After Earth, Part I: Much better than you think
With the artistic, commercial and critical success of The Visit and Split, it is about time to soberly unearth the very real qualities of M. Night Shyamalan’s disproportionally maligned middle period.
Les Croix de bois: An Encounter with War
«Upon its release, Raymond Bernard’s Les Croix de bois (1932) was seen as a pacifist march of death.»
Not really a thriller and not even a social drama: The Dardenne Brothers’ The Unknown Girl
«The main character is not guilty of or tempted by murder or theft. She has just been guilty of arrogance without conceiving the consequences to which her vanity might lead.»
Split, Part I: M. Night Shyamalan goes crazy and tender
The new leaner, meaner version of M. Night Shyamalan has made a bizarre but thoroughly gripping film, providing an emotionally deep understanding of why psychological survival mechanisms arise in abuse victims.
For all the monkeying around, Steve Oram’s Aaaaaaaah! has given us a mirror – and we may not like what we see
TIFF 2017: For all the monkeying around, Steve Oram’s Aaaaaaaah! from 2015 has given us a mirror – and we may not like what we see!
You can almost taste the authenticity in Žiga Virc’s “documentary” Houston, We Have a Problem!
Karlovy Vary 2016: Houston, We Have a Problem! is a minor masterpiece of plausible fabrication, tracking real events with an unwavering satirical eye, and placing them in a perspective that is at once ridiculous and illuminating.
Vitaly Mansky’s Under the Sun is an absorbing investigation of North Korea
Karlovy Vary 2016: What makes Under the Sun so effective is the way it has managed to capture the beauty of North Korea and juxtapose it with social relationships that provoke, at best, a much more ambivalent response.
Norway’s got talent – so don’t squander it! Rebecca Figenschau’s Elephant Skin receives warm reception at Karlovy Vary Film Festival
Karlovy Vary 2016: Rebecca Figenschau’s short drama-film Elephant Skin (2015) received its international premiere and a warm reception at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) this week. But why is this the only new Norwegian film being shown here?
Silent film just won’t lay down and die – Midnight Sun Film Festival has just shown us why
Midnight Sun 2016: Silent films, old and new mesmerised audiences at this year’s Midnight Sun Film Festival (MSFF). What is the secret of their abiding appeal? William A. Wellman’s Beggars of Life, and Aki Kaurismäki’s homage to the pre-talkie golden age, Juha, provide some clues.
Midnight Sun Film Festival – still a cinematic beacon in a world ever darker?
Midnight Sun 2016: Storm-clouds are gathering. Now, more than ever, we need our lantern bearers, our beacons of hope. We need Sodankylä’s Midnight Sun Film Festival! But can it survive the loss of its guru?
Peter von Bagh is dead. Long live Peter von Bagh! Investigating his legacy at this year’s Midnight Sun Film Festival
Midnight Sun 2016: Sadly, we lost Peter von Bagh, the tireless guardian of this remarkable diamond in the woods. Will the magic of Midnight Sun Film Festival survive his death? I’m worried but hopeful and, one way or another, I mean to find out.
The Cinema and the Gallery – When worlds collide?
A strange case of parallel universes explored through Declan Clarke’s Geist Trilogy from 2015.