Two young men share a forbidden romance in Your Name Engraved Herein, the latest in a string of queer films emerging from the Chinese-speaking world. While LGBTIQ cinema has been evident in the region for many years, including a range of … Continue reading REVIEW: Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda appears to be getting more famous internationally with each passing film: from Nobody Knows to Like Father, Like Son, and I Wish to Shoplifters, English language audiences are growing increasingly fond of his particular blend of emotional resonance, behavioural insight, and intimate … Continue reading REVIEW: The Third Murder (2017)
French cinema’s enfant terrible Gaspar Noé has returned. In typical Noé fashion, he comes on the back of a playful subversion of expectations; not necessarily ours – I suspect all of his fans and foes anticipate the sensory assaults to which … Continue reading REVIEW: Lux Æterna (2019)
The trials of adolescence collide with those of preserving traditional culture in Ainu Mosir, a modestly-scaled but emotionally effective coming-of-age drama from writer/director Takeshi Fukunaga. Typically films like this barely make it beyond regional film festivals, but thanks to Ava … Continue reading REVIEW: Ainu Mosir (2020)
It has been a hard year for cinema, with any movie daring to mount a theatrical release facing unexpected restrictions, venue closures, and even just a market plain spooked about risking their health in a dark theatre. Pity, then, poor Babyteeth. … Continue reading REVIEW: Babyteeth (2019)
Two young girls, Jin and Bin, are unexpectedly sent to live with their aunt while their mother leaves to find their absent father. Before leaving she gives her daughters a piggy bank: when they behave, their aunt will give them … Continue reading REVIEW: Treeless Mountain (2008)
1967 New England: high school graduate Susannah Kaysen (Winona Ryder) suffers a nervous breakdown and takes a drug overdose. Admitted into psychiatric care, she finds herself embedded in a unfamiliar environment with a group of young women – each suffering … Continue reading REVIEW: Girl, Interrupted (1999)
An unemployed, nameless horse butcher (Philippe Nahon) living in northern France violently assaults his wife, steals a gun, and makes his way home to Paris – where he plans his revenge against a society that has left him feel alone … Continue reading REVIEW: I Stand Alone (1998)
A broken family leads a young woman on a mission to repair it in Icíar Bollaín’s wonderfully heartfelt and enjoyable 2016 drama The Olive Tree. Alma (Anna Castillo) is the adult daughter of Spanish chicken farmer Luis (Miguel Angel Aladren). Her … Continue reading REVIEW: The Olive Tree (2016)
Hong Kong’s Johnnie To has been directing films since 1980, but you can really divide his career into two phases. One, a journey-level career in making relatively derivative features heavily inspired by existing genre conventions. Then, from 1999, a more … Continue reading REVIEW: Loving You (1995)
