Ah no. Don’t see this film. If you do and you find something to like about it, some hidden profundity, please let me know. Its directed by Nicolas Winding Refn who directed Drive, a film I really liked. The Neon Demon seems to be about the fashion industry and, more specifically, the obsession with female beauty. Every character is unlikeable, the men are all voyeurs or predators, the women are all narcissistic and monstrous. Continue reading
Category Archives: Reviews
Evolution (2015)
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This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Its colour palette, location and aesthetic are exquisite. It is also enigmatic, to the point of being unsatisfying. We see a small, austere, island community of women and boys. The women are pale eyebrowed, dressed in colours of skin and earth. The boys are prepubescent, unsmiling. They live in bare, white houses amongst black sand, rock and crashing waves. There is little dialogue and no context for this odd world. Continue reading
Sonita (2015)
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I couldn’t pass up this Iranian documentary about a young Afghan girl in Tehran, battling her family’s conservative plans to achieve her dream of being a rapper. In many ways it is like As I Open My Eyes made real. Sonita Alizadeh, like Farah in that movie, is young and idealistic, channeling her anger at the injustice she sees all around her into her song lyrics. For her it is the limitations placed on her as a young woman, destined to be married off by her Afghani family for a bride price, like so many other teenagers, and forbidden from performing. Continue reading
Under the Shadow (2016)
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I’m still thinking about this Iranian horror. It wasn’t a genre I knew about before A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night entered my life – my favourite film of last year. There are similarities between these two films, not stylistically but in their feminist subtext, although Girl delivers it much more subtly. And Under the Shadow is much more scary. I returned to my apartment afterwards and the quiet stairs and long corridors seemed disconcertingly like a carpeted version of the apartment block in the film. Continue reading
As I Open My Eyes (À peine j’ouvre les yeux) (2015)
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Farah is a young idealist, a singer fresh out of secondary school and living in Tunis with her mother while her father works away. Farah’s band sing songs of protest about the inequities and corruption of their country, songs that begin to be noticed by the authorities. The music is beautiful – a mix of contemporary and traditional, the lyrics like poetry, Farah’s keening voice a heartbreak. Slowly, we become aware of the world outside Farah’s relatively privileged, sheltered upbringing and her guilelessness begins to affect those around her. Continue reading
Green Room (2015)
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Have you ever decided to go to the cinema and just pick a film that you know nothing about? That’s what I did with Green Room, all I knew was that it was a horror (not my favourite genre), it was about a punk band and Patrick Stewart was in it. If nothing else, it was going to be interesting. And it was an engaging, if gory, ride. Continue reading
The Piano Teacher (2001)
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Holy moly, this was a cracker of a film. Not to be watched by anyone who wants an easy ride – take this as a warning. Directed by Michael Haneke, who makes challenging films like The White Ribbon and Caché, The Piano Teacher also has powerhouse performances, themes that make you decidedly uncomfortable and no neat resolution. With all of the Haneke films I have seen so far, as the end credits roll there is a moment of incredulity and exasperation but then the characters and subtext worm their way into your brain and refuse to leave. Continue reading
Midnight Special (2016)
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I had a really interesting conversation yesterday with a friend about the subjectivity of film reviewing and how the baggage you carry with you influences your judgement of a film. I’m not sure he totally agreed with me but we then watched Midnight Special and, for me, my bias was clear. My sister asked me to see this film as she wanted to talk to me about it’s metaphor and metaphorical it certainly is. At least it has to be otherwise it doesn’t really make sense. Continue reading
Thelma and Louise (1991)
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This year marks twenty five years since the release of Thelma and Louise so what better way to mark it than to watch it with my three daughters. I was twenty six when I first watched this, so that’s half my lifetime ago. I remember at the time loving it because it put women at the centre of the action, it was funny, the two stars were engaging, the cinematography was beautiful and there was a thrill in identifying with characters who didn’t do what they were told. Now, at 51, I can see that this film is even more than that. Continue reading
Zootopia (2016)
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Disney’s feminist polemic. I know right? What does Disney think it’s doing serving up this thinly veiled feminist propaganda? What are they trying to do, influence the minds of our courageous young boys and tractable young girls? I know what kind of barrow you’re trying to push Disney, you’re trying to tell us that girls can do boy jobs. In fact sometimes they can do boy jobs better than boys because girls are essentially moral and they always try and do the right thing. And if only those aggressive boys would just listen to those good girls they might learn something. Just as long as the girls don’t get too emotional. Or try to tell the boys what to do. And need saving when the going gets really tough. Continue reading
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