Tag: world cinema
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Shin Godzilla.
With nuclear war feeling more of a potential imminent reality than ever before, we can welcome a new Godzilla film with open arms. Since the creature’s iconic debut back in 1954, our monstrous protagonist has taken many different forms – partly because of the changing technological abilities of cinema but also as a result of…
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My Life as a Courgette.
After the passing of his alcoholic mother, a young boy is processed at a police station. Nicknamed Courgette by his mother, he refuses to answer to his real name. He carries with him two precious possessions; memories of each parent he has lost. Courgette finds himself at a small home where other children who “don’t…
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Mustang.
In modern day Turkey, five sisters walk out of school on the last day of term. Summer upon them, they play on the beach and fool around in the cool water. We are met with a joyous atmosphere, as the girls bask in the freedom that the school holiday promises. The opening scenes of Mustang…
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Son of Saul.
In the hell of the Holocaust, Saul Ausländer is working as a member of the Sonderkommando. Forced to burn the bodies of other prisoners following their hideous murders in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Saul sees a dead boy that he believes to be his son. He becomes instantly determined to save the boy’s body…
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The Brand New Testament.
God exists and he resides in Belgium. That’s the briefest premise I can provide for The Brand New Testament, the latest from director Jaco Van Dormael. Despite what our cultures may have taught us, God is not the man behind miracles and the ten commandments. Instead, he dedicates himself to writing the rules of the universe.…
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The Grump.
Director Dome Karukoski has a personal connection to the subject matter of his latest film. The Grump is about one man’s isolation in a modern world he doesn’t recognise. In this case the grump is an ageing Finnish gentleman who built the house he lives in, eats the potatoes he grows and doesn’t trust anyone as…
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Youth.
Returning from the tremendous success of The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino now bestows upon us the gift of Youth. Vacationing in the Alps with his daughter, a retired composer is invited to conduct his work, one last time – this time, for royalty. He firmly declines. Meanwhile his best friend, an ageing movie director, works…
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The Best Films of 2015.
This has certainly been one of the most challenging years for me, in terms of great cinema access. I moved back to Preston for my first graduate position and found myself, for the first time in four years, living in a town with no independent cinema. Stuck between a bad Odeon and a more than…
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The Lesson.
In a small, Bulgarian classroom a student has had money stolen from her. Their teacher, Nadya, determined to identify and punish the thief, gives the culprit numerous opportunities to own up to their crime or to at least return the money. Taking this opportunity to preach a moral message, the teacher is initially defiant in…
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Wings of Desire.
Wim Wenders’ 1987 masterpiece has a lot to say about Berlin, humanity, life and death. Unexpectedly meta and deeply romantic – Wings of Desire remains a European contemporary classic; something of a youngest child to the German New Wave movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Bruno Ganz play Damiel, one of the many angels who…
Hannah McHaffie 