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…
Really fascinating documentary on the life and work of Cuban writer and artist Samuel Feijoo. The film tries to tell Feijoo’s life story in the style of his work, combining live footage interviews with animation in the style of Feijoo’s lively, frenetic, tangled illustrations. It allows the surreal to play with the everyday, with two…
Anti-authoritarian animation from Cuba. Over a cracked and bleak landscape, a city is cut into crust of the earth. From above, rows upon rows of flat, interlocked square rooftops show the rigid and confining nature of life here. The people shuffle out, silent, uniformed, faceless as thumbs. The only voice is that of their ruler,…
Beautiful, colourful, sensual, animated music video. Cool and slick, it contrasts music’s ability to ground us bodily while also being transformative and magical. So pretty.