Une Vie de Ballets Directed by Marlene Ionesco France, 2011 Through the central romance between Pierre Lacotte and Ghislaine Thesmar, filmmaker Marlene Ionesco paints a portrait of the story of ballet in the latter half of the twentieth century. The film features contemporary interviews as well as videos of ballet performances since the 1950s, many …
Elena Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev Written by Oleg Negin 2011, Russia In cinema it seems to take quite a lot of pluck to position an elderly couple as main protagonists. Thus the central duo in Elena, a curio of a film directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return) is refreshingly senior – demure and wrinkled – …
–Snowtown Directed by Justin Kurzel Screenplay by Shaun Grant 2011, Australia First-time director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant, using pointers from the books The Snowtown Murders and Killing for Pleasure, tell the story of John Bunting, Australia’s most notorious serial killer, whose modus operandi led to his 1990s killing spree – dubbed the “bodies …
Take Shelter Directed by Jeff Nichols Screenplay by Jeff Nichols 2011, USA Take Shelter, director Jeff Nichols’s sophomore feature and second collaboration with actor Michael Shannon (after Shotgun Stories), ranks among the year’s best. A study of paranoia plaguing rural America, this psychological thriller hints at the director’s admiration of genre filmmaking, particularly in horror …
Kotoko Directed by Shin’ya Tsukamoto Written by Shin’ya Tsukamoto 2011, Japan Festival veteran, Japanese DIY master, Shinya Tsukamoto has earned a devoted cult following for his unnerving explorations of the junction between body and technology, most notably as seen in his Tetsuo films. Kotoko serves as both a union of themes explored in his previous …
Montreal’s Festival Du Nouveau Cinéma kicks off next week and as always, the festival brings a stellar lineup. We here at Sound On Sight are lucky enough to cover many of the other film festivals around the world which means many of us have already seen some of the great films included in this year’s …
“A cinematic rarity, this will be a film to be discussed for years to come with a special warmth reserved for films that touch and change all those willing to open up their heart and soul to its influence.” Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Though often difficult to …
————– Another Year Directed by Mike Leigh Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) are happy together. Yes, their views may occasionally diverge somewhat, but at well past middle age they stay active, are engaged by their respective professions, and are genuinely comforted by each other’s continued company, as well as that of their son …
“A cinematic rarity, this will be a film to be discussed for years to come with a special warmth reserved for films that touch and change all those willing to open up their heart and soul to its influence.” Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Though often difficult to …
“Quite entertaining, just unfortunately shallow given the potential of the script and the strength of some of the performances.” Confessions Directed by Testsuya Nakashima Written by Testsuya Nakashima Based on the novel by Kanae Minato Marketers have been quick to compare Confessions with Battle Royale, Love Exposure and other similarly popular genre films to be …
“Tournée is quite easily one of the year’s best, and shows a huge amount of potential for Almaric’s directorial career.” Tournée Directed by Mathieu Amalric Written by Mathieu Amalric, Philippe Di Folco, Marcelo Novais Teles & Raphaëlle Valbrune France – 2010 A staple of French Cinema for almost two decades, in recent years Mathieu Amalric …
L’arbre Directed by Julie Bertucelli Strong characterizations can’t quite save Julie Bertucelli’s new effort, L’Arbre. After the death of her husband, Charlotte Gainsbourg struggles to readjust, while her daughter believes that her father’s spirit continues to live on in the ancient tree that grows right outside of their home. Most of the film’s failings lie …
“A charming film that will appeal to those with patience or tender souls…” Fausta: La Teta Asustada / The Milk of Sorrow Director: Claudia Llosa Fausta is a young woman afflicted with a rare disease. The milk of Sorrow, passed on to her through her mother’s breast milk, affects the children born to women tortured …
Fausta: La Teta Asustada / The Milk of Sorrow Spain, Peru, 2009 Director: Claudia Llosa Writer: Claudia Llosa Fausta is a young woman afflicted with a rare disease. The milk of Sorrow, passed on to her through her mother’s breast milk, affects the children born to women tortured and raped during Peru’s terrorist era. Frightened …
Antichrist Directed by Lars von Trier Plunging headfirst into a realm of depraved evil, leaving behind him any and all polite norms of filmmaking (mainstream, independent or otherwise), Lars von Trier has unleashed his most audacious creation to date, which has been branded everything from “misogynistic” (according the Cannes` Ecumenical Jury, who awarded it a …
House of Satisfaction 2009, USA Director: Jesse Hartman Writer: Jesse Hartman (story), Greg Takoudes (screenplay) “New York fairy tale” House of Satisfaction takes director Jesse Hartman’s real-life club and music as inspiration, setting up camp inside Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction, and turning Hartman’s band Laptop into an underground legend. Content-wise, it’s unclear where fact …
Ramata 2008, Dakar, Gorée Directed by Léandre-Alain Baker Written by Miguel Machalski, Léandre-Alain Baker, Abasse Ndione A rare African co-production that forgoes European assistance, Ramata is a sombre tale of love, loss, and despair. Directed by Léandre-Alain Baker, and based on the novel by Abasse Ndione , the film follows a tragic aging beauty on …
Dogtooth (Kynodontas) Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos Currently touring the festival circuit is a bizarre Greek film called Dogtooth, the third feature by writer, director, and producer Giorgos Lanthimos. Its plot could be likened to that of American Gothic, focusing on a family living in a large, secluded house. The parents have never allowed their two …
Survival of the Dead Directed by George A. Romero George A. Romero. the undisputed king of socially relevant zombiedom. delivers his sixth entry into his Dead series with Survival of the Dead. Unlike Land of the Dead. set several years after the dead first began to rise up and eat the living, Survival opens a …
Claireece Precious Jones endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother, raped by her father, she grows up poor, angry, illiterate, fat, unloved and generally unnoticed. So what better way to learn about her than through her own, halting dialect. Winner of the Sundance Jury Prize and the audience award at this …
Gyorgy Palfi, the auteur of the highly polished, offbeat festival darlings Hukkle and Taxidermia, returns with the intimate, improvised and low-budget I Am Not Your Friend. A provocative little package held together by a single concept: the determination to sustain individuality. Every choice made, every kiss exchanged is a statement of absolute liberty. Shot over …
After four long years out of the movie industry, Toshiaki Toyoda director of “Blue Spring” and “9 Souls” is finally coming out with a new movie called The Blood of Rebirth (Yomigaeri no Chi), a hallucinatory samurai film in the tradition of Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Mother Directed by Bong Joon-ho Following the smash success of his previous films, Memories of Murder and The Host, Korean sensation Bong Joon-ho returns with a stylish thriller that is both detective story and psychological horror After an asocial loser is framed as the perpetrator of a horrific murder, his hard-headed mother goes on the …