CineVue
For the latest reviews of arthouse, documentary and indie film in cinemas and on the festival circuit.
★★☆☆☆ Entering the race for this year’s Golden Lion, Sicilian director Piero Messina’s The Wait (2015) is potentially an impressive twenty-minute short inflated into a shapely but ultimately empty feature, rank with religiosity. A crucifix hangs in an operatic darkness. A woman older than the universe kisses the feet of Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin on 4 November 1992 shocked the world. Showing in competition at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, Amos Gitai’s Rabin, The Last Day (2015) is an earnest, forensic examination into the slaying of the Israeli Prime Minister. It was a moment when political murder struck Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ Some linguistic determinism is at work in Oliver Hermanus’ The Endless River (2015), a leaden-paced South African melodrama about the repercussions of a horrific crime. Percy (Clayton Evertson) has just been released from prison after serving four years for armed robbery. He is met by his loyal wife Tiny Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Jon Stewart’s assured directorial debut Rosewater (2014) is a dramatic reconstruction of the real-life arrest and detention of Iranian-Canadian filmmaker and journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia-Bernal). In 2009, Bahari was detained in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison accused of espionage. Although based in London, Bahari had come Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Céline Sciamma proves with new film Girlhood (2014) that she’s adept at crafting universally accessible coming-of-age stories. In this newest go-round, Sciamma trains her lens on the housing projects of an outlying Parisian neighbourhood. Here, the story revolves with notions of young women crafting their identities both publicly and Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ The (reputedly) final instalment of the flashy franchise that’s risen to prominence in pop culture over the past fifteen years is every bit as campy, unbelievable, full-throttled and sentimental as one could hope for. The biggest issue with Fast & Furious 7 (2015) is also its biggest asset: it Continue Reading
★☆☆☆☆ Of all its numerous misdemeanours, the most heinous that Dominic Brunt’s vile Bait (2014) commits is its attempt to convince you that it isn’t the grim, misogynistic horror that it ultimately turns out to be. Its two female protagonists, Bex (Victoria Smurfit) and Dawn (Joanne Mitchell), begin the film Continue Reading