Festival Review: Court
★★★★★
Exposing India’s labyrinthine judicial system, Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut feature Court brings a slow dread to the impossibility of justice.
Asia
Norte, The End Of History (2013)
★★★★☆
Reimagining Dostoyevsky’s Crime And Punishment in the north of the Philippines, Lav Diaz’s Norte, The End Of History is a stunning slowburner of epic proportions.
Ilo Ilo (2013)
★★★★☆
Winner of the Camera d’Or for best debut feature at Cannes 2013, Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo is a masterfully intimate look at Singaporean family life.
The Past / Le Passé (2013)
★★★★☆
The emotional secrets of two families are revealed when an Iranian returns to Paris to finalise his divorce from his French wife.
The Missing Picture / L’Image Manquante (2013)
★★★★☆
A testimony to the horrors of the Khmer Rouge in clay, Rithy Panh’s The Missing Picture is a poetic and intelligent rumination on survival, memory and murder.
Like Father, Like Son (2013)
★★★☆☆
A meditation on the ties that bind, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Like Father Like Son is a delicately Japanese exploration of fatherhood, blood and ambition.
Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (2013)
★★★☆☆
Like someone in love, Hong Sangsoo’s Nobody’s Daughter Haewon draws out the loneliness of youth as a pretty student negotiates family, love and relationships.
When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun (2010)
★★☆☆☆
Canvassing a breadth of opinion from Tibet’s leaders in exile, Dirk Simon’s When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun traces the battle lines drawn and lost during the Beijing Olympics.
Like Someone In Love (2012)
★★★☆☆
An ethereal wander through Japanese relationships, Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love reveals the clumsy confusion of human communication.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
★★★★☆
Caught between tradition and progress, Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist turns Mohsin Hamid’s bestselling novel into a cat and mouse thriller.
Hi-So (2010)
★★★☆☆
On location, language and love in a time of change, Aditya Assarat’s Hi-So uncovers Thailand after the tsunami.
Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (2011)
★★★★☆
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a beguiling and beautifully crafted documentary focusing on the life of Japanese sushi chef Jiro Ono.
Midnight’s Children (2012)
★★★★☆
A colourful journey through India’s rich history, Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children is a beautiful adaptation of Rushdie’s unfilmable novel, vibrant and beguiling.
Trishna (2011)
★★★★☆
Reinventing Hardy’s Tess Of The d’Urbervilles in a colourful India in its own glorious revolution, Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna is a bitter fall from grace.