Festival Review: Under Electric Clouds (2015)
★★★☆☆
A murky wander through Mother Russia past, present and future, Alexey German’s Under Electric Clouds is an ambitious feat of national navel-gazing.
Reviews
Festival Review: Body / Cialo (2015)
★★★☆☆
Anorexia, ghosts and the broken bond between father and daughter, Malgorzata Szumowska’s Body is a finely acted black comedy about laying grief to rest.
Festival Review: As We Were Dreaming / Als Wir Träumten (2015)
★★★☆☆
The very German story of rudderless youth in the wake of reunification, Andreas Dresen’s As We Were Dreaming makes for an uninspired and unoriginal adaptation.
Festival Review: The Club / El Club (2015)
★★★★☆
A scurrilous comedy about degenerate priests, Pablo Larrain’s The Club rides a dark political undercurrent as God’s rejects refuse to see the light.
Festival Review: Love & Mercy (2015)
★★★★☆
More than a biopic, Bill Pohlad’s Love & Mercy is a portrait of musical genius and mental illness with tour de force performances from Dano, Cusack and Banks.
Festival Review: Woman In Gold (2015)
★★★☆☆
Dramatising the legal battle over Klimt’s most famous work stolen from a Jewish family by the Nazis, Woman In Gold is a moving courtroom quest for justice.
Festival Review: The Pearl Button / El botón de nácar (2015)
★★★★☆
A cosmological constellation of water, native tribes and Chile’s disappeared, Patricio Guzmán’s The Pearl Button is a powerful wave of connections.
Festival Review: Knight Of Cups (2015)
★★☆☆☆
The visual odyssey of a knight’s quest in search of the meaning of life, Terrence Malick’s Knight Of Cups loses itself in its own watery reflection.
Festival Review: Mr Holmes (2015)
★★★☆☆
With a bright-eyed performance from Ian McKellen, Bill Condon’s Mr Holmes is a handsome portrait of the detective as an old man.
Festival Review: Butterfly / Mariposa (2015)
★★★★☆
Dividing the world in two on a butterfly’s wing, Marco Berger’s Mariposa is a charming, delicate tale of the unflappable nature of love.
Festival Review: Victoria (2015)
★★★★☆
Dancing, walking, laughing and shooting their way down the boulevard of broken dreams, Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria is a lyrical one-take wonder.
Festival Review: Diary Of A Chambermaid / Journal d’une Femme De Chambre (2015)
★★★☆☆
A handsome adaptation of Mirbeau’s novel, Benoît Jacquot’s Diary Of A Chambermaid is a vibrant celebration of fin-de-siècle style.
Festival Review: Ixcanul / Volcano (2015)
★★★★☆
A beautifully lensed portrait of Mayan life under the Pacaya volcano, Jayro Bustamante’s Ixcanul exposes the terrifying vulnerability of indigenous peoples.
Festival Review: Tough Love / Härte (2015)
★★★☆☆
From pimp to karate teacher, Rosa von Praunheim’s Härte paints a portrait through documentary and drama of a life of violence after a childhood of abuse.