Directed by Damien Chazelle It’s Friday 13th, there are tide-surge flood alerts all down the east coast, much of Scotland lies under a blanket of snow, Trump’s about to move into the White House, our hospitals are in a state of near collapse, we’re cutting ourselves off from Europe, I have a hacking cough, and … Continue reading “La La Land”
November 9 HONEYLAND, directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov and made over three years of living close to their subject, might just be the best film of the festival. Winner of 20 awards including three at Sundance earlier this year, as well as being North Macedonia’s entry for Best Foreign Film in next year’s … Continue reading “Inward Eye Film Festival, Ambleside, Part 3: Honeyland; Song of Summer; Arcadia”
Too darn hot today in England, the day that Boris becomes Prime Minister and the nation enters into a languid fugue state/ incandescent rage as our journey to the dark side nears completion. What to do but flop in a darkened room and indulge my secret vice, the ‘Scotland Yard’ B picture series on Talking Pictures … Continue reading “Scotland Yard, Edgar Lustgarten, Ken Hughes, and me”
Directed by Elena Naveriani A sturdily-built middle-aged woman, Etero (Eka Shavleishvili), is scrambling on a hillside in her wellies picking blackberries. Stepping too near a steep edge, she slips on wet grass and skids, almost falling to the road some way beneath. For a moment she has a vision of the probably fatal fall she … Continue reading “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry”
Two films in this selection could stand as powerful testimony to Larkin’s famous line ‘They fuck you up, your mum and dad…’ Daniele Luchetti has made family tensions his speciality – My Brother is an Only Child; Those Happy Years; Our Life – all in their different ways showing that domestic happiness doesn’t come easy, … Continue reading “Cinema Made in Italy 2021 Part 2: The Ties (Lacci); Thou Shalt Not Hate(Non odiare)”
Arriving in Cluj at 2.30 am, and the night is as warm as the unexpectedly balmy South Yorkshire I left in the English early evening. I’m driven by a young Hungarian Clujean opera singer – TIFF is always full of pleasant surprises – and we discuss Brexit, Hungarian/Romanian relations in Cluj, and agree that ‘E … Continue reading “Transilvania International Film Festival 2018 – Part 1: When the Trees Fall; Black Tide”
As the Oscars are upon us, I realise that 3 of the contenders are still residing in my ‘to do’ box, and events have conspired to delay my writing their reviews. So here’s a quick catch-up: THE SHAPE OF WATER deserves every prize going. It feels like a rare foray back to the time when movies … Continue reading “Contenders: The Shape of Water; Lady Bird; Darkest Hour”
Directed by Cristian Mungiu Earlier this year Romanians of all ages gathered in their thousands in a square in Bucharest to demonstrate against their state’s softening of anti-corruption laws, giving the rest of us an object lesson in how determined demonstration with a focussed aim can achieve much. The corruption we see being born here … Continue reading “Graduation (Bacalaureat)”
After seeing some films from contemporary Italian directors last week, it’s worth a look at a classic. Visconti’s gorgeous, tragic meld of operatic melodrama and neo-realism Rocco and His Brothers was restored 2 years ago at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna. Four brothers and their mother arrive unexpectedly from the South with all their worldly goods, … Continue reading “Classic of the Week: Rocco & His Brothers”
Winner of several prizes including the European Comedy Film Award, this film was a sell-out when I saw it last March at the annual week of new Italian films in London, Cinema made in Italy. And now it’s finally arrived on limited distribution in the UK. A first feature from radio and TV satirist Pierfrancesco Diliberto (aka ‘Pif’), it’s … Continue reading “The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (La mafia uccide solo d’estate)”
A seat in the dark 