Life on the Eastern side of the Berlin Wall, under the ever watchful eye of the Statsi, has proved to be a rich source of material for modern German filmmakers. Films such as Good Bye Lenin!, The Lives of Others, and the recently released Barbara have been successful with both German and international audiences in their respective takes on this era.
The first thing which needs to be pointed out is that Lost in Siberia is a bit of a failure as a comedy. Given that it rarely provokes much in the way of laughter, the unrelenting breeziness becomes downright annoying by the time the credits roll, and that’s assuming you’ve been forgiving enough to stay to the end and endure it’s tone-deaf attitude to matters of ethnic diversity.
For those interested in the interplay between politics and advertising – a theme that has never been more relevant than it is today – No is a must-see film. The then-radical tactics employed by both René’s team and the antagonistic “Yes” ticket hit close to home, given today’s day and age of big-budget political campaigns
Rust and Bone is emotionally raw film, contrasting aggression with genuine intimacy and stays with you long after you have left the cinema.
Written, directed by and starring Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Rewinds tells the story of an out of work actress who gets by as an extra dying in gory horror movies.
Fans of Delpy’s previously released works 2 Days in Paris and 2 Days in New York will reveal in the film’s lighter moments, while more critical newcomers will appreciate this emerging filmmaker’s ability to balance both sides of the family coin.
Crude, excessively long and just plain misconceived, The Loneliest Planet is not only the perfect case study of how not to make world cinema, it’s also a perseverance test for audiences looking for punishment.
While In the Fog is incredibly slow paced, it seems as though director Sergei Loznitsa (My Joy) frames every sequence with immense purpose, although that purpose isn’t always clear.
In a quiet unnamed village somewhere in the heart of Africa, Komona is only a twelve year old girl when her life is irreversibly…
The directorial debut of French actress and writer Sylvie Testud, Another Woman’s Life stars actress Juliette Bionche as a woman who awakes one morning to find that 15 years of her life have mysteriously disappeared. While undoubtedly an intriguing premise, it’s not long before the conventional romantic comedy lurking within this material rears its head to suffocate the potential hinted at in the film’s opening act.