Berlin 2016: Ta’ang review
★★★★☆ When history is violently forced from its intended path by the outbreak of war, it’s society’s poorest and neglected who suffer most. Ta’ang, the […]
Berlin 2016: Mapplethorpe review
★★★☆☆ “You can do it as a hobby, but what are you ever going to do with art?” This was the attitude of Robert Mapplethorpe’s […]
Berlin 2016 Le Fils de Joseph review
★★★★★ Eugène Green’s first feature produced with the Dardenne brothers, Le Fils de Joseph could easily be interpreted as a contemporary riff on The Nativity. […]
Berlin 2016: Genius review
★☆☆☆☆ British theatre director Michael Grandage makes his cinematic debut with Genius, based on A. Scott Berg’s Max Perkins: Editor of Genius and starring an […]
Berlin 2016: The Commune review
★★☆☆☆ The first person invited to live at the Copenhagen collective of Thomas Vinterberg’s The Commune is Ole (Lars Ranthe), a gregarious fortysomething with an […]
Berlin 2016: Maggie’s Plan review
★★☆☆☆ Rebecca Miller’s largely disposable Maggie’s Plan ensnares Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore in an unconventional love triangle. Gerwig plays the eponymous Maggie, […]
Berlin 2016: Death in Sarajevo review
★★★★☆ The winner of two Silver Bears in 2013 for An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Bosnian director Danis Tanović returns to […]
Berlin 2016: Crosscurrent review
★★★★☆ The Yangtze River has played an important part in Chinese history, bringing life, death and industrial growth to the country. Beijing Film Academy graduate […]
Berlin 2016: The End review
★★★☆☆ Guillaume Nicloux reunites with Gérard Depardieu – following last year’s Cannes title Valley of Love – for The End, a lean, spiritual voyage into […]
Berlin 2016: Creepy review
★★★☆☆ Creepy (Kurîpî) marks Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s welcome return to genre filmmaking. Based on the novel by Japanese author Yutaka Maekawa, Kurosawa’s latest does more than […]
Berlin 2016: Being 17 review
★★★★☆ French director André Téchiné teams up with Céline Sciamma to write the screenplay for a tale of two young men struggling with their identities […]
Berlin 2016: Things to Come review
★★★★☆ “Only in movies do women over forty leave their husbands,” remarks Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert) whilst discussing her impending divorce with a former student. She’s […]
Berlin 2016: Lily Lane review
★★☆☆☆ Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf, winner of the Silver Bear in 2012 for his bleak and brutally affecting thriller about the persecution faced by Hungary’s […]
Berlin 2016: Coma review
★★★☆☆ “Every day is the same,” says one of the three women at the centre of Sara Fattahi’s Coma, an intimate and personal portrait of […]
Berlin 2016: Hail, Caesar! review
★★★☆☆ ‘Second time’s a charm’ is not the feeling that hits home when reflecting upon the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar!, the opening film of this […]
Berlin 2016: Our picks of the festival
The 66th Berlin International Film Festival opens later today with the Coen brothers’ star-studded caper Hail, Caesar!. Starring George Clooney, Channing Tatum and Tilda Swinton […]
Berlin 2017: Vazante review
★★★☆☆ Daniela Thomas’ Vazante is a minor Greek tragedy transposed to colonial Brazil. A slow-burning drama about slavery in all its forms, this austere, visually […]