John Bleasdale
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘It Was the Son’ review
★★☆☆☆ Based on a novel by Roberto Alaimo, It Was the Son (È stato il figlio, 2012) director Daniele Ciprì – who has previously made his name as a cinematographer work for such acclaimed filmmakers as Marco Bellocchio – gives a visually imaginative look to his new feature, utilising a stylish sheen similar in the…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘Gimme the Loot’ review
★★★☆☆ Adam Leon’s Gimme the Loot (2012) is a brisk and refreshingly jolly look at life on the streets of New York from the perspective of two young graffiti artists, Sofia (Tashiana Washington) and Malcolm (Ty Hickson) aka Shakes. We are introduced to the characters as they shoplift paint canisters from a DIY shop, aided…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘The Sapphires’ review
★★★☆☆ Wayne Blair’s musical comedy The Sapphires (2012), one of the Gala screenings at this year’s London Film Festival, tells the (apparently true) story of a group of four Australian Aboriginal girls (Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell) from a rural community who aspire to musical greatness. They sing together as a…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘In Another Country’ review
★★☆☆☆ In competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, South Korean director Hong Sang-soo returns with In Another Country (2012), a carefully crafted, slight whimsical comedy that isn’t particularly funny and has nothing new to say. A young girl is stuck with her mother at a seaside town as they have stood guarantor for an…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘Broken’ review
★★★☆☆ Rufus Norris’ debut Broken (2012), an adaptation of the Daniel Clay novel, presents a portrait of three families living in a British cul-de-sac as seen from the point of view of a young girl, Skunk (Eloise Laurence). British actor Tim Roth heads up the first family as Skunk’s father Archie, a gently-mannered attorney single-handedly…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘Children of Sarajevo’ review
★★★☆☆ Winner of the Un Certain Regard award at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Aida Begic’s Children of Sarajevo (Djeca, 2012) is a tightly-focused drama, portraying life in contemporary Bosnia from the point of view of the war orphans now reaching maturity. Marija Pikic plays Rahima, a 23-year-old woman who, after a misspent youth, has…
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BFI London Film Festival 2012: ‘Le Grand Soir’ review
★★★☆☆ Following last year’s underwhelming Mammuth (2010), directors Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern present their latest oddball comedy Le Grand Soir (2012) in the ‘Laugh’ section of the 56th London Film Festival. Our protagonist is Not (Benoît Poelvoorde), “the oldest punk in Europe with a dog” as he describes himself. Despite his ostensible claims…
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Venice 2012: Kim Ki-duk’s ‘Pieta’ wins Golden Lion
The Venice Film Festival is no stranger to controversy. Often, the jury collectively select a fittingly quirky, infuriating drama to cap the ten days of cinematic celebration. In 2010, Jury President Quentin Tarantino awarded former girlfriend Sofia Coppola the top prize for Somewhere, a film so blandly ordinary that many found its win truly baffling.…
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Venice 2012: ‘The Master’ review
★★★★★ Arguably the most eagerly anticipated select of the 69th Venice Film Festival, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master (2012) tells the story of demobbed sailor Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), who following VJ day finds himself at a loose-end, drifting from job to job with a savage temper and an alcohol addiction. His inexorable slide toward…
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Venice 2012: ‘Passion’ review
★★☆☆☆ Brian De Palma is undeniably one of the most erratic directors to have come out of the 1970s Golden Generation. Responsible for the genre-defining magnificence of Scarface (1983) and Carrie (1976), he’s also liable to make snorefests like The Black Dahlia (2006) and Mission to Mars (2000). Often thrilling and infuriating in the same…