Pedro Almodóvar gives us two tenuously connected stories, worth watching for the powerful performances of Penélope Cruz and newcomer Milena Smit.
Continue readingParallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas) (2021)
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Happiest Season (2020)
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Christmas movies ideally should give us love and hope and not drown us in corn syrup. This queer Christmas rom-com has just enough tartness to balance the sugar.
Continue readingHow to Please a Woman (2022)
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A gentle and slightly awkward Australian comedy by Renée Webster that puts female pleasure in the centre of the story.
Continue readingA Hero (Ghahreman) (2021)
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It’s a relief to watch an Asghar Farhadi film that returns to the morally complex form of his earlier films like A Separation (2011) and The Past (2013). His dip into Hollywood with Everybody Knows (2018) was a disappointment for those who love his exploration of Iranian culture.
Continue readingNever Gonna Snow Again (Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie) (2020)
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This beautiful and decidedly enigmatic mood piece from Malgorzata Szumowska (Mug (2018), Body (2015)) and Michal Englert confounds as much as it satisfies.
Continue readingDelicious (Delicieux) (2021)
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Don’t watch this film hungry. With all the warmth and savour of other European foodie films like Chocolat (2000) and Babette’s Feast (1987), Éric Besnard’s Delicieux weaves a gentle story about the French Revolution in the guise of a tale about gastronomy, forgiveness and independence.
Continue readingThe First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation (2021)
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It is hard not to despair of the world and the depravities that humans will perpetrate as you watch this measured dissection of the mechanics of a military occupation. Avi Mograbi balances the message by having former Israeli soldiers dispassionately recount their part in the occupation of Palestine, illustrating a system that seeks to colonise, dehumanise and deconstruct a nation.
Continue readingGreen Sea (Πράσινη θάλασσα) (2021)
StandardWhat are the chances that two of the four films I have watched so far as part of the Sydney Film Festival have been Greek films about people with amnesia? Where Christos Nikou’s Apples (2020) used it as a metaphor, Angeliki Antoniou has a more prosaic approach.
Continue readingWife of a Spy (2020)
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Refreshing in its portrayal of the good and evil of Japan’s part in WWII, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s mystery has some decent twists and turns amidst the melodrama.
Continue readingPhil Lynott: Songs For While I’m Away (2020)
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The Irish Film Festival Australia is streaming online; a glorious chance to drink Guinness, cook Irish food and immerse ourselves in Irish culture and stories. Emer Reynolds’ warm-hearted hagiography of Thin Lizzy front man Phil Lynott is a welcome elevation of his music and the difficulties of being “the only black boy in Dublin in the 50s” rather than the tragic ignominy of his death.
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