A Man’s Story (2010)
★★★☆☆
Filmed over 12 years, Varon Bonicos’s A Man’s Story is more than a bio-doc on Ozwald Boateng, it’s a sharp look at the essence of the man.
The Woman In The Fifth (2011)
★★★☆☆
Filmed in French, English and Polish, Pawel Pawlikowski’s The Woman In The Fifth offers a uniquely European look at love, literature and lunacy.
Michael (2011)
★★★★☆
With echoes of Michael Haneke, the Austrian master’s casting director Markus Schleinzer has us on a knife-edge with his paedophilia drama Michael.
Khodorkovsky (2011)
★★★☆☆
From oligarch to the Siberian gulag, Cyril Tuschi’s documentary Khodorkovsky shines a light on Russia’s murky politics and its most infamous dissident. Oh, those Russians.
Film Festival: The 62nd Berlin Film Festival – Berlinale 2012
Berlinale 2012 CAUTION: Here be spoilers After winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1977 for Padre Padrone and the Grand Prix du Jury…
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Hadewijch (2009)
★★★☆☆
A compelling insight into the mind of a Christian terrorist, Bruno Dumont’s Hadewijch is a hotbed of religious delusion and misplaced fervour.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
★★★★☆
A sister, a cult member, an alias – Sean Durkin’s psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene is an assured debut as gripping as it is haunting.
Shame (2011)
★★★★★
Michael Fassbender is at his leg-tapping best in Steve McQueen’s Shame, a tale of lonely frustration, sexual addiction and grim redemption.
Eleven in 2011
The Dirty Dozen Hm, the January blues. It’s enough to make you want to curl up inside a darkened room. Which is fortunate, as there…
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The Artist / L’Artiste (2011)
★★★★★
With dazzling performances from Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist is a vibrant homage to silent films and the talkies’ falling stars.
Las Acacias (2011)
★★★☆☆
A slowly elegant meditation on intimacy and friendship, Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias will have you screaming from the back seat with glee,”Are we nearly there yet?”
We Have A Pope / Habemus Papam (2011)
★★★☆☆
Our man in the Vatican, Nanni Moretti’s We Have A Pope delights both in the vibrant ritual of the papal conclave and rattling its cardinals’ chasubles.
Take Shelter (2011)
★★★★☆
With thunderous performances by Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter is a mind blowing twister of mental illness, austerity America and the apocalypse.
We Were Here (2011)
★★★★☆
Documenting five testimonies of San Francisco’s AIDS crisis, Bill Weber and David Weissman’s We Were Here brings the battle to the people.