Absolutely fascinating documentary. Saying it now, this is gonna be a long review, because this film is packed and to even give an outline of the setup is to dive into a thoroughly messy time in history. Reckonings outlines the story of how Germany came to agree to pay reparations for the Jews killed in…
We Left The Camp Singing is a look at the musical culture in Theresienstadt, the ‘model’ ghetto the Nazis used for propaganda purposes. It was considered by the Nazis to be one of the less harsh places Jews were sent, that there were enough vestiges of a normal life to give the appearance to others,…
I was in two minds about watching this documentary because I’m in such a happy queer space right now and I knew this was just going to be wall-to-wall religious trauma. But it’s such an important subject and it’s such a rare opportunity to have see inside what takes place in conversion therapy. “The religious…
Really well put-together drama. Simon lives in a nice middle-class block of flats, and to get some money to do up the kitchen, he sells the storage space he has in the building’s basement. It’s basically a swanky tenement with a sub-floor, that is divided into individual rooms for the tenants, each looking a lot…
Excellent film. Based on the minutes of the actual meeting, The Conference shows the meeting where the Final Solution was proposed and planned. The film contrasts the high stakes and utter brutality of the subject matter discussed with the sedate and bureaucratic procedure of what takes place in the room. That is the twin achievement…
Kompromat is the name the KGB gave to the classic move of using damaging information, real or false, to destroy someone’s reputation. It has the desired effect of isolating them from any support, and ensuring no one will give a fuck about what happens to them after that point. This film is loosely based on…
A spin on The Metamorphosis, Feathers tells the story of a family struggling to cope in the absence of a male head of household. A grim and gritty drama with a long streak of magical realism, the film’s main character is a silent and dutiful wife and mother, who tries to provide for her three…
Tonally disjointed murder-mystery comedy. It starts with an actor keeling over on stage, whispering into the ear of his friend, “I’ve been murdered . . . the green perfume”. Classic Agatha Christie shit. Good setup, I was eager to see where it went. But it then becomes overly complicated when the main character is then…
Just stuff happening. Not to be cheeky, but this is just a series of loosely connected events, with very one dimensional characters, very little emotional journey and nothing much to look at beyond the standard. Akane bunks off school on her birthday. Although she’s not bullied, she doesn’t stand up when she sees bullying, despite…
I missed this when the BFI LFF came to the GFT, so I snapped up the first chance I got to see it. Beautiful! Just beautiful. Loved it. As the Civil War rages on the mainland, life on the tiny island of Inisherin goes on as it always has, much to the delight of Padraic…