Seeing three films in a row is hard, particularly when they are 4pm, 6.30pm and 9pm sessions with only enough time in between to power walk to the next venue. Knowing that the Graduation was a 2-hour Romanian social realist drama, I didn’t have a lot of confidence that I would make it through to the end. I found myself, though, absorbed and swept up in a story about Romania and parenting and regret and acceptance. Continue reading
Category Archives: Bechdel pass
Certain Women (2016)
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A lovely film, beautifully told, this triptych of stories directed by Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff) immerses us in the lives of three women, played by Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and a luminous Lily Gladstone (above). Each of the three stories has a small interconnection with the others but stands alone as a meditation on loneliness and the sad reality of our inability sometimes to help others. Continue reading
Paterson (2016)
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Directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring the seemingly ubiquitous Adam Driver, I was expecting something interesting but mainstream from Paterson. That’s not quite what this film is. On the surface it is an uneventful study of the routine of a single, ordinary life, with some humour provided by a dog. Underneath, it is a meditation on the difficulty of reengaging and finding meaning in life after military service, or perhaps any trauma. Continue reading
Our Huff and Puff Journey (2016)
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This film was likened to Wonderful World End (MIFF 2015), a surprisingly poignant Japanese exploration of identity in contemporary Japan, and I can see it has some similarities. Our Huff and Puff Journey follows four school girls, obsessed with pop band Creep, who set off on their push bikes to get to their concert in Tokyo. Full of obsessive enthusiasm, they don’t seem daunted by the 1000km journey from Fukuoka and only vaguely aware of the repercussions once their parents find out and they have to come home. Continue reading
Miss Impossible (2016)
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The French title of this lovely family film is Jamais Contente, which I think translates as ‘never satisfied’ and this seems an apt description of both the affliction of the central character, 13-year-old Aurore, and the attitude of the adults around her. Aurore is repeating year 7, has a younger sister who always gets good grades and an older one who seems to do what she likes. Aurore feels misunderstood by all and disenfranchised from her family. Continue reading
The Commune (2016)
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I loved this Danish film. It is poignant and engaging, an exploration of ageing, relationships and the difficulty of embracing change. It centres around Anna, Erik and their teenager daughter Freja. Set in the 70s, Anna is a well-known newscaster, Erik a lecturer in architecture. When Erik’s father dies, he is left the huge house of his childhood and Anna convinces him not to sell it. Instead they will live in it and invite friends to form a commune. Continue reading
Bleak Street (2015)
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Too bleak for me. Beautiful black and white but claustrophobically grim, this Mexican drama centres on two ageing prostitutes who struggle to make enough money to live. They are exploited by everyone and do the same to others in order to survive. The only true connection seems to be the friendship, or perhaps commonality, between them. Continue reading
The Unknown Girl (2016)
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The Unknown Girl is a film that will have an unknown ending for me as I walked out on it. It’s by the Dardennes brothers and I was really looking forward to it but I just couldn’t engage with the storyline. Jenny is a young doctor in her last days at a general practice for low-income patients before she moves on to a better job. One night after closing time, the clinic bell rings and she doesn’t answer it. It turns out to have been a young girl who was then murdered. Feeling responsible, Jenny tries to find out who she is. Continue reading
Album (2016)
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Oh boy, I loved and hated this Turkish film. It is excruciating to watch, like the Lanthimos film Dogtooth where the characters are so extreme, the story so odd and metaphorical that you are not really sure what it is you are seeing. And then the resolution is so devastating that you know you have just watched something with deep resonance. Continue reading
Don Juan (2015)
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What a powerful documentary about our ability to be destructive to those we love. Oleg is a young Russian man with autism. He lives with his mother who wants him to be normal, sending him to multiple therapies, berating him for not being a ‘real man’ who can support and protect her. We can see she carries a bitter well of resentment and her only focus is Oleg. Continue reading
