Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s impressive first feature reminded me of Aga (2018) in its often wordless depiction of indigenous peoples eking out an existence in a vast and remote plain.
Continue readingUtama (2022)
StandardCategory Archives: MIFF
The Integrity of Joseph Chambers (2022)
Standard
I loved Robert Machoian’s The Killing of Two Lovers (2020) and he again examines a crisis of masculinity in rural America, albeit through a simpler tale.
Continue readingThe Lonely Spirits Variety Hour (2022)
Standard
You always hope for a gem at a film festival – a film you know nothing about, that you have no particular hopes for but that transports you somewhere transcendent.
Continue readingChildren of the Mist (Những đứa trẻ trong sương) (2021)
Standard
Documentaries don’t usually make me so angry I want to throw something at the screen. Vietnamese film maker Hà Lệ Diễm gives us unprecedented insight into Hmong culture and their tradition of bride kidnapping.
Continue readingEvolution (2021)
Standard
There was something deeply compelling about this rigorous and austere look at identity and trauma by Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó.
Continue readingThe Box (La Caja) (2021)
Standard
Lorenzo Vigas pares back dialogue and fills the frame with the vast expanses of Northern Mexico in this contemplative story of loss and separation.
Continue readingThe Eight Mountains (Le Otto Montagne)(2022)
Standard
Even though this is a very intimate story of friendship, it feels epic in scale and rich in detail, set against a glorious backdrop of Alpine mountains.
Continue readingInnocence (2004)
Standard
Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s first feature-length film is an austere and ominous parable about the societal limitations imposed on young women.
Continue readingThe Goddess (Devi) (1960)
Standard
Satyajit Ray is a master of pared-back social drama that exposes the class and social structure of India.
Continue readingThe Exam (2021)
Standard
Shawkat Amin Korki cranks up the tension in this exploration of the desperate lengths people will go to when they are given few choices.
Continue reading
fillums 