An intelligent, nuanced, attentive and very much focused courtroom drama with some remarkable performances.
Tag: Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival 2021: Official Competition Selection
This year’s Cannes Film Festival has got to be very different from the others, not least because of the pandemic and its consequence for the film industry. This year, the festival is held from 6 to 17 July 2021, and the Jury of the Main Competition are: Spike Lee, Mylène Farmer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hausner,…
“I, Daniel Blake” Review
I, Daniel Blake [2016] – ★★★★★ Winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake is a kind of film whose theme of the individual vs. the system, brutal honesty and underlying power make it a compulsory watch for everyone. The story centres on Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), a…
“Little Joe” Review
Little Joe [2019] – ★1/2 Little Joe is a British/Austrian/German-produced film that was selected to compete at the Cannes Film Festival 2019. In this story, Alice Woodard (Emily Beecham) works at a special laboratory that produces genetically-modified flowers for the public market. Alice and her team have managed to produce one type of a plant…
“Parasite” Review
Parasite [2019] – ★★★★★ Parasite or Gisaengchung is a South Korean dark comedy-thriller from Bong Joon-ho (Okja ((2017)) that won the grandest award at the Cannes Film Festival 2019 – Palme d’Or. And, a well-deserved win, too, since this film must be seen to be believed. In Parasite, the Kim family, consisting of a mother,…
“Happy as Lazzaro” Review
Happy as Lazzaro (Lazzaro Felice) [2018] – ★★★★1/2 Alice Rohrwacher may only have three major feature films under her belt (Corpo Celeste (2011), The Wonders (2014) and Happy as Lazzaro (2018)), but this Fiesole-born director proves to be the one to be reckoned with. Happy as Lazzaro is an unusual, surreal and imaginative drama which…
Cannes Film Festival 2019: Official Competition Selection
A day ago, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its Official Competition selection, and this post is to comment on some films that were selected to compete in the main category. I will comment on roughly half of them – nine out of nineteen, but that does not mean that others are not great or will…
“Antiviral” Review
Antiviral [2012] – ★★★★ In 2012, a science-fiction film titled Antiviral hit both the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, and what everybody talked about was that this film is from David Cronenberg’s son – Brandon Cronenberg. People started to look for similarities between Antiviral and David Cronenberg’s films and trademarks, and they…
“Burning” Review
Burning [2018] – ★★★ “You don’t have to convince yourself that a mandarin orange exists, you have to forget that it does not exist.” (Haemi, explaining the art of pantomime in Burning). In Chang-dong Lee’s film Burning, Jongsoo (Ah-In Yoo) is a country lad who rekindles friendship and begins a romance with Haemi (Jong-seo Jeon),…
“The Florida Project” Review
The Florida Project [2017] – ★★★★1/2 Sean Baker (Tangerine (2015)) has produced something special – a powerful, unforgettable film about the innocence, joys, freedoms and wonders of childhood played out in the context of social and economic exclusion in Florida, US. The Florida Project has been very unjustly ignored by the Academy in the forthcoming…
The O Canada! Blogathon: Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World (2016)
It’s Only the End of the World [2016] – ★★★★ This is my second post for the amazing O Canada! Blogathon hosted by Ruth of Silver Screenings and Kristina of Speakeasy (check out some of the amazing entries here). “There I was…after twelve years of absence, and in spite of my fear, I was going to visit them. In life,…
“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” Review
The Killing of a Sacred Deer [2017] – ★★★★ This film proved to be the most divisive at the Cannes Film Festival 2017, and there was a good reason for the audience and critics to feel so confused and uncertain. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a product of Yorgos Lanthimos, the director who is…
“The Red Turtle” Review: Simple, Yet Profound
The Red Turtle [2016] – ★★★★1/2 🐢 A simple story of survival morphs into a poetic, symbolism-driven tale of the man’s connection with nature and the meaning of life. The Red Turtle is the 2017 best animation Oscar nominee that surprised people in a way it masterfully combined visual simplicity and metaphoric depth. The film…
“Raw” Review
Raw [2016] – ★★★★ 🥩 A staggering film debut with “unflinching” gore and disturbing atmosphere, reviving the best of what became known as the New French Extremity movement. Julia Ducournau’s debut feature film Raw provoked extreme reactions from critics and audiences alike. However, despite its grim story and graphic imagery, the film still managed to…
“Personal Shopper” Review
Personal Shopper [2016] – ★★1/2 In Personal Shopper, a film by Olivier Assayas (Paris, je t’aime (2006)), Kristen Stewart plays a young woman Maureen, who mourns the loss of her twin brother Lewis. Maureen visits the house where Lewis lived with his girlfriend, and believes that his ghost will try to communicate with her. In…
“The Neon Demon” Review
The Neon Demon [2016] – ★★ 📷 Despite the visual beauty of certain scenes, Refn’s parade of random and confused ideas about LA show business and its qualities and appearances, produces a film which is the pretentious boredom, or the boring pretentiousness itself (as you like it). “Beauty isn’t everything. It’s the only thing”, says Roberto…
“Elle” Review
Elle [2016] – ★★★★ A Dutch director known for Basic Instinct (1992) and Total Recall (1990), Paul Verhoeven has produced his first French-language film to date – Elle, based on a novel by Philippe Dijan (who is also known as a writer behind Betty Blue (1986)). Elle has already competed for a Palme d’Or at…
“Two Days, One Night” Review
Two Days, One Night [2014] – ★★1/2 Two Days, One Night is a critically acclaimed French-language film directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, probably better known for their previous film The Kid with a Bike (2011). The plot is uncomplicated: Belgium; depressed married mother of two Sandra (Marion Cotillard) is having problems at work. The…
“Tale of Tales” Review
Tale of Tales [2015] – ★★★1/2 Directed by Matteo Garrone, best known for his raw crime drama Gomorrah (2008), Tale of Tales or Il Racconto dei Racconti is a fantasy horror film which comprises three main stories seemingly running in parallel. The first story starts with the Queen (Salma Hayek) and King (John C. Reilly) of…
“Melancholia” Review
Melancholia [2011] – ★★★★★ Clearly influenced by the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, Melancholia is a great film, which is certain to awaken something in the viewer, be it some inexplicable feelings of unease or awe. However, given that this film is directed by no other than Lars Von Trier (a Danish director known for his…
Spotlight on Film 