Film reviews and more
★★★☆☆ The critical success last year of Miguel Gomes’ Tabu (2012) and fresh appreciation for the works of Pedro Costa and Raoul Ruiz has seen Portuguese cinema quietly re-introducing itself on the festival circuit. Continuing this trend, João Pedro Rodrigues […]
★★★★☆ An exotic thriller ensnared within a Lynchian nightmare of confused identities, Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy’s follow-up to Helen (2008), Mister John (2013), is a physically and emotionally draining tale of grief, rejection and the yearning to reinvent oneself. […]
★★☆☆☆ Screening in Europe for the first time at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s What Maisie Knew (2012) is a twee tale of divorce told through the eyes of a seven-year-old child. Maisie (Onata Aprile) […]
★★★☆☆ Chronicling the daily rigmarole within a German crematorium, Thomas Heise’s Consequence (Gegenwart, 2012) is a muted observation of a process many of us know very little about. Considerate, yet in no way eulogising of the dead, Heise’s clinical documentary […]
★★★★★ An often overwhelming oceanic opus, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel’s Leviathan (2012) is a sublimely sensory experience like no other. One of the most unique, demanding and hypnotic films to feature at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, this exceptional […]
★★★☆☆ The Bulgarian capital of Sofia has an estimated population of just over two million – yet has only thirteen operational ambulances. At a time when the value of our own healthcare system is being constantly debated, and NHS watchdogs […]
★★★★☆ Stephen Hawking’s first wife, Jane, once explained that as the years passed and her husband made new discoveries, their relationship evolved two faces. The public image was that of Stephen travelling around from lecture to lecture, picking up science […]
★★★★☆ From director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) comes The Conjuring (2013), a 1970s-inflected haunted house movie that throws every trick in the book at it audience – with surprisingly successful results. Wan’s latest is chock-full of kitsch class and effective […]
★★★☆☆ After focusing predominantly on short film projects, director PJ Raval returns with only his second feature, Before You Know It (2013), a thoughtful documentary on growing old in the gay community. The film hooks between three elderly men in […]
★★★★☆ Like the revered work of the artist himself, Renoir (2012) – director Giles Bourdos’ biopic of the French impressionist, starring Michel Bouquet, Vincent Rottiers and Christa Théret – paints an idyllic picture of a life played out in bohemian […]
★★☆☆☆ Banned from Sydney’s Mardi Gras Film Festival due to its graphic real sex and ardently defended by friend-of-director James Franco, Travis Mathews’ I Want Your Love (2012) has traversed a treacherous path on its way into UK cinemas. A […]
★★★★☆ Winner of the Crystal Bear at the 2012 Berlinale and Best Screenplay at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Reis Çelik’s Night of Silence (Lal gece, 2012) is yet another fine example of the incredible works emanating from burgeoning Turkish […]