Director – Chino Moya – 2020 – UK – Cert. N/C 18+ – 91m **1/2 Overlapping narratives unfold within a mysterious city which resembles something out of Eastern Europe – in cinemas from Monday, May 17th In a grey urban environment resembling an unspecified city somewhere in Eastern Europe or possibly Russia, two lorry drivers […]
Director – Lila Avilés – 2018 – Mexico – Cert. 15 – 102m ****1/2 A woman works long hours within a vast Mexico City hotel complex and rarely sees the world outside – now on BFI Player (extended free trial offer here) Set inside an unnamed Mexico City hotel (actually the real life Hotel Presidente). Scenes with […]
A plea for honesty Yes, God, YESDirected by Karen MaineCertificate 15, 77 minutesReleased digitally on 17 August Despite its provocative title suggesting a racy sex comedy about religion, this is actually a gentle independent film exploring the everyday inadequacies of American teenagers growing up within a conservative Catholic tradition. Essential life issues, including sex, truth […]
Director – Im Kwon-Taek – 1993 – South Korea – 113m **** Free to view in the Korean Film Archive as part of Korean Film Nights Online: Trapped! The Cinema of Confinement (Friday, July 17th – Thursday, August 27th) Viewing links at bottom of review. Itinerant pansori singer Yoobong (Kim Myung-gon) travels between small country […]
Director – Gints Zilbalodis – 2019 – Latvia – Cert. U – 75m****1/2From the director of Oscar winner Flow (2024), his debut animated feature Away is exclusively back in cinemas from Friday, March 14th It originally played in the 2019 Annecy International Animation Festival. A boy hangs from a tree by a parachute in a […]
Director – Naomi Kawase – 2015 – Japan – Cert. PG – 113m **** Currently on BFI Player as part of 21st Century Japan. A chef (Masatoshi Nagase) carefully pours just the right amounts of pancake mixture onto a hotplate to make dorayaki – two small, burger bun sized pancakes with a filling of sweet […]
Director – Yoyo Yao Tingting – 2019 – China – Cert. PG – 115m ***1/2 Exclusively in cinemas from Tuesday, August 25th (Chinese Valentine’s Day this year). Hands write in a notebook. In a voice-over, Lin Ge (Lee Hongchi) describes himself as “a man who doesn’t exist… No memories of me in this world.” He […]
Director – Naomi Kawase – 2017 – Japan – Cert. 12 – 97m **** Currently on BFI Player as part of 21st Century Japan. Wind. Trees. Tall grass. A road barely discernible but for the occasional top of a hedge. A fluttering, white banner of a funeral procession moves imperceptibly across the landscape, a futile […]
Director – Jaco Van Dormael – 2015 – Belgium – Cert. 15 – 113m ***** Review originally published in Reform, read the full review here. Showing on BFI Player from Thursday, July 20th, 2023 At the end of Time Bandits (Terry Gilliam, 1981), the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) bumbles around in a lounge lizard suit […]
Director – Taghi Amirani – 2019 – UK – Cert. 15 – 120m ***** The officially unacknowledged British role in the 1953 coup overthrowing the Iranian government – more timely than ever, and now back out in UK cinemas from Friday, May 5th 2026; more dates added daily at https://coup53.com/Originally in UK cinemas from Friday, August […]