Image via http://www.slantmagazine.com
Written and directed in 2006 by Iranian Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Past, The Salesman) this story of a young, engaged, Tehrani woman as she becomes embroiled in a failing marriage has his signature style. We are immersed in the minutiae of an ordinary day with with one character, in this case Roohi (Taraneh Alidoosti – Elly in About Elly and Rana in The Salesman), who is a catalyst and the pivot point around which the story revolves. Continue reading
I love film festivals. The weekend I chose to be in Melbourne, the Iranian Film festival just happened to be on. As my loyal readers will know, I have a penchant for Iranian films – Rhino Season, 
What a beautiful and sad film. Set in Tibet, we first meet Tharlo (pronounced tarlo), or Ponytail as he is used to being called, as he recites the words of Mao Tse-tung that he learned by heart when he was nine. He speaks of death being inevitable but not all deaths being the same significance; death after serving the people is ‘heavier than Mount Tai’ but death after serving the fascists is ‘as light as a feather’. He is reciting this to the local police chief who remarks that, with such a memory, he had great promise as a child and his forty years as shepherd, building up a small living, is a waste. 
A lovely film, beautifully told, this triptych of stories directed by Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff) immerses us in the lives of three women, played by Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and a luminous Lily Gladstone (above). Each of the three stories has a small interconnection with the others but stands alone as a meditation on loneliness and the sad reality of our inability sometimes to help others. 
I loved this Danish film. It is poignant and engaging, an exploration of ageing, relationships and the difficulty of embracing change. It centres around Anna, Erik and their teenager daughter Freja. Set in the 70s, Anna is a well-known newscaster, Erik a lecturer in architecture. When Erik’s father dies, he is left the huge house of his childhood and Anna convinces him not to sell it. Instead they will live in it and invite friends to form a commune. 
Oh boy, I loved and hated this Turkish film. It is excruciating to watch, like the Lanthimos film Dogtooth where the characters are so extreme, the story so odd and metaphorical that you are not really sure what it is you are seeing. And then the resolution is so devastating that you know you have just watched something with deep resonance. 
I cried at the end of this film, I’m not sure why. There is a quiet reverence to it and beauty that is at odds with its setting. By Singaporean director Boo Junfeng, the setting is a Malay maximum security prison where Aiman has just begun work as a guard. He seems kind, conscientious, though emotionally distant from his only sister. Soon he is taken under the wing of Rahim, the prison executioner, who teaches him how to ‘kill well’, with the least pain and the most compassion. 
I love contemporary black and white films. It’s the beauty of the tone and the other-worldliness it creates. I, Olga Hepnarova is a quiet, thoughtful film. Based on history, Olga was the last woman executed in Czechoslovakia, at the age of 22, for deliberately driving a truck along a crowded footpath. This portrayal attempts to create some context to her life and glean the psychology behind this act. 
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