I liked director Davy Chou’s 2016 film Diamond Island and his latest feature, set in South Korea rather than Cambodia, has the same slow, introspective quality.
Continue readingReturn to Seoul (Retour à Séoul) (2022)
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Incredible But True (Incroyable Mais Vrai) (2022)
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If you watched Deerskin (2019), you’ll know what to expect from ‘fabulist’ Quentin Dupieux.
Continue readingKompromat (2022)
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Rules for escaping a totalitarian state: 1) Don’t use a mobile phone; 2) Don’t use a mobile phone to call the daughter-in-law of your pursuer; 3) Don’t use a torch when crossing a patrolled border at night. And a hot tip – Siberian aluminium foil is the bomb!
Continue readingThe Kitchen Brigade (La Brigade) (2022)
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If you’re feeling a bit down about your life, watch this film.
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 readingPlaylist (2021)
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Like a black and white Amelie (2001) without the whimsy, French director and graphic novelist Nine Antico’s first feature tracks the travails of hapless Sophie (Sara Forestier) as she searches for love.
Continue readingDay 24: My favourite film with a colour in the title
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Three Colours: Blue (1993)
I found this the hardest prompt of the lot but, in the end, I couldn’t not choose Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Trois Couleurs (Three Colours) trilogy. After Hal Hartley, Kieślowski was my next favourite director and this trilogy was the first time I saw films that interconnected.
Continue readingThe Truth (La Vérité) (2019)
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Image via http://www.indiewire.com
Hirokazu Kore-Eda has crafted a deceptively complex story within a film that feels as airy as a soufflé. Continue reading
The Extraordinary (Hors Normes) (2019)
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Image via http://www.affrenchfilmfestival.org
I wasn’t expecting to love this feature, by writer directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, so much. Their huge hit The Intouchables (2011) achieved all the right notes of feel-good, odd couple drama with a social subtext and rarely overplayed its hand. It felt like an elegant and understated Hollywood pic though and it is unsurprising that it was re-made in 2017 as The Upside (which I can’t bear to watch). I was expecting the same with The Extraordinary and so was unprepared for its social and emotional depth and understated authenticity. Continue reading
The Translators (Les Traducteurs) (2019)
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Image via http://www.palacefilms.com.au
I like the resurgence of clever whodunnits, particularly the ones that are character-driven and unpredictable. With The Translators, director Régis Roinsard takes an unlikely but compelling story and fills it with dense narrative, quirky characters and some truly unexpected plot twists. Continue reading
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