All articles by Dan Fainaru – Page 37
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Reviews
Grbavica
Dir: Jasmila Zbanic. Aus-Ger-Bosna-Herz-Cro. 2006. 90mins.The recent past looms dark and fearsome over Jasmila Zbanic’s debut feature Grbavica, set in a suburb which witnessed some of the worst massacres of the 1990s Balkan war.Whatever its weaknesses, this coming-of-age story about a teenager and her relationship with her single mother succeeds ...
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Reviews
Taxidermy (Taxidermia)
Dir: Gyorgy Palfi.Hungary/Austria/France. 2005. 90 mins.Gyorgy Palfi's second feature, whichcollected a slew of awards including best film at the recent Hungarian FilmWeek, is likely to be as much of a talking point as his first film Hukkle,albeit for very different reasons. Spanning three generations of one family,this horror film will ...
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Reviews
White Palms (Feher Tenyer)
Dir: Szabolcs Hajdu. Hungary. 2006. 100mins.Szabolcs Hajdu's film casts a jaundicedeye over the world of sports prodigies. A grim and disenchanted portrait of howone young gymnast is almost ruined by a gruelling training programme and theinsatiable expectations of his parents, the film almost runs out of steam inthe second half, ...
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Reviews
Relatives (Rokonok)
Dir: Istvan Szabo. Hungary. 2006. 110minsAfter 12 years making films with stronginternational flavour, Istvan Szabo is back home for an adaptation of acritically-acclaimed novel by Zsigmund Moricz about an ambitious but naiveidealist who is sucked in by corruption. A Hungarian picture made for Hungarianaudiences, this darkly ironic cautionary tale resonates ...
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Reviews
Go West
Dir/scr: Ahmed Imamovic. Bosnia-Herzegovina.2005. 100mins.Coming after his successful short, 10 Minutes, Ahmed Imamovic's debut feature Go West shows definite promise, as he attempts to present a solidfolksy melange of sex, politics and violence in the best traditions of Balkancinema.Focussing on the gaycommunity, atrocities against who have largely been overlooked in ...
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News
Fox's Bubble ready to burst onto world stage
Director Eytan Fox and writer-producer Gal Uchovsky havecompleted their follow-up to Israel's biggestever international hit Walk On Water ($2.7m in US, $7m worldwide).The Bubble returns to the theme of the individual's right to live a life of their own choosing and the Middle East conflict, which determines fates regardless of ...
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Reviews
Be With Me
Dir: Eric Khoo. Sing. 2005.90mins.Since it opened Directors Fortnight at Cannes, Be With Me, Eric Khoo'sthird feature has galloped from one event to another (most recently Chicago andTokyo), a festival warhorse that has gathered several favourable reviews aswell as becoming Singapore's submission for best foreign language Oscar.But while it is ...
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Reviews
Winter Passing
Dir: Adam Rapp. US. 2005. 98mins.A well-written and literate, if not very original,drama, Winter Passing would have themakings of an auspicious debut feature from director-writer Adam Rapp, were itnot for the over-conventional cinema language that it employs.Rapp shows himself to be astrong writer with his piece about a young New ...
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News
Frozen Days named as surprise Haifa winner
FrozenDays, the story of a young woman roaming the streets of Tel Aviv and breakinginto empty flats to sleep at night took the 21st Haifa InternationalFilm Festival by surprise and won the competition for the Best Israeli Film. FrozenDays is the debut feature of Danny Lerner, a graduate of Tel ...
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Reviews
Neverwas
Dir: Joshua MichaelStern. US. 2005. 108mins.Harry Potter flies over the Cuckoo's Nest in Neverwas, a mixed-up attempt to combine a psychologicalthriller with a children's fairytale under the flawed assumption that the twogenres are not that different from each other.While the overall verdict onJoshua Michael Stern's debut feature is unlikely to ...
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Reviews
The Last Hangman
Dir: Adrian Shergold. UK.2005. 90mins.A TV movie in every respect, The Last Hangman should enjoy a highly appreciative reception inits normal habitat, but is unlikely to hold the interest of theatrical audiencesfor all of its 90 minutes.The true story of Albert Pierrepoint, the last hangman in UK before capitalpunishment was ...
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Reviews
The Tin Mine (Mahalai Meung Rae)
Dir: Jira Maligool. Thai. 2005. 110mins.A picture that presents life working underground asan uplifting, character-building experience is nothing if not an oddity. Andwhile this attitude should bestow on TheTin Mine - Thailand's best foreign language Oscar submission - adistinctiveness all of its own, it is hard to guess how much ...
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Reviews
Pavee Lackeen
Dir: Perry Ogden. Ire. 2005.87mins.Perry Ogden's debut feature Pavee Lackeen, which charts the lives of Irishtravellers on the outskirts of Dublin, joins a long list of desolate portraits- including Hector Babenco's Pixote and the Dardennes' brothers' Rosetta- as a harsh and grim indictment of Western society's uncompromising treatmenttowards children.Shot on ...
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Reviews
Opa!
Dir: Udayan Prasad. UK. 2005.97mins.Make no mistake, UdayanPrasad, director of such smart racial explorations as Brothers In Trouble or My SonThe Fanatic, seems to have taken a leave of absence with Opa!, a featherweight romp set in the Greek islands that squeezesthe life out of every Mediterranean recipe in the ...
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Reviews
The Willow Tree (Beed-e Majnoon)
Dir: MajidMajidi. Iran. 2005. 96minsWith The Willow Tree, Iranian film-maker MajidMajidi gives in to the mawkish melodramatictendencies he was always managed to keep at arm's length in past works like Colours Of Paradiseand Baran.As in Colours Of Paradise he uses blindness asan allegory, this time for a grand diatribe against ...
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Reviews
Allegro
Dir. Christoffer Boe.Den. 2005. 88mins.Christoffer Boe returnsto themes that he explored in his 2003 Camera D'Or winner Reconstructionwith Allegro, a science-fiction feature that focuses on how a person canwipe away their past while still be reliant on trust and faith.A visually enticing picture,its best chances lie at home in Denmark, ...
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Reviews
Sunflower (Xiangrikui)
Dir: Zhang Yang. Chi-HK.2005. 128mins.With SunflowerZhang Yang (The Shower, Quitting) returns with anotherconfrontational saga between father and son, this time in the shape of alargely autobiographical tale that runs from the eve of the Cultural Revolutionup until the present day.Focusing on a single familywhose history is supposed to reflect on ...
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Reviews
Garpastum
Dir: Alexei Guerman Jr.Russ. 2005. 118mins.With its stunnisngphotography, interminable takes, abstract narrative and metaphoric ambitions,Alexei Guerman Jr sophomore effort Garpastum cannot fail to become acritics' favourite and a must-book for any self-respecting film festival. Thatit left Venice - where it competed - without any distinction reflects more onthe juries than ...
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Reviews
American Gun
Dir: Aric Avelino. US.2005. 95mins.A sombre portrait ofmodern American society, Aric Avelino's debut picture looks like anotherversion of Paul Haggis' Crash, realised in the shadow of Gus Van Sant's Elephant.Shot in episodic form, with each story only vaguely related to the others - ifat all - Avelino and Steven Bagatourian's ...
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Reviews
April Snow (Wae Chul)
Dir: Hur Jin-ho. S Kor.2005. 105mins.Coming after ChristmasIn August and One Fine Spring Day, April Snow shows HurJin-ho be as gentle and romantic as ever - and as likely to enjoy successfulbox office.Once again he concentrateson strong emotions, showing as slow, deliberate and sensitive a touch as he hasdone before, ...