The historical drama is a tale that is constantly over-shadowed by its real-life counterpart’s undoing. No matter which way the film may elude to direct itself, the foreboding presence of certain real-life individuals makes clear to an audience which way the film will steer. This is especially the case when dealing with the infamous Kim…
Category: Foreign Films
62nd BFI London Film Festival: Last Child Review
There is nothing more distressing for parents than to lose a child. It is no wonder that the topic is one of the hardest to convey on the screen, especially so since the grief and unimaginable suffering take on many different faces and stages. The complex, confusing and isolating feelings associated with the loss of…
26th Raindance Film Festival: Princesita Review
Somewhere in the southern Chile, in a rural commune that seems to be perpetually bathed in the sun, a 12-year-old Tamara (Sara Caballero) is growing up in a seemingly free manner. The sun for her seems to be not so much the outside source of light, but a person – everything she knows and everything…
26th Raindance Film Festival: Room Laundering Review
In Japan, a ‘jiko bukken’ is the name given to stigmatized properties where the last tenant has died of unnatural causes. Supposedly – according to Room Laundering at least – Japanese landlords must disclose to possible residents if the last tenant died of something out of the ordinary. Leaving landlords stuck with unrentable properties, that…
My Last Year as a Loser Review
Sound of the bicycle bell. “Excuse me! Just a little please!” On her way to work, a young woman on a small green bike – a legendary Slovenian brand Pony – is trying to penetrate through a big group of Japanese tourists that gathered on one of Ljubljana’s streets. Not so long-ago, Slovenia’s capital city –…
75th Venice Film Festival: Emma Peeters Review
Emma Peeters is the second feature of the Belgian-American filmmaker Nicole Palo, following her 2009 debut feature Get Born. The international title Emma Peeters says little about her second feature, while its original title Le Suicide d’Emma Peeters, when translated directly into The Suicide of Emma Peeters, immediately paints a different picture – but despite its…
75th Venice Film Festival: Tel Aviv on Fire Review
Over the past several years, a new wave of Palestinian film directors, working on different genres, has constructed a specific, on-screen national identity. The projected images of the Palestinian productions have become much more political than the earlier narratives about the life and history of the Palestinians. However, there are still some stories to be…
LEAFF 2018 Pre-Fest Screening: Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days Review
Following the success of Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, writer-director Kim Yong-hwa returns with a sequel, with the story picking up right where it left off. I wonder how many underworld trials I would have to go through if I were to be resurrected; I can only hope that it would not be…
LEAFF 2018 Pre-Fest Screening: Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds Review
South Korean cinema is known for its wealth of excellent thrillers, horror films, historical dramas and melodramas, but its fantasy genre has been known more for the misses than the hits; it always seemed that the industry found itself slightly out of its depth when it took on the more massive, epic-level projects – or…
Styx Review
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic atoll, located 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean. Charles Darwin visited this lonely archipelago in 1836 aboard HMS Beagle as a part of his second survey expedition of the world, during which he gathered data that aided him in the development of the theory of evolution…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 