John Bleasdale
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Cannes 2013: Palme d’Or dark horses
In competition at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, French director Arnaud des Pallières’ Michael Kohlhaas is a 16th century revenge drama featuring a strong European cast including the likes of Bruno Ganz (Downfall) and Denis Lavant – star of Leos Carax’s refreshingly bonkers 2012 Palme d’Or contender Holy Motors. However, it’s Danish man of the…
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DVD Review: ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’
★★★☆☆ It’s almost impossible for non-Italians to understand the irresistible rise of Silvio Berlusconi. The tendency is often to write him off with the usual Mediterranean stereotypes or see him as a grotesque figure of fun – Charlie Brooker’s assessment, “an ejaculating penis with an Italian Prime Minister attached”, is perhaps the best yet. But…
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DVD Review: ‘Boxing Day’
★★★★☆ In Bernard Rose’s Boxing Day (2012), Danny Huston plays Basil, a business man living on the low end of venture capitalism. His credit cards are maxed-out and his affluent lifestyle is at risk. In a bid to get back on the front foot and funded via a shady procurement of a local church’s charity…
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DVD Review: ‘Everything or Nothing’
★★★☆☆ 2012 will no doubt be seen as a watershed year for 007. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, one of the most profitable and iconic franchises in film history released an entry directed by a respected Oscar-winner, starring proper actors – including another Oscar-winner as the villain – and successfully reinvigorated the whole…
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Film Review: ‘Midnight Son’
★★☆☆☆ Scott Leberecht’s lo-fi horror Midnight Son (2011) follows Jacob (Zak Kilberg), an anaemic young man with a problem – no matter what he eats he is always starving. Added to that is the fact that he is plagued by a condition which causes his skin to burn upon contact with sunlight. “It’s like you’re…
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Film Review: ‘Dead Europe’
★★☆☆☆ In Dead Europe (2012), Australian photographer Isaac (Ewen Leslie) heads to Greece (his family’s home nation) for the first time, presenting an exhibition of his work while at the same time visiting his errant brother Nikolai (Marton Csokas). His father – an ex-communist who fled the fascist uprising – has sunk into depression and…
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Film Review: ‘Confession of a Child of the Century’
★☆☆☆☆ Adapted from Alfred de Musset’s 1836 autobiographical novel of the same name and premiered at Cannes, Sylvie Verheyde’s Confession of a Child of the Century (2012) sees the acting debut of former Libertine Pete Doherty, who joins a long line of successful musicians and pop stars who have become truly awful actors. Mid-19th century…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘In the Fog’ review
★★★☆☆ Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa returns to the London Film Festival with Cannes Palme d’Or nominee In the Fog (V tumane, 2012), a sombre wartime drama set in Belarus at the time of the Nazi occupation. The film begins with the execution of three local men, hung by the Germans for sabotage. We then move…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘Horses of God’ review
★★★★☆ Set in a slum on the outskirts of Casablanca, Horses of God (Les Chevaux de Dieu, 2012) is a powerful drama based on the events leading up to the Moroccan suicide bomb attacks of 16 May, 2003. The film’s director, Nabil Ayouch, has crafted an original and moving adaptation of Mahi Binebine’s novel The…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘Paradise: Love’ review
★★★☆☆ Michael Haneke has made a career out of misanthropic, if brilliant grumpiness, yet it seems fellow Austrian director Ulrich Seidl is making a good fist of competing for him in the line of stern, unflinching gazes at the darker side of humanity. Import/Export screened at the London Film Festival back in 2007 and featured…