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      • Action Cinema
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  • FILM-TV REVIEWS
    • 0 - 9 >
      • One Cut of the Dead
      • One Day
      • Two Days, One Night
      • 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy
      • 7 Days In Havana
      • Seven Psychopaths
      • Seven Swords
      • 009 Re: Cyborg
      • 11 Minutes
      • 12 Years A Slave
      • 13
      • 24 Weeks
      • 45 Years
      • 68 Kill
      • '71
      • 99 Homes
      • 300: Rise Of An Empire
      • 303
      • 20,000 Days On Earth
      • 8 Million Ways to Die
    • A >
      • A Bigger Splash
      • A Bronx Tale
      • A Cat In Paris
      • A Few Best Men
      • A Field In England
      • A Ghost Story
      • A Hard Day
      • A Lonely Place to Die
      • A Love Song
      • A Man's Flower Road
      • A Million Ways To Die In The West
      • A Monster Calls
      • A Prayer Before Dawn
      • A Second Chance
      • A Separation
      • A Single Shot
      • A Spanking in Paradise
      • A Thousand Times Good Night
      • A Walk Among The Tombstones
      • A White, White Day
      • Abduction
      • About Ray
      • Act of Valour
      • African Cats
      • Afro Samurai
      • After the Wedding
      • Alice Through the Looking Glass
      • All In Good Time
      • Alleluia
      • Allied
      • American Heist
      • American Pie: Reunion
      • Ana, Mon Amour
      • Anarchy
      • Anchor and Hope
      • Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
      • Angelica
      • Animal Kingdom
      • Animals
      • Anna Karenina
      • Anomalisa
      • Ant-Man
      • Arctic
      • Argo
      • Arrival
      • Asako I & II
      • Avengers: Age of Ultron
    • B >
      • Baby Driver
      • Babycall
      • Bacurau
      • Bad Neighbours
      • Bad Words
      • Bait
      • Banshee Chapter
      • Barbara
      • Barrage
      • Barry
      • Bastards
      • Bastille Day
      • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
      • Beasts Of The Southern Wild
      • Beatriz at Dinner
      • Beauty And The Beast
      • Bee Movie
      • Before Midnight
      • Before We Go
      • Belle
      • Benny & Jolene
      • Berlin Syndrome
      • Big Eyes
      • Big Game
      • Big Hero 6
      • Bitch
      • Black 47
      • Black Coal, Thin Ice
      • Black Eagle (R2B: Return To Base)
      • Black Panther
      • Black Rain
      • Black Sea
      • Black Sheep
      • Blackfish
      • Blackhat
      • Blade of the Immortal
      • Bleed for This
      • Blue Is The Warmest Colour
      • Bobby Fischer Against the World
      • Boca
      • Bodies Bodies Bodies
      • Bones and All
      • Bonsai
      • Boomerang Family
      • Border
      • Borgia
      • Boyhood
      • Brave
      • Brawl in Cell Block 99
      • Breaking Bad
      • Breakup Buddies
      • Breathe In
      • Breathing
      • Brian and Charles
      • Bridesmaids
      • Bright Nights
      • Britain from Above
      • Broken City
      • Bullhead
      • Bunraku
      • Burning
      • Bushwick
    • C >
      • Caesar Must Die
      • Cafe De Flore
      • Cake
      • Calvary
      • Can A Song Save Your Life?
      • Candy
      • Captain America: Civil War
      • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
      • Captain Phillips
      • Carrie Pilby
      • Carnage
      • Casa De Mi Padre
      • Cashback
      • Castle in the Sky
      • Catfight
      • Central Intelligence
      • Chasuke's Journey
      • Chef
      • Chrysalis
      • Cinderella
      • Cleopatra
      • Climax
      • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
      • Clouds of Sils Maria
      • Coin Locker Girl
      • Cold Eyes
      • Cold In July
      • Cold War
      • Collective Invention
      • Colonia
      • Color Out of Space
      • Colossal
      • Comes A Bright Day
      • Compliance
      • Computer Chess
      • Conan the Barbarian
      • Confession Of A Child Of The Century
      • Contraband
      • Corporate Animals
      • Cowboys and Aliens
      • Crazy, Stupid, Love
      • Crown Heights
      • Crying Fist
      • Crystal Swan
      • Cuban Fury
      • Cuckoo
      • Cyber City Oedo 808
    • D >
      • Daddy's Home
      • Damsel
      • Dangerous Liaisons (2012)
      • Dark River
      • Darkest Hour
      • Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
      • Days of Heaven
      • Day Watch
      • Dead Snow 2: Red Vs Dead
      • Dear Prudence
      • Death Proof
      • Death Watch
      • Deep End
      • Deerskin
      • Delicacy
      • Demolition
      • Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang
      • Deranged
      • Desierto
      • Despicable Me 2
      • Destroyer
      • Detachment
      • Devil's Knot
      • Dheepan
      • Dirty Grandpa
      • Disobedience
      • Disorder
      • Disturbia
      • Divines
      • Django
      • Django Unchained
      • Dogman
      • Don Jon
      • Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
      • Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents
      • Double Impact
      • Downsizing
      • Dreamgirls
      • Dreileben
      • Drive
    • E >
      • Eagle vs. Shark
      • Earth 2
      • Earth To Echo
      • Earthquake Bird
      • Elephant Song
      • Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
      • Elles
      • Elysium
      • Ema
      • Empire of the Sun
      • End Of Watch
      • End of Winter
      • Ender's Game
      • Entanglement
      • Epic
      • Equals
      • Escobar: Paradise Lost
      • Essential Killing
      • Europa Report
      • Euthanizer
      • Even The Rain
      • Every Thing Will Be Fine
      • Exodus: Gods and Kings
      • Eye in the Sky
    • F >
      • Fading Gigolo
      • Far From the Madding Crowd
      • Farewell To The King
      • Fast & Feel Love
      • Fast & Furious 6
      • Fast & Furious 7
      • Fast Girls
      • Fear And Desire
      • Felicite
      • Felony
      • Final Destination 5
      • Final Portrait
      • Fist of Legend
      • Flight
      • Flu
      • Flyboys
      • For Ellen
      • Forgetting Sarah Marshall
      • Frances Ha
      • Francine
      • Frank
      • Free Agents
      • Free Birds
      • Free Men
      • Fright Night
      • From Up On Poppy Hill
      • Frozen
      • Fuck For Forest
      • Fukushima, Mon Amour
      • Funny Cow
    • G >
      • Gang Story
      • Gemini Man
      • Genius
      • Gimme The Loot
      • Goat
      • God Bless America
      • Godzilla
      • Golden Exits
      • Good Kill
      • Grave of the Fireflies
      • Great Expectations
      • Gravity
      • Green Room
      • Grindhouse Trailer Classics 3
      • Guilty of Romance
      • Guns & Talk
    • H >
      • Hacksaw Ridge
      • Haemoo
      • Hammer Of The Gods
      • Happy Feet Two
      • Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
      • Happy People
      • Hardcore
      • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
      • Headshot
      • Heavenly Creatures
      • Hell
      • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
      • Hemel
      • Her
      • Hereditary
      • Hide And Seek
      • Hill of Freedom
      • Hitchcock
      • Hollywoo
      • Holy Rollers
      • Homefront
      • Hope Springs
      • Horns
      • Horrible Bosses 2
      • Hostel: Part II
      • Hostiles
      • How I Spent My Summer Vacation
      • How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire
      • How to Train Your Dragon
      • Hyena
      • Hysteria
    • I >
      • I Could Never be Your Woman
      • I Lost My Body
      • I Love You, Daddy
      • I Saw the Devil
      • I Saw the Light
      • I, Tonya
      • I'm So Excited
      • If Beale Street Could Talk
      • Immortals
      • In Darkness
      • In Fabric
      • In Order Of Disappearance
      • In Search of a Midnight Kiss
      • In the Aisles
      • In The Bedroom
      • In the Heart of the Sea
      • In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
      • Inside Llewyn Davis
      • Inside Out
      • Insyriated
      • Interstellar
      • Ip Man 3
      • Iron Man 3
      • Isle of Dogs
      • It Follows
    • J >
      • J. Edgar
      • Jack Goes Boating
      • Jack Reacher
      • Jackie
      • Jackpot
      • Jayne Mansfield's Car
      • Jersey Boys
      • Jin
      • Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
      • John Dies At The End
      • John Wick: Chapter 4
      • Joker
      • Jonathan
      • Journey's End
      • Journeyman
      • Juan Of The Dead
      • Jupiter's Moon
      • Just Do It
    • K >
      • Kaboom
      • Kenny
      • Khodorkovsky
      • Kick-Ass 2
      • Kill List
      • Kings
      • Klokkenluider
      • Klown
      • Knight of Cups
      • Knives Out
      • Kodachrome
      • Kosmos
      • Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
      • Kundo: Age Of The Rampant
    • L >
      • La Belle Epoque
      • La La Land
      • La Piscine
      • Lady Bird
      • Lady Chatterley
      • Lara
      • Largo Winch: Deadly Revenge
      • Largo Winch: The Burma Conspiracy
      • Las Acacias
      • Last Flag Flying
      • Last Night
      • Last Vegas
      • Laurence Anyways
      • Le Havre
      • Le Mans '66 / Ford v Ferrari
      • Le Week-End
      • Learning to Drive
      • Leave No Trace
      • Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
      • Les Affames
      • Les Miserables
      • Lethal Weapon
      • Liberal Arts
      • Life Of Crime
      • Life Of Pi
      • Like Father, Like Son
      • Limitless
      • Lincoln
      • Lion
      • Logan
      • Lone Survivor
      • Looper
      • Lore
      • Love & Mercy
      • Love Crime
      • Love Is All You Need
      • Love Punch
      • Loveless
      • Loving
      • Lucky Them
      • Lust, Caution
    • M >
      • Mad Max: Fury Road
      • Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
      • Madeline's Madeline
      • Maggie's Plan
      • Magic Trip
      • Maleficent
      • Man Of Steel
      • Man Up
      • Manchester by the Sea
      • Manhunt
      • Maps To The Stars
      • Marjorie Prime
      • Marrowbone
      • Mary Goes Round
      • May the Devil Take You
      • McCullin
      • Me and Orson Welles
      • Me And You
      • Medusa Deluxe
      • Mercy
      • Metallica Through The Never
      • Michael Clayton
      • Midnight Special
      • Miles Ahead
      • Minions
      • Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
      • Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
      • Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
      • Mister John
      • Moana
      • Molly's Game
      • Monsieur Lazhar
      • Monsters University
      • More
      • Morris from America
      • Mother And Child
      • Mr. Brooks
      • Mr Holmes
      • Mr Long
      • Mr. Nobody
      • Much Ado About Nothing
      • Muppets Most Wanted
      • Museo
      • My Days of Mercy
      • My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
      • My Friend Dahmer
      • My Great Night
      • My Neighbour Totoro
      • My Neighbours The Yamadas
      • My Soul to Take
      • My Voyage to Italy
      • My Way
      • Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie
    • N >
      • Nasty Baby
      • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
      • Need For Speed
      • Never Goin' Back
      • New World
      • News from Planet Mars
      • Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
      • Nightbirds
      • Nightcrawler
      • Nim's Island
      • Nina Forever
      • No
      • No Escape
      • No One Lives
      • Noah
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Norman
      • Nostalgia For The Light
      • Nymphomaniac Volume 1
      • Nymphomaniac Volume 2
    • O >
      • Olympus Has Fallen
      • On Body and Soul
      • On Chesil Beach
      • Once
      • Only God Forgives
      • Oranges and Sunshine
      • Orion
      • Our Little Sister
      • Out Of The Furnace
      • Outrage Beyond
      • Outside In
    • P >
      • Pacific Rim
      • Papillon
      • Passport To Pimlico
      • Past Lives
      • Patti Cake$
      • Penguins of Madagascar
      • Perfect Sense
      • Pete's Dragon
      • Petra
      • Phoenix
      • Ping Pong
      • Piranha
      • Planes
      • Planet Terror
      • Pokemon Detective Pikachu
      • Polisse
      • Populaire
      • Porco Rosso
      • Possession
      • Potiche
      • Powder Room
      • Preggoland
      • Prince Avalanche
      • Princess Mononoke
      • Project Nim
      • Project X
      • Punishment Park
      • Pusher
    • Q >
      • Queen of Earth
      • Queen of the Desert
      • Quest For Fire
    • R >
      • R100
      • Racer and the Jailbird
      • Raid on Entebbe
      • Ran
      • Ratatouille
      • Ready Player One
      • Real Steel
      • [REC] 3 Genesis
      • Red 2
      • Red Dawn
      • Red White & Blue
      • Renoir
      • Requiem For A Killer
      • Requiem For A Village
      • Reservation Road
      • Resistance
      • Results
      • Return to Montauk
      • Revenge Of The Electric Car
      • Revivre
      • Revolution
      • Revolutionary Road
      • Riddick
      • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
      • Roman J. Israel, Esq.
      • Romantics Anonymous
      • Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno
      • Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends
      • Rush
      • Rust And Bone
    • S >
      • Safe
      • Safe House
      • Saint Amour
      • Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
      • Salt and Fire
      • Salt of Life
      • Samsara
      • Savages
      • Sawako Decides
      • Scrapper
      • Season of the Witch
      • See [seasons 1-2]
      • Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
      • Selma
      • Shadow
      • She's Funny That Way
      • Shepherds and Butchers
      • Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows
      • Short Term 12
      • Shotgun Stories
      • Sightseers
      • Simon Killer
      • Sing
      • Sister
      • Skate Kitchen
      • Sleeping with Other People
      • Sleuth
      • Small Apartments
      • Snitch
      • Snowpiercer
      • Snowtown
      • Sonatine
      • Son of a Gun
      • Son of Saul
      • Soul Surfer
      • Source Code
      • Southern Comfort
      • Soy Nero
      • Spartacus: Vengeance
      • Spartacus: War Of The Damned
      • Special Forces
      • SPL 2: A Time for Consequences
      • Spooks: The Greater Good
      • Spoor
      • Spotlight
      • Spring
      • Spy
      • Stake Land
      • Stalingrad
      • Stan & Ollie
      • Star Trek Beyond
      • Star Trek Into Darkness
      • Starbuck
      • Strange Weather
      • Submarine
      • Suite Francaise
      • Summer In February
      • Sunshine On Leith
      • Super
      • Superbad
      • Superman Returns
      • Sweet Country
      • Synchronic
    • T >
      • Taken 2
      • Taking Off
      • Tales from Earthsea
      • Talk to Me
      • Tatsumi
      • Taxi
      • Taxi: Season 1
      • Ted
      • Terminator 2: Judgment Day
      • Terminator Genisys
      • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
      • Testament of Youth
      • Tetsuo: The Iron Man
      • That Awkward Moment
      • Therese Desqueyroux
      • They Came Together
      • Things to Come
      • This Is The End
      • Thor: The Dark World
      • Thoroughbreds
      • Those Happy Years
      • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
      • Three Christs
      • Throne of Blood
      • Tiger Girl
      • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
      • Tiny Furniture
      • Tokyo Ga
      • Tokyo Godfathers
      • Tokyo Tribe
      • Tomboy
      • Tomorrowland
      • Toni Erdmann
      • Total Recall
      • Tragedy Girls
      • Train to Busan
      • Trance
      • Transformers
      • Transformers: Age Of Extinction
      • Transit
      • Transit [2018]
      • Trespass Against Us
      • Triangle
      • Triangle of Sadness
      • Troll Hunter
      • Tron: Legacy
      • Truman
      • Tumbbad
      • Two Lovers and a Bear
    • THE >
      • The Amateurs
      • The Arbor
      • The Assault
      • The Autopsy of Jane Doe
      • The Avengers
      • The Awakening
      • The Baader-Meinhof Complex
      • The Bacchus Lady
      • The Bad Batch
      • The Ballad of Narayama
      • The Bar
      • The Bay
      • The Baytown Outlaws
      • The Be All And End All
      • The Beaver
      • The Belko Experiment
      • The Beloved
      • The Berlin File
      • The Big Sick
      • The Bookshop
      • The Boy and the Beast
      • The Brawler
      • The Breadwinner
      • The Breaker Upperers
      • The Cabin In The Woods
      • The Captain
      • The Castle of Cagliostro
      • The Cat Returns
      • The Chamber
      • The Children Act
      • The Climb
      • The Cobbler
      • The Commune
      • The Conjuring 2
      • The Counsellor
      • The Croods
      • The Current War
      • The Danish Girl
      • The Daughter
      • The Day After
      • The Dead
      • The Debt
      • The Devil's Double
      • The Dinner
      • The Dinosaur Project
      • The Doom Generation
      • The Drummond Will
      • The Dyatlov Pass Incident
      • The East
      • The Edge of Seventeen
      • The Evil in Us
      • The Expendables 3
      • The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec
      • The Fake
      • The Family Fang
      • The Farewell
      • The Favourite
      • The Fighter
      • The Five Year Engagement
      • The Front Runner
      • The Girl
      • The Girl in the Photographs
      • The Good Dinosaur
      • The Grand Heist
      • The Grandmaster
      • The Greasy Strangler
      • The Great Beauty
      • The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
      • The Guest
      • The Guilty
      • The Gunman
      • The Hateful Eight
      • The Heiresses
      • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
      • The House That Jack Built
      • The Housemaid
      • The Hunger Games
      • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
      • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
      • The Hunter
      • The Huntsman: Winter's War
      • The Iceman
      • The Imitation Game
      • The Incredible Jessica James
      • The Informer
      • The Innkeepers
      • The Interrupters
      • The Intervention
      • The Judge
      • The Keeper Of Lost Causes
      • The Killer Inside Me
      • The King
      • The Last Stand
      • The Legend of Bruce Lee
      • The Lighthouse
      • The Little House
      • The Little Tailor
      • The Lives of Others
      • The Lone Ranger
      • The Look Of Love
      • The Lost Okoroshi
      • The Man from Nowhere
      • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
      • The Mercy
      • The Mind's Eye
      • The Miseducation of Cameron Post
      • The Mist
      • The Molly Dineen Collection Volume Three
      • The Motive
      • The Mule
      • The Muppets
      • The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman
      • The Nice Guys
      • The Nightingale
      • The Northman
      • The Numbers Station
      • The Other Side of Hope
      • The Overnight
      • The Panic in Needle Park
      • The Party
      • The Patriarch
      • The Place Beyond The Pines
      • The Prey
      • The Proposition
      • The Purge: Anarchy
      • The Raid
      • The Raid 2
      • The Railway Man
      • The Reach
      • The Rebound
      • The Red Turtle
      • The Reef
      • The Resident
      • The Return Of The Living Dead
      • The Revenant
      • The Rig
      • The Sapphires
      • The Saragossa Manuscript
      • The Satellite Girl and the Milk Cow
      • The Secret in Their Eyes
      • The Selfish Giant
      • The Sentinel
      • The Shameless
      • The Shape of Water
      • The Shining
      • The Signal
      • The Skin I Live In
      • The Source
      • The Stag
      • The Strange Little Cat
      • The Summit
      • The Taste Of Money
      • The Thieves
      • The Thing
      • The Third Murder
      • The Tree
      • The Tribe
      • The Two Faces Of January
      • The Truth
      • The Upside
      • The Veteran
      • The Villainess
      • The Voices
      • The Walking Dead season two
      • The Watch
      • The Water Diviner
      • The Wave
      • The Way
      • The Way Way Back
      • The Whistlers
      • The Widow of Saint-Pierre
      • The Wind Rises
      • The Wolverine
      • The Woman in Black: Angel of Death
      • The Woman in the Fifth
      • The World of Kanako
      • The World's End
      • The Yellow Sea
      • The Young And Prodigious T.S. Spivet
    • U >
      • Unbeatable
      • Unbroken
      • Underground
      • Underwater Love
      • Unforgiven
      • Unicorn Store
      • Unicorn Wars
      • Unknown
      • Unmistaken Child
      • Unsane
      • Unstoppable
    • V >
      • Vehicle 19
      • V/H/S
      • V/H/S/2
      • Victoria
      • Vidal Sassoon The Movie
      • Villain
      • Vinyl season one
      • Visitors
      • Viva La Liberta
      • Vox Lux
    • W >
      • Waitress
      • Walking Out
      • War Dogs
      • War Horse
      • War of the Arrow
      • War on Everyone
      • Warrior
      • Watcher
      • We Are the Flesh
      • We Are The Night
      • We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
      • We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks
      • Weekend
      • Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
      • Weirdos
      • Welcome To New York
      • West is West
      • What If
      • What Maisie Knew
      • What We Do In The Shadows
      • While We're Young
      • White God
      • Who Killed The Electric Car?
      • Who We Are Now
      • Widows
      • Wiener-Dog
      • Wild Mouse
      • Wildlife
      • Willow Creek
      • Wish I Was Here
      • Woman at War
      • Wonderstruck
      • Woochi: The Demon Slayer
      • Woody Allen: A Documentary
      • Words And Pictures
      • World War Z
      • Wreck-It Ralph
      • Wuthering Heights
      • Wyrmwood
    • X >
      • X-Men: Apocalypse
      • X-Men: Days Of Future Past
      • X+Y
    • Y >
      • Yardie
      • Yatterman
      • Yojimbo
      • You Are Here
      • You Hurt My Feelings
      • You Instead
      • You Were Never Really Here
      • You're Next
      • Young Adult
      • Your Sister's Sister
    • Z >
      • Zathura
  • THEATRE & ARTS
    • A Walk On Part: The Fall Of New Labour
    • Akram Khan: Homeland
    • All New People
    • Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn in Conversation
    • Battle Angel Alita: volume 1
    • Battle Angel Alita: volumes 2, 3 & 4
    • Battle Angel Alita: volumes 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
    • Brian Wilson
    • Cantina
    • Derren Brown - Svengali
    • Fourth Dimensional Minds Eye Summoning
    • Gilbert & George
    • Jumpy
    • Let The Right One In
    • Lisa Appignanesi
    • Mary Queen Of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off
    • My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
    • Othello: The Remix
    • Philip Pullman
    • Posh
    • Rob Delaney
    • Ronin
    • Sunken Garden
    • Sutra
    • The Book Of Mormon
    • The Great Gatsby
    • The Master And Margarita
    • The Silver Linings Playbook
    • The Thinking Drinker's Guide To Alcohol
    • Thriller Live
    • Touched...Like A Virgin
    • Travelling Light
    • Wah! Wah! Girls - A British Bollywood Musical
    • Wild Swans
  • FEATURES-INTERVIEWS
    • 2008 Review and 2009 Preview
    • 2010 in Review
    • 2011 In Review
    • 2012 In Anticipation
    • 2012 In Review: Part One
    • 2012 In Review: Part Two
    • Alternate Summer 2011
    • Ang Lee: A Life In Pictures
    • Atmosphere of the Berlinale
    • Autumn at the Multiplexes
    • BBC 4 World Cinema Award 2006
    • Berlin Film Festival 2011: Part One
    • Berlin Film Festival 2011: Part Two
    • Berlin Film Festival 2011: Part Three
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Picture
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16 March 2012
By Hemanth Kissoon
Here is the final part of my take on the Berlinale 2012 competition nominees.

(Click here for Part One.
Click here for Part Two.)


Postcards from the Zoo

This is an odd movie. We see a toddler wandering around an Indonesian zoo. She grows up into a pretty woman. Her life appears to be quietly wonderful. Her routine and interactions with the animals are hypnotic. She meets a cowboy who visits the place regularly. He also appears to be some sort of magician. They then interact with a seedy nightclub owner. The cowboy suddenly disappears. She starts working in the club’s massage parlour. The end. Is the director, Edwin, trying to be in the mould of Apichatpong Weerasethakul? I’m not a fan of UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, but at least that picture is beautifully shot. POSTCARDS FROM THE ZOO is more naturalistic with the lighting choices, and quite relaxing to watch. The movie is frustrating in it’s opacity though.


White Deer Plain

This was my tweet after watching:
★ The only jury this should face is one at the Hague for breach of the Convention on Human Rights. 188 minutes!

Interminable look at an area in China, White Deer Plain, over about twenty years. Dire.


Just the Wind

The best film in Competition. At least it won the Silver Bear. Based on acts of violence that occurred in Hungary over 2008/9, where Romany people were murdered. JUST THE WIND is expertly made. There is an all-pervasive tension that reminds me of AFTERSCHOOL. The menace is palpable as we watch a family and their mistreatment by the local community. There is an out though for their situation, as the mother, Birdy, is saving to take her two children and father to join her husband in Canada. They are extremely poor. Her father is incapacitated, and she has two cleaning jobs. And owes a lot of money. Plus five families have been killed. There is hardly any dialogue, but you care about what happens to the leads. JUST THE WIND is an oppressive commentary on racism and poverty. It is summer, and the film is full of sunshine, yet claustrophobic and the threat of imminent violence is ever-present. A must-see.

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POSTCARDS FROM THE ZOO
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MERCY

Mercy

“They will learn to live with it. As will I. We will learn to live with it. We have to.” Maria to her husband Niels.

I love Apple products, but I practically screamed at the screen, “You’re f*cking kidding!” when the movie finished. It has possibly the worst last shot in cinema history, as the camera pulls out to reveal an iPhone – like some inept advert. What was director Matthias Glasner thinking?! The young son in the film goes around recording moments, coincidentally at times really relevant to the story. This only takes up a small percentage of the narrative, but the product placement is so jarring that it takes time to readjust back to the story on each occasion. The rest of the visuals are flashy to the point of over-egging and showing-off, which I don’t mind, and secretly really enjoy. It’s better than being bland.

Plot-wise, we’re in Susanne Bier OPEN HEARTS territory. Think also Terry George’s RESERVATION ROAD. An accident overturns the lives of two families. Niels is an engineer who has moved his wife and child from Germany to Norway, to one of the most northern cities in the world. His wife is a nurse, and one day is involved in an unintentional hit-and-run, resulting in the death of a teenage girl. The title would suggest an exploration of clemency, though that’s not what happens. Ideas of guilt (including by association), and neglect are looked at. MERCY would have been satisfying had it concluded about five minutes earlier with ambiguity; instead it veers from the unbelievable to the ludicrous.


A Royal Affair

Who doesn’t enjoy a grand period romp infused with some substance? For all the charisma and good-looking people on screen, A ROYAL AFFAIR is a pedestrian affair; Mills & Boon meets democracy for beginners. Where were the surprises? The ill-treated queen of Denmark, by her seemingly psychologically over-whelmed husband, starts an illicit romance with the king’s physician; who is a ‘free thinker’ and intellectual, during a time of censorship and religious oppression. The filmmakers seem to want to please everyone, and instead make a not particularly thought-provoking melodrama. Also, how much of this movie is factually correct?


War Witch

The second best film in Competition. A gripping take on child soldiers in Africa. Beginning with a voice over from the lead, Komona (Rachel Mwanza), explaining to her unborn baby how she ended up being a fighter for the rebels. She was just 12 years old when kidnapped and forced to kill her parents. A recurring motif is Komona seeing the people that die at her hands appear before her; not with crummy CGI, rather just made up all in white. The images so work, and elevate WAR WITCH. The title refers to the lead, believed to have supernatural powers by the insurgents. Komona has the uncanny knack of being able to predict where and when government forces will attack. She is very valuable. Another child soldier, Magicien (Serge Kanyinda), falls for her and wants to take her away from their cruel existence. The brutality and injustice is crushing. Komona talks about how she hopes she will have enough love for her baby when it is born. WAR WITCH packs a punch.



Ending on a high, though not a strong year overall film-wise, but such a well-organised and entertaining festival.


Below is my Top 5 across the strands from the Berlin Film Festival 2012:

1. For Ellen (my review is here)
2. Just the Wind
3. War Witch
4. Today
5. Elles (my review is here)


Can’t wait for the Berlinale 2013!

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WAR WITCH
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