Archibald prize winning Australian artist Del Kathryn Barton has imbued her lush visuals into her first feature film about violence against women and childhood trauma.
Continue readingBlaze (2022)
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The Water (El Agua) (2022)
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Having ‘the water inside’ might spell doom or freedom in this meditative Spanish drama.
Continue readingHarka (2022)
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There is something inevitable about the trajectory of Ali’s life in Lofty Nathan’s sunbleached drama of hopelessness that foreshadows the start of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia in 2011.
Continue readingThe Novelist’s Film (소설가의 영화)(2022)
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I find myself wanting to like South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo’s work. Maybe I’m choosing the wrong ones out of his huge filmography as they seem whimsically pedestrian and self-absorbed, albeit in a way that’s meant to be charming.
Continue readingThe Duke (2020)
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It seems churlish to criticise this sepia-toned homage to working class heroes as it’s clear from the outset that it’s not trying to rock any boats. And who doesn’t love Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren in a ‘based on a true story’ hagiography of the man who stole a painting from the London National Gallery in 1961?
Continue readingEl Planeta (2021)
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This artful satire by writer/director/star Amalia Ulman almost works but I couldn’t help feeling I was missing the point.
Continue readingGaia (2021)
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Jaco Bouwer’s first feature starts with great visuals and effective suspense but gets lost in a a hallucinogenic mess that promises more than it delivers.
Continue readingLittle Tornadoes (2021)
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Despite the authentic feel of rural Australia in the 1970s, Aaron Wilson’s exploration of masculinity and Australian identity is a rather flat and depressing journey.
Continue readingSisters with Transistors (2020)
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An interesting documentary about the female pioneers of electronic music that succeeds in elevating their names without necessarily providing a context for their work within the wider genre or their impact on contemporary music.
Continue readingDays (Rizi) (2020)
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You need to be immersed in slow cinema to really feel its beat and emotion and Tsai Ming-Liang’s mood piece about urban loneliness was lost on me on a small screen.
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