All articles by Dan Fainaru – Page 45
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Reviews
Sexual Dependency (Dependencia Sexual)
Dir. Rodrigo Bellott. Bolivia/USA, 2003. 105 mins.What festival can resist the temptation of a film-making debut from a 25-year-old Bolivian director - especially when it is shown on a split screen and has a title like this to boot' Even if Rodrigo Bellott's debut does not deliver as much ...
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Reviews
Silent Waters (Khamosh Pani)
Dir. Sabiha Sumar. Pakistan, France, Germany, 2003. 99 min.As courageously outspoken as her frontal criticism of Islamic fundamentalism is, Sabiha Sumar's Locarno winner qualifies more as a political pamphlet than a film drama. A Pakistani-born, American-educated documentarist who has explored in the past the growth of Islam in her homeland, ...
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Reviews
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter' And Spring (Bom, Teoreum, Gaeul, Gyeowool, Geurigo, Bom)
Dir: Kim Ki-duk. South Korea-Germnay. 2003. 102mins.Superior to any of his previous works, this contemplative, lavishly photographed picture made by the prolific Kim Ki-Duk, has been shot in a spectacular location, is calm, leisurely and philosophical and a cinema event in its own right. In sharp contrast to Kim's boldly ...
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Reviews
Gori Vatra (Fuse)
Dir. Pjer Zalica. Bosnia-Herzegovina/Austria/Turkey/France, 2003. 105 min.Competing in Locarno and the opening attraction at this year's Sarajevo Film Festival, Pjer Zalica's debut feature displays all the boisterous energy verging on the vulgar, the black sense of humour but also the tragic pathos which have become the trademarks of the better ...
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Reviews
Work Hard, Play Hard (Violence Des Echanges En Milieu Tempere)
Dir. Jean-Marc Moutout. France/Belgium. 99 min.Another addition to the rapidly growing number of French films dealing with economic globalisation and its various ways of affecting human condition, Jean-Marc Moutout's feature debut may not reach the high standards established by outstanding films like Human Resources or L'Emploi Du Temps. But by ...
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Reviews
16 Years Of Alcohol
Dir. Richard Jobson. UK. 2003. 102mins.Richard Jobson's first feature is an intensely felt, but often disjointed, tale of a man's desperate attempt to free himself not only from alcoholic addiction, but also to overcome his violent nature, basic mistrust in human nature and ferociously anti-social conduct. Growing up with a ...
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News
Locarno Band Wagon starts to roll
The Locarno International Film Festival's 56th edition kicked off last night, on a scorching, hot and humid summer night, with a brand new print of Vincente Minelli's evergreen musical The Band Wagon. The opening, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film made by a director born 100 years ago, faithfully ...
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News
Locarno and Venice tussle over Russian selection
Given the close proximity of their dates and the subsequent programming rivalry, there never has been much love lost between the Locarno (Aug 6-16) and Venice (Aug 27 - Sep 6) festivals. It's situation that was highlighted recently by a squabble over the competition programming of a Russian film.The Return, ...
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News
Locarno, Venice tussle over Russian selection
Given the close proximity of their dates and the subsequent programming rivalry, there never has been much love lost between the Locarno (Aug 6-16) and Venice (Aug 27 - Sep 6) festivals. It's situation that was highlighted recently by a squabble over the competition programming of a Russian film.The Return, ...
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Reviews
Nina's Tragedies: A Very Sad Comedy (Ha'assonoth shel Nina)
Dir: Savi Gabizon. Israel, 2003. 106mins.Film-maker Savi Gabizon's gently nonsensical humour has been much appreciated in the past by both Israeli critics and audiences. His new coming-of-age comedy, which looks at a gallery of eccentric, obsessive characters engineering themselves into impossible corners, should do reasonably well at home, especially after ...
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Reviews
All Tomorrow's Parties
Dir: Yu Lik Wai. China-France. 96minsShot digitally for the sake of flexibility and screened the same way in Un Certain Regard at Cannes - though a film version is in the making, to judge by the credits - Yu Lik Wai's second feature attempts to explore the near future ...
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Reviews
A Love Movie (Filme De Amor)
Dir: Julio Bressane. Brazil. 2003. 90minsThere is precious little love, even less sensuality and no passion at all in this experimental picture which marks Julio Bressane's return to the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes after more than 30 years. A little film on a vast subject, to quote the director himself, ...
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News
Triumph for Nina's Tragedies at Jerusalem film fest
Nina's Tragedies a bittersweet comedy by Savi Gabizon and produced by Gabizon and Anath Assouline, won the Wolgin Award for Best Israeli feature film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The award was accompanied by a $40,000 prize, to be divided equally between the director and producers. The film collected two ...
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News
Jerusalem festival line-up sparks debate
Despite a political situation that has kept international celebrities away, the 20th Jerusalem Film Festival has seen most of its screenings sold out - as well programming a record eight new Israeli feature films in its main line-up.The standout Israeli film as the festival approaches its final day is Ra'anan ...
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Reviews
Old, New, Borrowed And Blue (Se Til Venstre, Der Er En Svensker)
Dir. Natasha Arthy. Denmark. 2003. 90mins.This new romantic comedy is the best proof that a Dogme tag does not necessarily indicate a film is a meaningful or even a challenging experience. Old, New, Borrowed And Blue's sitcom-type humour and occasional melodramatic touches will probably provide a safe niche on international ...
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Reviews
Red And Blue (Rot Und Blau)
Dir. Rudolf Thome. Germany. 2003. 112mins.Veteran German director Rudolf Thome is back with another one of his meticulously over-scripted, exceedingly polite and talkative dramas. Like much of his previous work, such as Venus Talking and Paradiso: Seven Days With Seven Women (which won the Silver Bear at Berlin in 2000), ...
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Reviews
Tiresia
Dir: Bertrand Bonello. France-Canada. 2003. 118minsAfter his initial outing in Critics' Week, where he was much applauded two years ago for his debut, Le Pornographe, Bertrand Bonello might have done better with his second picture had it not been kicked upstairs from its original Un Certain Regard position to a ...
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Reviews
Buddy
Dir. Morten Tyldum. Norway. 2003. 104minsA feel-good, eminently likeable romp about three young Norwegians in their early 20s struggling through the rites of passage from adolescence to maturity, this feature debut by a director with a solid reputation in commercials should be a welcome addition to the youth-oriented film repertoire ...
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Reviews
A Long Weekend in Buda And Pest (Het Pesten Et Budan Egy)
Dir. Karoly Makk. Hungary. 2003. 90mins.While it is by no means a sequel to his celebrated feature Love of 32 years ago, Karoly Makk's new film not only employs the same two leading actors, Mari Torocsik and Ivan Dardas, but also makes extensive use of footage from his earlier picture ...
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Reviews
Eila
Dir. Jarmo Lampela. Finland. 2003. 94minsA neatly packaged but pretty slender melodrama combining social consciousness and parental guilt, Jarmo Lampela's new picture would have been more comfortable in a family TV slot than in the competition of a film festival. Though it attempts to echo the dry, deadpan approach of ...