Film Festival: 7th London Spanish Film Festival (2011)
The 7th London Spanish Film Festival by Mark Wilshin With special strands for short films, Catalan and Basque features and a retrospective on Geraldine…
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Troll Hunter / Trolljegeren (2010)
★★★☆☆
With its folkloric hellions and scatological asides, André Øvredal’s mockumentary of Northern frights, Troll Hunter, can’t quite decide if it’s horror or comedy.
The Hedgehog / Le Hérisson (2010)
★★★☆☆
Mona Achache’s adaptation of The Hedgehog is a touching, tragic tale of unlikely friendships and a contemporary take on the malaise of the Parisian bourgeoisie.
The Skin I Live In / La Piel Que Habito (2011)
★★★★☆
Neither really a return to form for Almodóvar nor a Banderas reinvention, The Skin I Live In is good clean, honest fun. Like Frankenstein and no monster.
R – Hit First, Hit Hardest (2010)
★★★★☆
Playing the waiting game, Noer and Lindholm’s R: Hit First, Hit Hardest reveals the bitter, cinematic truth about life behind bars in a Danish prison.
In A Better World / Haevnen (2010)
★★★★☆
Split between Kenya and Denmark, Susanne Bier’s In A Better World has war and peace in its sights as its playground bullies test the pacifists to the limit.
Sarah’s Key / Elle s’appelait Sarah (2010)
★★★☆☆
With Kristin Scott Thomas charmingly exposing family secrets, Sarah’s Key combines the horror of the Vel d’Hiv round-up with modern traumas and untold stories.
Beautiful Lies / De Vrais Mensonges (2010)
★★★☆☆
With a happiness drive worthy of Amélie, Pierre Salvadori’s Beautiful Lies transcends its farcical plotting and ropey characterisation to deliver a masterclass on filmmaking.
The Light Thief (2010)
★★★☆☆
Aktan Arym Kubat’s The Light Thief is a mishmash of comedy, politics and poetry, and yet a haunting portrait of the death of cinema.
Poetry (2010)
★★★★☆
With geriatric sex and teen suicide, Lee Changdong’s Poetry is no sensationalist exploitation drama, but a dark, tender coming of (old) age.
Bal / Honey (2010)
★★★★☆
The first and final part in Semih Kaplanoglu’s Yusuf trilogy, Honey is a tender portrait of childhood.
The Princess of Montpensier (2010)
★★★☆☆
Revisiting the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier tones down the sexy intrigue in favour of female self-determination.
Film Socialisme (2010)
★★★☆☆
JLG is back to his impenetrable best with Film Socialisme, a cascading multi-lingual mosaic of ideas and comment presented as a symphony in three reassuringly dense movements.
Incendies (2010)
★★★★★
Blazing a trail through Lebanon and a family’s past, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies tiptoes through a chain of unstoppable fires to a reconciliatory future.