Festival Review: Virgin Mountain / Fúsi (2014)
★★★★☆
Beautifully paced and scripted, Dagur Kári’s Virgin Mountain is the deft tale of an ageing mummy’s boy who finds both love and himself.
Europe
Festival Review: Madame Courage (2015)
★★★☆☆
Staging a battle of the sexes in Algiers, Merzak Allouache’s Madame Courage reveals a desperate injustice pervading male and female relationships.
Festival Review: Der Nachtmahr (2015)
★★☆☆☆
A German horror film of Berlin clubs and imaginary creatures, Akiz’s Der Nachtmahr is a pulsating delirium of colourful and haunting images.
Festival Review: Suffragette (2015)
★★★☆☆
Celebrating nearly a century of women’s right to vote, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette is an important and inspirational film on democracy in action.
Mia Madre (2015)
★★★★☆
A very personal film, Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre sees a film director cope with the death of her mother whilst shooting a film with an uncontrollable star.
Just Jim (2015)
★★★☆☆
Just Jim by Welsh actor, writer and director Craig Roberts, is a dark, offbeat coming-of-age story set in South Wales.
La Famille Bélier (2014)
★★☆☆☆
Highlighting one teenage girl’s struggle to manage life as the only hearing member of her deaf family, Eric Lartigau’s La Famille Bélier is riddled with clichés.
Pasolini (2014)
★★★★☆
Evoking the last days of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini lets the controversial Italian filmmaker’s thoughts and ideas do the scandalising.
Miss Julie (2014)
★★★☆☆
Transporting August Strindberg’s play to colonial Ireland, Liv Ullmann’s Miss Julie imbues her underwhelming tale of forbidden love with Swedish style.
45 Years (2014)
★★★★☆
With powerful performances from Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling, Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years looks back in anger on love.
Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014)
★★★☆☆
A fictional retelling of the bloody final days of the Medellin cartel, Andrea Di Stefano’s Escobar: Paradise Lost brings a personal touch to Escobar’s violence.
Gemma Bovery (2014)
★★★☆☆
As light and summery as one of her floaty summer frocks, Anne Fontaine’s Gemma Bovery brings to life Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel of Flaubert’s classic.
The Treatment / De Behandeling (2014)
★★★☆☆
A fast-paced and tense police thriller, Hans Herbots’ The Treatment plumbs the murky depths of child abuse and male impotence.
Good People (2014)
★★☆☆☆
Armed with a stellar cast and a stylishly bleak cinematography, Henrik Ruben Genz’ Good People is let down by a run-of-the-mill script with nowhere to go.