Upon closer inspection, Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert reveals itself as a camp romantic epic deserving of a closer look.
Top Picks: The 2015 Berlinale
The 65th Berlin International Film Festival launches on February 5. Our Sub-Editor Jessica Ellicott will be there for the duration of the festival and here brings you her top picks from an immense lineup of over 400 films.
The Lost One of German Film History – Peter Lorre’s Der Verlorene (1951)
This week on Less Than (Five) Zero we look at a forgotten gem of German cinema, Peter Lorre’s companion piece to Lang’s M, DER VERLORENE.
Big Hero 6
Disney’s BIG HERO 6 delights in the creation of utopian hybrid metropolis San Fransokyo and huggable robot Baymax, but its promise of originality fails to be met by its descent into an overly formulaic superhero narrative.
Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem
There is much to appreciate in the tragic and absurd GETT, THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM. It stands up as a visually and emotionally resonant, masterfully constructed courtroom drama of rare and unique quality, anchored by Ronit Elkabetz’s magnificent performance as Viviane.
Mr. Turner
MR. TURNER can be counted among the finest of Leigh’s films, an original and compelling vision of a “funny-looking fat little bloke who happened to be a genius.”
Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival Lineup Announced
The inaugural Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival has just released its program of 80 films, including World and Australian premieres
Rules of the Game
Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard’s observational documentary Rules of the Game focuses on a small group of disenfranchised youths as they attend an employment consultancy firm in northern France
You Have to See… How to Live in the German Federal Republic (dir. Harun Farocki, 1990)
This week we look at Harun Farocki’s How to Live in the German Federal Republic (1990) a darkly comic, fiercely intelligent yet criminally underseen essay film shot in West Berlin just before the fall of the wall.
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer
Pierfrancesco Diliberto’s The Mafia Kills Only in Summer is a political satire which ultimately drops the ball in its tonal juggling act of comedy and drama, ending up being neither particularly funny nor dramatic.