Edinburgh
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Club Sandwich’ review
★★★★☆ Opening with a Spanish cover of The Pixies’ Where Is My Mind, the laidback rhythm of this angst-laden classic sets the tone for Club Sandwich (2013), a perfectly paced, acutely observed portrayal of a mother-son relationship. Paloma (María Renée Prudencio) and her teenage son, Hector (Lucio Giménez Cacho), are holidaying in the off season…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘X/Y’ review
★★★☆☆ Ryan Piers Williams returns to Edinburgh with his sophomore feature as director (following 2010’s The Dry Land) with X/Y (2014), a largely insightful and refreshing portrayal of relationships between several thirtysomethings in New York. Beginning with the break-up of Mark (Williams) and Sylvia (America Ferrara), played with an economy of dialogue by the two…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Something, Anything’ review
★★★☆☆ Consume and conform, worship and prey, is there really any difference between organised religion and consumerism? In Something, Anything (2014), Paul Harrill’s sombre observation of sleepy Middle America, the pressure to abide by societies norms result in an unconventional love story about overcoming grief and having the courage to take a different direction. A…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Palo Alto’ review
★★★☆☆ Based on a series of disparate short stories written by James Franco – who also stars – Palo Alto (2013) is the directorial debut of Gia Coppola and concerns the lives of a group of teenagers living in the titular city in California. Employing a laid back, observational style not unlike that of her aunt…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘N: The Madness of Reason’ review
★★★★☆ “We began before words, and we will end beyond them.” So begins Peter Krüger’s mesmerising N: The Madness of Reason (2014), a spiritual journey through the memories and regrets of Raymond Borremans, a freewheeling Parisian musician turned encyclopedia enthusiast for whom Africa was his destiny – its heat his home. Borremans moved to Africa…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Joe’ review
★★★☆☆ American independent director David Gordon Green’s first three films, George Washington, All the Real Girls and Undertow, were each deeply rooted in the poetic realism of classic American storytelling. Adept at presenting marginalised characters and imbuing their hopes and dreams with the bewitching atmosphere of their rural surroundings, Green was soon heralded as the…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Ice Poison’ review
★★★★☆ Myanmar-born, Taiwan-based director Midi Z’s third feature, Ice Poison (2014), completes a trilogy of intimate portraits of contemporary life in Burma. Combining a sparse narrative with an intimate visual style, the director presents the moral dilemmas that accompany the drastic economic hardship of his homeland. Everything is getting more expensive except for the crops…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Final Whistle’ review
★★★★☆ Originally filmed during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Niki Karimi’s Final Whistle (2011) makes its UK premiere four years later. A courageous critique of class and gender inequality in Iran, Final Whistle is an against-the-clock drama that plays out against the backdrop of a male dominated sporting event currently under the scrutiny for allegations…
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Edinburgh 2014: ‘Aberdeen’ review
★★★☆☆ When Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997, many thought that the removal of colonial education systems would lead to a gradual shift towards a stronger identification with China. Attempting to reconcile the past to build a brighter future, the city finds itself with something of an identity crisis, an…
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Edinburgh 2014: 68th EIFF programme preview
Edinburgh Film Festival Artistic Director Chris Fujiwara has announced the full programme for this year’s 68th incarnation. Boasting 156 features from 47 countries, highlights include the UK premiere of Control and The American director Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man (featuring one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final performances), Gia Coppola’s James Franco-starring Palo Alto and,…
