Raoul Peck’s study of a couple dealing with the Haitian earthquake aftermath is a mostly successful agglomeration of disparate influences, whose missteps are outweighed by class and intelligence.
Aferim!
Radu Jude’s mad Romanian historical road movie somehow has the mettle to become an uproarious, thrilling, and piercing work of pure cinematic id.
My Skinny Sister
Sanna Lenken’s Swedish family drama avoids rehashing the clichés of body dysmorphia to work as a touching and compelling coming-of-age tale.
Sworn Virgin
Misguided narrative styling, and an undue focus on pained intensity over real insight, derail this exploration of gender and culture.
My Love, Don’t Cross That River
Jin Mo-young’s tender documentary escapes the well-trodden ground of cinematic family portraits to become a touching and universal study of age, love, and the passage of time.
Essene (dir. Frederick Wiseman, 1972)
This week’s Less Than (Five) Zero looks at Frederick Wiseman’s underseen and underappreciated exploration of a Benedictine monastery in Michigan.
Relative Happiness
Despite a charming lead performance from Melissa Bergland, Canadian indie RELATIVE HAPPINESS ranges from stultifying and predictable to hilariously inept.
Stations of the Cross
Films don’t win Silver Bears at the Berlinale for nothing. Even in the recently-inaugurated screenplay category, a statuette is a good indicator of a work of merit – it’s probably fair to say, too, that the major European festivals give higher credence to striking visual, cinematographic or otherwise authorial content than they do to documentarians
Dust on the Tongue
Ruben Mendoza’s DUST ON THE TONGUE, visually stunning and with a dynamite lead performance, is an early highlight of the 2015 Spanish Film Festival
Chappie
No amount of fancy cyberpunk CGI or exploding helicopters can rescue Chappie from becoming District 9’s halfwitted cousin.