and documentary from Japan, China and other countries throughout South East Asia, CineVue…
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Film Review: ‘Mozart’s Sister’
★★☆☆☆ Directed by French filmmaker René Féret, edited by his wife Fabienne and starring two of his own daughters in central roles, 2010 period drama/biopic Mozart’s Daughter is very much a family affair in every sense. The film documents the young life of Maria Anna Mozart (Marie Féret) – nicknamed Nannerl by those closest to…
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Film Review: ‘Delicacy’
★★☆☆☆ David and Stéphane Foenkinos’ debut feature Delicacy (La délicatesse, 2011) is a predictably whimsical and lightweight French rom-com starring the perpetually typecast Audrey Tautou, performing a watered-down version of her tremendous pixie-like central performance in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 hit Amelie – minus all the charm and joie de vivre of that earlier work.Based on…