Latest – Page 39
-
ReviewsIl Seme Della Discordia
Dir: Pappi Corsicato. Italy. 2008. 84mins.Neapolitan director Pappi Corsicato conjures up the spirit but little of the dramatic and thematic depth of his acknowledged master Pedro Almodovar in this bright but lightweight comedy-melodrama. But though its afterglow is short-lived, Corsicato’s amusing little film still came as ...
-
-
ReviewsInland (Gabbla)
Dir: Tariq Teguia. Algeria-France. 2008. 145mins.For anyone with the strength to sit through the whole 145 minutes of this sadistically-paced cinematic reflection on the state of contemporary Algeria, there are a few small compensations: some moments of visual poetry, particularly in the final desert scenes, and ...
-
ReviewsThe Sky Crawlers
Dir: Mamoru Oshii. Japan. 2008. 122mins.Mamoru Oshii’s most meditative feature-length animation to date tells the story of a group of genetically modified eternally-young fighter aces in a world where war has become a company-sponsored reality game. Like the Peter-Pan ‘Kildren’ that it depicts, The Sky Crawlers ...
-
-
-
-
ReviewsA Country Teacher
Dir: Bohdan Slama. Czech-Ger-Fr. 2008. 113mins.A bittersweet comedy about a gay teacher hiding out in a country school, Bohdan Slama’s follow-up to his award-winning Something Like Happiness feels slightly old-fashioned, going over ground that has already been dealt with in other films. The kind of gay ...
-
-
ReviewsTeza
Dir-scr: Haile Gerima. Ethiopia-Germany-France. 2008. 140mins.Haile Gerima ambitiously attempts to put his native country’s tragic recent history into context in the sprawling Teza, which follows an Ethiopian intellectual through exile in Germany and return to his home village during the turbulent early years of the Marxist ...
-
ReviewsMilk (Sut)
Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu. Turkey-France-Germany. 2008. 111mins.Painfully slow but at the same time a resonant, elegiac coming of age story, the second installment in Turkish arthouse director Semih Kaplanoglu’s Yusuf trilogy shows him to be something of a magic-realist Terence Davies. But with its overlong shots in ...
-
-
-
-
ReviewsVegas: Based On A True Story
Dir: Amir Naderi. US. 2008. 102mins.Vegas: Based on a True Story feels like Vegas: A Shooting Experiment. Iranian director Amir Naderi - living in the US for the last 20 years - has wrapped an interesting story in a drab,DV format, framed mostly in long and ...
-
ReviewsGoodbye Solo
Dir: Ramin Bahrani. US. 2008. 91mins.An odd-couple relationship fuels a slow-burning but ultimately moving emotional and spiritual journey in Ramin Bahrani’s third feature. As in the well-received festival faves Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, the US director of Iranian origins unspools a story set among ...
-
ReviewsPlastic City (Dangkou)
Dir: Yu Lik-wai. Brazil-China-Japan. 2008. 118mins.An underdeveloped yakuza-in-Brazil storyline and a hip- hop VJ sound-and-image assault do not add up to a rounded arthouse film in Yu Lik-wai’s PlasticCity. Despite some moments of visual brilliance, this third directorial outing by Jia Zhangke’s regular cinematographer betrays the ...
-
ReviewsL'Autre
Dirs: Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic. France. 2008. 97mins.This rather frosty but nevertheless intriguing study of one woman’s descent into jealousy, which premiered in competition at Venice, is one of those well-crafted exercises that plays better in the viewing than in the recall. That’s because it’s ...
-
ReviewsKabuli Kid
Dir: Barmak Akram. France-Afghanistan. 2008. 95mins.What makes this small French-backed Afghan charmer, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Venice, more than just a heartwarming quest comedy is its grounding in the everyday chaos and strict social and religious codes of war-ravaged Kabul. Though honed by script ...
-
ReviewsA Perfect Day (Un Giorno Perfetto)
Dir: Ferzan Ozpetek. Italy. 2008. 101mins.Obsessive love, corrupt politicians, coming-of-age crisis and teenage rebellion are just some of the ingredients in Ferzan Ozpetek’s Competition entry A Perfect Day. Adapted from a novel by Melania Mazzucco, this tragic melodrama spreads itself rather thin trying to pack it ...