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All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 65
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Reviews
Struggle
Dir: Ruth Mader. Austria. 2003. 74minsThis is one of those strange films that leaves you scratching your head and wondering 'now what the heck was that all about'' What initially seems like a glum exercise in sub-Dardennes brothers-style neo-realism eventually becomes closer in spirit to Ulrich Seidl's Dog Days (Hundstage, ...
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Reviews
Veronica Guerin
Dir: Joel Schumacher. US. 2003. 98 minsSeemingly content to seesaw between vapid commercial fare and grittier personal projects, director Joel Schumacher follows the spy game misfire Bad Company with a heartfelt salute to a true-life heroine. The story of a fearless Irish journalist's crusade against the evils of ...
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News
Young Adam to open Edinburgh film festival
David Mackenzie's critically-acclaimed Scottish drama Young Adam will open next month's Edinburgh International Film Festival. A dark, disturbing adaptation of the Alexander Trocchi novel starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton, the production is part of a strong line-up of premieres that underline the event's importance as a showcase for British ...
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Reviews
Bright Leaves
Dir: Ross McElwee. US. 2003. 107minsBright Leaves may start out exploring the deadly allure of tobacco but it soon mushrooms into an engaging mixture of family album, social history and human eccentricity. Best known as the award-winning director of Sherman's March (1986), Ross McElwee now has an enviable track record ...
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Reviews
Deep Breath
Dir: Parviz Shahbazi. Iran. 2003. 86minsThe most acclaimed Iranian films of recent years have opened the world's eyes to the plight of women in a brutal patriarchal society. Deep Breath widens the debate by reflecting the experience of a defiantly apathetic younger generation who feel no investment in the system ...
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News
Edinburgh unveils first festival titles
British premieres of Cannes competition entry Swimming Pool, Jim Sheridan drama In America and Lucas Belvaux's La Trilogie are among the first titles confirmed for the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival which runs August 13-24. Adding to its previously announced retrospective devoted to French master of suspense Henri-Georges Clouzot, the ...
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Reviews
S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
Dir: Rithy Panh. France. 2003. 101minsA sincere and honourable attempt to fathom the depths of human evil, documentary S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine offers eyewitness testimony to the painstaking system of torture and repression that existed in Cambodia during the 1970s. The film returns victims of the regime and ...
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News
Edinburgh film festival to hold Clouzot retrospective
French master of suspense Henri-Georges Clouzot is the subject of a comprehensive retrospective at the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival (August 13-24). Running in conjunction with the National Film Theatre in London, the retrospective salutes a director whose body of work is among the most influential in European cinema. Dogged ...
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Reviews
The Last Customer/Il Grido D'Angoscia Dell'uccello Predatore 20 Tagli D'Aprile
Dir: Nanni Moretti. Italy 2003. 23/27minsSometimes a short work from a major film-maker can give more pleasure than an epic feature from a lesser talent. That is certainly the case with Nanni Moretti's The Last Customer, a warm-hearted salute to a family pharmacy business that had become an institution in ...
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Reviews
The Mother
Dir: Roger Michell. UK. 2003. 112minsA finely-shaded performance from veteran British actress Anne Reid is the shining centre of The Mother, a shrewd and believable portrait of an older woman's belated revolt against a life of quiet desperation. A thoughtful companion piece to the kind of themes previously explored in ...
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Reviews
Mystic River
Dir: Clint Eastwood. US. 2003. 137 minsAnyone seeking lessons in the graceful art of the selfless auteur need look no further than Clint Eastwood. The producer, director and composer on Mystic River, Eastwood serves the story rather than indulges his ego and creates the framework for a fine ensemble cast ...
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News
Cannes goes from feast to famine
You win some, you lose some. Last year, Cannes was basking in an abundance of riches that ranged from Palme d'Or winner The Pianist to dazzling documentary Bowling For Columbine and red hot discovery City Of God. This year, the collective Competition choices were considered the worst in living memory ...
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Reviews
Elephant
Dir: Gus Van Sant. US. 2003. 81minsIn recent years Gus Van Sant's erratic career has had all the hallmarks ofan amnesiac desperately seeking clues to his true identity. He has assumedthe ill-fitting personalities of Hitchcock imitator (Psycho) and Dogme-styleexperimenter (Gerry) and even appeared to try cloning himself with a GoodWill ...
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Reviews
Who Killed Bambi' (Qui A Tue Bambi')
Dir: Gilles Marchand. France. 2003. 126minsStrip away the veneer of sophisticated film technique and the delusions of artistic merit and Who Killed Bambi' is just another crude scary movie. Best known as the co-writer of the Hitchcockian delight Harry, A Friend Who Is Happy To Help, Gilles Marchand displays an ...
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Reviews
Strayed (Les Egares)
Dir: Andre Techine. France. 2003. 95minsTender and tasteful, Strayed (Les Egares) takes a conventional approach to what will seem familiar material to most international audiences. Set amid sun-dappled vistas of rural France, it captures the conflicting emotions and underlying tensions of a lyrical interlude stolen from the chaos of wartime ...
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Reviews
Strayed (Les Egares)
Dir: Andre Techine. France. 2003. 95minsTender and tasteful, Strayed (Les Egares) takes a conventional approach to what will seem familiar material to most international audiences. Set amid sun-dappled vistas of rural France, it captures the conflicting emotions and underlying tensions of a lyrical interlude stolen from the chaos of wartime ...
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Reviews
Dogville
Dir: Lars von Trier. Denmark. 2003. 177minsThe 900lb gorilla of this year's Cannes Competition, Lars von Trier's Dogville is a typically uncompromising experiment in stripped down narrative. Excessive in its running-time and highly theatrical in its execution, it ultimately emerges as a vivid and thoughtful exploration of a world condemned ...
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Reviews
Swimming Pool
Dir: Francois Ozon. France. 2003. 102minsNobody is better qualified than Francois Ozon to speculate on the sources of an artist's creativity. Six features in as many years have made him one of the most prolific and admired of European young guns. Swimming Pool is an entertaining and initially intriguing exploration ...
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Reviews
I Capture The Castle
Dir: Tim Fywell. UK-South Africa. 2002. 112mins.A handsome feature debut from director Tim Fywell, I Capture The Castle offers a sensitive, sympathetic adaptation of a much loved British novel. Boasting an acute sense of period trappings and lush locations, it also showcases a memorably engaging performance from newcomer Romola Garai ...
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Reviews
The Actors
Dir: Conor McPherson. UK-Ire-US-Ger. 2002. 92minsThe Actors is the kind of film that was more fun to make than to watch. A ragged, lightweight romp with more energy than credibility, it is a curious disappointment considering the track record of the talents involved. Based on a story by Neil Jordan, ...