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Pawel Pawlikowski has crafted a bleak and beautiful tribute to the joys and violence of love and ideology. Continue reading
Cold War (Zimna Wojna) (2018)
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Burning (버닝) (2018)
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My daughter is teaching herself Korean and before I left for MIFF, she taught me how to say, “I’m tired. However, I want to watch a movie” in Korean. I thought of her when I saw Burning in the sumptuous Versailles that is the Regent Theatre. Continue reading
Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer et Courir Vite) (2018)
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This exquisite and heartbreaking film by Christophe Honoré felt like a more whimsical but no less real partner to last year’s BPM. The Anglicised title doesn’t do it justice, and I prefer the original that loosely translates as “pleasure, love and run fast.” Continue reading
Ága (2018)
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Sparse and visually poetic, Milko Lazarov’s Ága immerses us in the spartan life of elderly Yakut reindeer herders, Nanook (Mikhail Aprosimov) and Sedna (Feodosia Ivanova), living a harsh and contented life in the Siberian tundra. Continue reading
Woman at War (Kona fer i strio) (2018)
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I love a quirky Icelandic drama and Benedikt Erlingsson has created an engaging and tongue-in-cheek story with a mostly subtle but effective message. Continue reading
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1989)
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Director Alex Proyas calls this an apocalyptic Western and it’s a good description. Forgotten for 30 years, a restoration (thanks to Umbrella Entertainment and Roar Digital) has prompted its rescreening and a re-release on DVD. Continue reading
Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben) (2018)
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Asghar Farhadi is an accomplished director and he knows how to tell a good and complex story. His films often show us people who have a veneer of success – jobs, wealth, relationships, family – and are confronted with a moral dilemma that slowly unravels their comfortable lives. Everybody Knows is no exception and, once again, Farhadi has created a film outside of his native Iran. Continue reading
I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story (2018)
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The Bay City Rollers was my boyband obsession. Tartan scarves were banned from my primary school because we used to wear them tied to our wrists to show our devotion. My cousin called them the Bay Shitty Rollers, just to annoy me. Continue reading
Dark River (2017)
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This one was a last minute swap when I couldn’t face racing to Hoyts to be potentially disappointed by Robert Pattinson in the farcical, some say feminist western Damsel. That’s one of those films that can be a delight or a travesty and I didn’t feel like risking it. Dark River was a good choice. Directed by Clio Barnard it’s a dark and brooding tale of abuse as seen through the eyes of a survivor. Continue reading
Fugue (Fuga) (2018)
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Agnieszka Smoczynska’s credentials as the director of 80s musical about killer mermaids The Lure, got me along to Fugue, her next feature. They couldn’t be more different in tone and style but both have stories that recast women out of familiar stereotypes. Continue reading
