All articles by Sheila Johnston
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Reviews
Love Hurts (Amarte Duele)
Dir: Fernando Sarinana. Mexico. 2002. 110mins.Having proved his box-office mettle in his native Mexico, producer-turned director Fernando Sarinana has been building an international profile with such offerings as Hasta Morir (Til Death, 1994), Todo El Poder (Give Me Power, 1999) and his pitch-black fresco of Mexico City grotesques, Ciudades Oscuras ...
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Reviews
Heavenly Grassland (Tian Shang Cao Yuan)
Dirs: Mailisi, Saifu. China. 2002. 105 mins.Redolent of Nikita Mikhalkov's 1991 Urga (though more idealised) crossed with 2001's Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner (though much more conventional), Heavenly Grassland tells of a small Chinese boy adopted by a family in the remote steppes of Inner Mongolia. An intimate, very small-scale story ...
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Reviews
Valentin
Dir: Alejandro Agresti. Argentina/Holland. 2002. 82mins.Valentin is an immensely likeable if lightweight addition to the existing host of nostalgic, bittersweet comedies about growing up in a dysfunctional family. Small but perfectly formed, it is keenly pitched at middlebrow art-house audiences and quality broadcasters. Miramax, which is also funding director Alejandro ...
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Reviews
The Bottom Of The Sea (El Fondo Del Mar)
Dir: Damian Szifron. Argentina. 2003. 90 mins.The new independent company Aeroplano looks like it has a winner on its hands with the drama comedy The Bottom Of The Sea. This lively but mature piece combines a very individualistic vision with a firm grasp of entertainment value that will make it ...
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Reviews
Breaking Up (Separacoes)
Dir: Domingos De Oliveira. Brazil. 2002. 110mins.A sophisticated, wordy, extremely fast-moving comedy about the loves and lusts of a group of Rio artists and intellectuals (think Woody Allen, with Manhattan angst replaced by an irrepressible Latino hedonism), Breaking Up was a great popular favourite with audiences in Mar Del Plata ...
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Reviews
The One And Only
Dir: Simon Cellan Jones. UK 2002. 91mins. Spectacularly misnamed, The One And Only is anything but exceptional. Instead, it is a feeble cookie cutter comedy which represents a real disappointment given the considerable previous achievements of the talent involved: producer Leslee Udwin (East Is East), writer Peter Flannery (the BBC ...
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Reviews
The Life Of David Gale
Dir: Alan Parker. US. 2002. 128mins.The prosecution's case prevails in passing judgement on The Life of David Gale, a polemical thriller which has all the conviction and brio one expects of an Alan Parker film, but is let down by the two central performances and a spectacularly feeble script. Well-positioned ...
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Reviews
9
Dir: Umit Unal. Turkey. 2002. 94mins.Preceded by a quote from Franz Kafka's In The Penal Colony about the invisible workings of the system, 9 presents a grim portrait of the way in which religious bigotry and social malaise have a direct and poisonous impact on people's everyday behaviour. Chosen, surprisingly, ...
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Reviews
Bolivar, That's Me (Bolivar Soy Yo)
Dir: Jorge Ali Triana. Colombia/France. 2002. 93 mins. Since taking the top prize at Mar del Plata last year, Bolivar, That's Me, an offbeat satire about an actor who starts to over-identity with the character he is playing, has been a regular guest on the international festival circuit, playing at ...
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Reviews
The Last Train (Poslednyi Poezd)
Dir: Diego Arsuaga. Uruguay/Argentina/Spain. 2002. 93 mins.Faintly reminiscent of an Ealing Studio's comedy (The Titfield Thunderbolt springs particularly to mind), Uruguay's Oscar candidate is a gentle caper movie about a gang of old codgers who hijack a steam train. International critics are likely to turn their noses up at this ...
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News
Havana fest honours City Of God, Suddenly
Over 500 films were screened at Havana's 24th Festival of New Latin American Cinema, confirming the pre-eminence of Brazil and Argentina in the region.Fernardo Meireilles' magnificent epic City of God shared the top prize, the Premio Coral, with Diego Lerman's sparkling debut, Suddenly. These two films, along with A Red ...
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Reviews
Deathwatch
Dir: Michael J Bassett. UK. 2002. 95 mins.The old maxim that war is hell gets dusted down yet again for Deathwatch, a horror film set in the trenches of World War I which will attract attention as Jamie Bell's first role since his applauded and awarded performance in Billy Elliott ...
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Reviews
I'm Taraneh, 15
Dir: Rassul Sadr-Ameli. Iran. 2002. 110 mins. A young single mother's struggle for survival is the theme of a compelling story that's both universally recognisable and packed with revealing detail unique to contemporary Iran. The country's official candidate for the Foreign Language Oscar and a critical and popular hit there, ...
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Reviews
Mon-Rak Transistor
Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang. Thailand. 2002. 120 mins. Monrak Transistor may win a few friends on the strength of its ingenuous charm and attractive performances, but the shapeless direction and meandering story make this dark musical comedy unlikely to have much impact on arthouse audiences outside its home turf. Its best ...
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Reviews
In This World
Dir: Michael Winterbottom. UK 2002. 87mins.It's a road movie to end road movies: two Afghan refugees' long, life-threatening overland journey from Pakistan to London, shot with a small DV camera but a big wide-screen sweep. World premiered at the London Film Festival - where it played as a last-minute addition ...
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Reviews
Anita And Me
Dir: Metin Huseyin. UK. 2002. 93mins. With its blend of elements from the successful recent comedies East Of East and Bend It Like Beckham, Anita And Me is intent on riding on the current public appetite for all things Asian-British. In the UK, where it world premiered at the London ...
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Reviews
Hukkle
Dir: Gyorgy Palfi.. Hungary. 2002. 75mins.An authentic one-off - think Microcosmos meets Twin Peaks - Hukkle starts out as a serene, naturalistic portrait of rural life. But it slowly morphs into something much more sinister, as apparently disconnected scenes gel into a murder investigation whose key events unfold in the ...
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Reviews
My Kingdom
Dir: Don Boyd. UK. 2001. 117mins.The British gangland genre gets a handsome if flawed addition with Don Boyd's freewheeling, ambitious spin on King Lear set among a corrupt modern dynasty in which Richard Harris's world-weary patriarch dominates - though is not allowed to overshadow - a fresco of elaborately drawn ...
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Reviews
Aro Tolbukhin: In The Mind Of A Killer
Dirs: Agusti Villaronga, Lydia Zimmermann, Isaac P Racine. Sp-Mex. 2002. 96mins.Aro Tolbukhin: In The Mind Of A Killer is a profoundly spooky, startlingly original contribution to the cinema's enduring fascination with serial murderers. This intricate, multi-layered false documentary based on a notorious real-life case is by no stretch of the ...
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Reviews
Minimal Stories (Historias Minimas)
Dir: Carlos Sorin. Arg. 2002. 93 mins.The title says it all: set in the remote Patagonian steppes of Southern Argentina, Minimal Stories is a comedy of great warmth and sweetness whose charm lies above all in its unpretentious ambitions. Careful marketing and critical support will be essential to nurture this ...