REVIEW: The Last Duel (2021)
Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for their first team-up, The Last Duel is only the second Ben Affleck and Matt Damon script to reach the big screen. In tandem with Acadamy Award nominee Nicole Holofcener, the trio have written an intelligent,…
REVIEW: Spencer (Venice 2021)
Kristen Stewart packs a powerhouse performance in Spencer – Pablo Larrain’s extravagant tale based on the life of Diana Princess of Wales. But if you thought Spencer was little more than a character study of the People’s Princess, think again. Instead, Larrain has made something…
REVIEW: The Champion of Auschwitz (2021)
There have been so many stories of heroism, resistance, sacrifice and rebellion surround World War Two that seems almost impossible to have “missed” any. However, it is the unknown story of a Polish champion boxer that is the subject of writer / director Maciej Barczewski’s…
REVIEW: Plan A (2021)
The German nation has been undergoing the process of “vergangenheitsbewaltigung” – coming to terms with the past – since 1945. Films like Die Morder Sind Unter Uns, Die Blechtrommel, Der Untergang and Die Welle have all sought to address the national consciousness; the “Kollectivschuld”. In…
REVIEW: Tove (2021)
Tove often feels less like a biopic about Tove Jansson’s career and more like a study of the Finnish art world in the 1940s. Eeva Putro’s screenplay is largely concerned with the conflict between the comforts of traditional family values and commercial art and the…
REVIEW: Edge of the World (2021)
It should probably be a general rule at this point: if you’re going to make a film set in 19th century Asia with a white protagonist, tread carefully. Edge of the World tells the surprising true story of an Englishman who would become the first…
REVIEW: Cliff Walkers (2021)
In 1931, Japan invaded China in what is now known as the Second Sino-Japanese war. In the north east of the country, Chinese Manchuria became the puppet state of Manchukuo. With help from both the USSR (as it was then known) and the United States,…
REVIEW: The Good Traitor (2021)
World War II is the source of countless fascinating dramatic stories. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that every true story from World War II needs to be made into a film. Diplomatic relations don’t always have a dramatic impact that sets the hearts and minds…
REVIEW: Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
I recently watched an interview with director Shaka King, talking about what defines his latest film Judas and the Black Messiah – history. It’s a great point of reference when placed in context. The stories we’re frequently exposed to, are stories we’ve grown accustomed to….
REVIEW: Passing (Sundance 2021)
Black and white films have been making something of a comeback recently – even just looking at Netflix – there has been Roma (2018), Mank (2020), The Forty Year Old Version (2020) and Malcolm & Marie (2021). Elsewhere, we’ve had Beats (2019), Bait (2019), The…
REVIEW: Dear Comrades (2021)
Veteran filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky (writer of the iconic Andrei Rublev and a renowned director now in his seventh decade as a filmmaker) brings a devastating reflection on loss and rage with the awards contender Dear Comrades. The film is a re-enactment of the hushed-up Novocherkassk massacre…
