Leonera / The Lion’s Den (2008)
★★★☆☆
Exploring female relationships in the maternity wing of an Argentine prison, Pablo Trapero puts motherhood at the heart of Leonera. Just don’t rattle her cage.
film review
Dirty Oil (2009)
★★☆☆☆
Exposing Canada’s toxic Dirty Oil industry, Leslie Iwerks’ documentary investigates the casualty list at Athabasca’s tar sands and beyond. There will be blood.
Storm / Sturm (2009)
★★★☆☆
Unpicking the wheels of justice at The Hague’s International Criminal Court, Hans-Christian Schmid’s Sturm is a very European thriller. And it’s kicking up a storm.
No-one Knows About Persian Cats (2009)
★★★★☆
Battling an oppressive regime, Bahman Ghobadi’s semi-fictional documentary is a rousing anthem to the power of music. But does it struggle to hit the high notes?
Sons of Cuba (2009)
★★★☆☆
Packing a real punch, Lang’s beautifully crafted, heartfelt documentary Sons of Cuba follows three young boxers against a backdrop of political uncertainty in this unique island-nation.
Lourdes (2009)
★★★★☆
With wry humour and religious austerity, Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes explores female potency as hopeful pilgrims jostle for a miracle. O, come all ye faithful.
The Kreutzer Sonata (2008)
★★★★☆
In Bernard Rose’s The Kreutzer Sonata, Danny Huston rampages through Hollywood-hued infidelity with green-eyed rage. It’s a furious symphony of Tolstoyan gloom.
Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009)
★★★★☆
Taking on the arms trade with customary quirk, Jeunet’s Micmacs launches another political bombshell. But can all this salvage ever hope to hit the bull’s eye?
La Mujer Sin Cabeza / The Headless Woman (2008)
★★★☆☆
Foaming with hit-and-run guilt, Lucrecia Martel’s La Mujer Sin Cabeza is a murky swamp of middle-class morals. These troubled waters run deep.
Mugabe And The White African (2009)
★★★☆☆
By their very nature, documentary films live and die by the power of the stories they tell. Mugabe And The White African tells a story of the most powerful kind.
A Single Man (2009)
★★★★☆
Colin Firth mesmerises as a grieving gay college professor, but can dressing Isherwood’s novel up in a sharp new suit say anything about 21st century queerdom?
Un Prophète / A Prophet (2009)
★★★★★
Thrills-and-spills jailbird Bildungsroman or darkly poetic gangster thriller? Whatever it is, Audiard’s Un Prophète is the arthouse blockbuster par excellence.
Kynodontas / Dogtooth (2009)
★★★☆☆
In a darkly humorous coming-of-age tale, Yorgos Lanthimos’ wickedly acerbic Dogtooth takes the institution of the family literally. Dangerously so.
A Serious Man (2009)
★★☆☆☆
In A Serious Man, their most autobiographical film to date, the Coen Brothers lay bare their Jewish identity, as a mentsh of constant sorrow.