Festivals
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KVIFF 2017: City of the Sun review
★★★★☆ Georgian director Rati Oneli’s City of the Sun is in a constant dialogue with philosophical treatise and epic poetry, but the humanity shines through in his meditative exploration of a half-abandoned mining town. The title of City of the Sun is taken from a 1602 utopian text of the same name by Dominican philosopher…
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KVIFF 2017: A Ghost Story review
★★★★☆ Ain’t Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery channels slow cinema maestros Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tsai Ming-liang in A Ghost Story, a beautiful meditation on grief, time and place. It doesn’t start out that way, though. Initially, A Ghost Story looks and feels like a stereotypical low-key US indie with subtle horror tropes.
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Edinburgh 2017: The Little Hours review
★★☆☆☆ It’s a who’s who of comedic talent in The Little Hours, which puts a modern spin on The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio’s collection of 14th century tales that is said to have inspired Chaucer and Shakespeare, amongst other celebrated writers.Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and Kate Micucci star as Fernanda, Alessandra and Genevra, respectively, three bawdy…
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Edinburgh 2017: Halal Daddy review
★★★☆☆ This culture clash comedy in the vein of late 1990s classic East Is East is warm-hearted, funny and light-footed. Raghdan (Nikesh Patel) lives in Sligo, where he moved from Bradford a few years ago to live with his uncle Jamal (Paul Tylak). He leads a quiet life, staying out surfing and drinking with his…
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Edinburgh 2017: The Dark Mile review
★★☆☆☆ Up in the Scottish highlands on a break to try and rescue their fledging relationship, Louise (Rebecca Calder) and Claire (Deirdre Mullins) endure difficult occurrences in Gary Love’s less-than-inventive thriller.It starts out well enough. Louise, clearly experiencing a level of past trauma teased out through short memory bursts of hospital lights and needles, has…
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Edinburgh 2017: London Symphony review
★★★★☆ Honouring and recognising the city of London through the power of images set to a beautifully orchestrated score, London Symphony – the crowdfunded documentary film from critic and filmmaker Alex Barrett – is an ode to a bustling, diverse and ever-changing capital.It’s a move to recapture the symphony films of the 1920s, when such…
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Edinburgh 2017: Where is Kyra? review
★★★☆☆ Michelle Pfeiffer delivers one of her best performance in years in Where is Kyra?, director Andrew Dosunmu’s follow-up to Mother of George. It’s a dark, often suffocating character study that revels in misery, barely a hint of levity in sight as a woman spirals into desperation.Pfeiffer plays Kyra, who lives in a pokey flat…
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Edinburgh 2017: Killing Ground review
★★★☆☆ Damien Power’s feature debut Killing Ground adopts an interesting non-linear structure that nicely builds tension to tell a story that’s otherwise unremarkable. However smart it is in its plotting, the film ultimately succumbs to needlessly over-the-top violence.Ian (Ian Meadows) and Sam (Harriet Dyer), a couple whose back story is never really revealed, travel to…
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Edinburgh 2017: That Good Night review
★★☆☆☆ Esteemed British actor John Hurt sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 77, with one of his final roles being in Eric Styles’ That Good Night, which receives its World Premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this week.That Good Night is an adaptation of a successful stage play, with Hurt…
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Edinburgh 2017: Tom of Finland review
★★★★☆ This biopic of celebrated gay icon Touko Valio Laaksonen (known to many as Tom of Finland, played by Pekka Strang) is smartly made by Finnish director Dome Karukoski, whose feature treads on the heels of a well-received documentary released in 1991.The film spans numerous years of Touko’s life, from his time serving as a…