Lee Chang-dong’s Burning

The attempts to translate Haruki Murakami‘s prose into the cinematic language have so far mostly ended in spectacular disasters, or – in the best case – garnered mixed reviews, probably due to the specific style of the writer. But the fates have changed when Lee Chang-dong, the director of Poetry and Peppermint Candy, returned after 6 years of…

Roma Review

Roma follows the story of Cleo (Yalitza Aparico), a young indigenous housekeeper working for a middle-class family in Mexico City during the early ‘70s. Partly based off Alfonso Cuarón’s own childhood, Roma is an ode to the woman who helped raise him. Reflecting on a perspective of his upbringing that is different to his own,…

The 61st BFI London Film Festival: Loving Vincent Review

Who was Vincent van Gogh? To some, he was a madman; to others, an artist; but most people simply saw him as a genius. Vincent was a man with a unique personality and a great gift, whose life wasn’t filled with roses, but with the difficult reality of being rejected by many. What can be…

The 61st BFI London Film Festival: Devil’s Freedom Review

What makes us humane? What are the characteristics that we value and aspire to, the qualities that make us human rather than brutish? These are the questions that one might ask oneself after watching Devil’s Freedom by Everardo González, a Mexican writer, cinematographer and filmmaker, known for his extraordinary documentaries, including Monsenor: The Last Journey of Oscar Romero (2011)…

The 59th BFI London Film Festival: 11 Minutes

After a 5 year hiatus, Jerzy Skolimowski has finally released his new film entitled 11 Minutes. The apocalyptic thriller has already received positive reviews at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated to Golden Lion in the main competition section. It was also screened in the Masters section of the 2015 Toronto…

Ilo Ilo Review

Set in Singapore, during the Great Asian Financial Crisis, Ilo Ilo, written and directed by Anthony Chen, tells the story of a relationship between a family of three: Teck (Tian Wen Chen), Hwee (Yann Yann Ye) and Jiale (Koh Jia Ler) and their Filipino maid, Teresa (striking and moving performance by Angeli Bayani) who has…

The 57th BFI London Film Festival: Ida

Born in Poland, Pawel Pawlikoski (My Summer of Love, The Woman in the Fifth) has come back to his native country after years of voluntary emigration and has immediately presented us with an intimate black and white drama Ida, which takes place at the beginning of 1960s. Anna, also known as Ida (Agata Trzebuchowska’s film…

55th BFI London Film Festival: A Dangerous Method Review

Freud and Jung undoubtedly have gone down in history for their work on psychoanalysis. Their ideas and biographies have kindled the imagination of not only the researchers from different disciplines, but also ordinary people. This is evident through David Cornenberg’s (The Fly, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises) new film  ‘A Dangerous Method’. The Swiss…

55th BFI London Film Festival: The Artist review

When I first discovered that a new silent film was being made I knew instantly that I would adore it. Having grown up watching silent cinema, namely the works of Charlie Chaplin, I had become accustomed to the soundtrack replacing an actor’s voice. This is not the case for everybody though, so of course Michel…

55th BFI London Film Festival: Carnage Review

  The God of Carnage is the only God which has ruled indivisibly since the beginning of time.  Power equals strength.  The law of the strongest is always valid, but the powerful is always right.  Due to huge tensions, many nervous cords are being touched, hoarse throats and piles of pulled out hair “the end…