Russian Film Festival 2012: ‘Living’ review
★★★★☆ Screening at this year’s 6th Russian Film Festival in London, Living (Zhit, 2012) is Vasily Sigarev’s challenging and provocative follow-up to his acclaimed...
Directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s “Abigail” mashes up crime caper and monster movie, but fails to deliver fear or humor. Spoilery trailers and unoriginal characters overshadow promising elements, resulting in a dull, lifeless experience lacking creativity and wit.
★★★★☆ In Alex Garland’s Civil War, a group of journalists embark on a road trip to interview the US President amidst a second American Civil War, while exploring media’s dehumanizing relationship with violence.
★★★★☆ Having won the Jury Prize in 2013 for Like Father, Like Son and the Palme d’Or in 2018 with Shoplifters, Cannes favourite and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with Monster, a masterful work of intricate storytelling, complemented by a lovely score by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.
★★★★★ Theodor Adorno famously wrote that poetry was not possible after Auschwitz, but is cinema? Billy Wilder certainly thought so, getting footage from the camps as evidence as much as anything else. Steven Spielberg, Claude Lanzmann, Alain Resnais and Roberto Benigni have all with differing degrees of success tried their hands.
★★★★☆ Screening at this year’s 6th Russian Film Festival in London, Living (Zhit, 2012) is Vasily Sigarev’s challenging and provocative follow-up to his acclaimed...
★★★☆☆ Setting a narrative during the final days of civilisation is a premise which has been utilised on countless occasions in films. However, instead...
★★★★☆ An unmitigated, bloody spectacle from start to finish, Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s cult classic Santa Sangre (Holy Blood, 1989) recaptured the imagination of...
★★★☆☆ César and Rosalie (1972) is a piece of fanciful French whimsy by director Claude Sautet. An obscure little drama starring Yves Montand, Romy...
★★★☆☆ Jacques Becker’s 1952 French melodrama Casque d’Or celebrates its 70th anniversary this week with a deserved rerelease. Often overlooked in discussions of genuinely...
★★★★☆ Harold Ramis’ prolific career is one that boasts numerous memorable comedic titles including Caddyshack (1980), Analyze This (1999) and, of course, Groundhog Day...
★★★★★ The visionary potential of today’s cinema is infinite. Yet the antediluvian truism of having a greater understanding of the future by looking to...