Maximilian von Thun
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DVD Review: Horse Money
★★★★☆ Horse Money is one of those films that makes more sense after watching than during. Pedro Costa’s latest feature has no conventional narrative to speak of, but follows ghostly presence Ventura (an immigrant from Cape Verde living in Lisbon playing himself) as he wanders – alone or accompanied by mute, white coated doctors –…
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DVD Review: Farewell My Concubine
★★★★☆ The aspirations of art pitted against the never-ending flux of politics. That is the underlying conflict driving Farewell My Concubine, a tale of two Peking Opera singers struggling to preserve themselves and their trade during the revolutionary turbulence of twentieth century China. We first meet Dieyi as he is abandoned by his prostitute mother…
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Film Review: Next to Her
★★★★☆ In the opening shot of Next to Her, impatient teenagers rattle the bars of a metal gate as they wait for Chelli (Liron Ben-Shlush) – the school security guard – to let them out. But it turns out that Chelli is far more trapped than the students behind the gates, because she is the only carer for…
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Film Review: Goodnight Mommy
★★★☆☆ The anticipation has been palpable for Goodnight Mommy, a rare entry in what might be termed the ‘arthouse horror’ subgenre. After all, contemporary horror, with its emphasis on gore over mystery and suspense, is not the first place cineastes in search of aesthetic and intellectual stimulation tend to look. But Veronika Franz’s promising directorial…
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Film Review: Only the Dead
★★★☆☆ Michael Ware is a brave – if slightly insane – individual. That much is clear as you watch him shadow militants and run headlong into fire fights, with nothing but his camera to hand. He exudes the brand of charming insanity we’ve come to associate with Australians, but instead of riding killer waves or…