The Deep / Djúpið (2012)
★★★☆☆
A Norse saga for the modern day, Baltasar Kormákur’s The Deep stages a play on survival and mythmaking against the backdrop of Iceland’s dramatic landscape.
Europe
The Wall / Die Wand (2012)
★★★★☆
An exploration of self beyond the lives of others, Julian Pölsler’s The Wall puts femininity and humanity on show in a glass cage.
Paradise Faith / Paradies Glaube (2012)
★★★☆☆
The second film in Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise trilogy, Paradise Faith is a caustic tale of sex, religion and race, on holiday at home in Austria.
A Field In England (2013)
★★☆☆☆
A search for treasure on the fringes of the English Civil War, Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England draws a blank.
Renoir (2012)
★★★★☆
With a rich colour palette, Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir sees the worlds of both artist and filmmaker come to life at the hands of a dazzling muse.
Shun Li And The Poet / Io Sono Li (2011)
★★★★☆
Andrea Segre’s Shun Li And The Poet is a tender tale of friendship between a Chinese immigrant and a Venetian fisherman-cum-poet.
I Am Breathing (2013)
★★★☆☆
Living and dying with motor neurone disease, Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon’s I Am Breathing bears witness to Neil Platt and his uncertainty if this is a man.
Summer In February (2013)
★★☆☆☆
The portrait of a love triangle in Lamorna, Christopher Menaul’s cinematic debut Summer In February drags woman through the rose madder.
Paradise Love / Paradies Liebe (2012)
★★★★☆
The first in Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise trilogy, Paradise: Love looks at holiday racism and fifty-something sex with the Viennese director’s familiar wry humour.
Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012)
★★★☆☆
A sumptuous adaptation of François Mauriac’s novel, Claude Miller’s final film Thérèse Desqueyroux makes murder most torrid.
Come As You Are / Hasta La Vista (2011)
★★★★☆
Polemicising the sexless adolescence of disabled youth, Geoffrey Enthoven’s Come As You Are seeks salvation on the Spanish costa.
The Comedian (2012)
★★★☆☆
A modern take on the clown’s tragedy, Tom Shkolnik’s The Comedian is short on laughs but strong on introspection.
Something In The Air / Après Mai (2012)
★★☆☆☆
A self-portrait of Olivier Assayas’ lost youth, Something In The Air evokes the Paris riots of 1968 with a nostalgic glow.
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.