World Cinema Reviews | Picturenose

Movie Review: Les invisibles (2012) 1

Dec

2012

Gay and wide open In this magnificent documentary, Sébastien Lifshitz asks eight people to tell us about their lives. None of them is an art director, fashion designer, actor or journalist. None of them lives in Paris’s gay Marais nor haunts its exclusive gyms to maintain the fit body of a guy in his thirties. ...

Belle de Jour (1967)

Jan

2012

Not quite the ‘happy hooker’ Earlier critics of this surprisingly accessible piece by Luis Buñuel have been guilty of referring to the film as a whole as ‘sexy’, even ‘erotic’ and to the quite lovely Catherine Deneuve as ‘an icy beauty’, ‘frigid’ or a ‘steely beauty’. It may be just me but I think they ...

Last Tango in Paris (1972) 4

Jan

2012

Spread ‘em Last Tango in Paris (1972) is perhaps the most talked-about film in cinema history, thanks mainly to a certain scene involving a dairy product. So, what more could I add that hasn’t been said already? OK, here goes… Bernardo Bertolucci (writer-director) and Marlon Brando (star) stand accused of altering the face of an ...

Aurora (2010)

Jul

2011

The waiting game You may have trouble keeping your attention fixed on this ponderous (though occasionally powerful) Romanian study of ‘everyday life’ – writer-director Cristi Puiu (Moartea domnului Lazarescu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) (2005)), with Aurora (2010), takes us into a world that is reminiscent of the works of Harold Pinter, in terms of ...

A Jamaâ (The Mosque) 2010

Jan

2011

When the film is over… Gerald Loftus returns with his thoughts on a quality Moroccan offering. We’ve seen films-within-films before, usually films about making films. A Jamaâ (The Mosque), a little gem that featured at the 2011 Moroccan National Film Festival, is different. It’s a sort of ‘post-production’ film – what happens after the film crew ...

Mine Vaganti (Loose Cannons) (2010)

Jan

2011

Family matters Picturenose welcomes our latest recruit, Laura Batalla. Italian cinema is in vogue, and the latest film by Ferzan Özpetek (Un giorno perfetto (2008)) proves it. Mine Vaganti (Loose Cannons) (2010) tells the story of a traditional and wealthy family from southern Italy, at the turn of the millennium.

Daniel y Ana (Daniel & Ana) (2009)

Dec

2010

Animal instincts Director Michel Franco’s first feature, Daniel y Ana (2010) is a powerfully ‘silent’ movie about brother and sister, Daniel (Dario Yazbek Bernal) and Ana (Marimar Vega). Set in a rich neighbourhood in Mexico, we are introduced to the perfect lives of two people who are suddenly jolted into the harsh realities of street ...

Mascarades (2008)

Dec

2010

فوضى Pronunciation: Fwḑá Definition: Chaos It’s one of my favorite words, a way to smile at the confusion that sometimes swirls around us. Arabic teachers searching for that perfect visual aid to illustrate the fawda that can come to inhabit life in places like Algeria could do no better than show the hilarious opening sequence ...

Wake in Fright (Outback) (1971)

Nov

2010

‘Course, we do have some suicides…’ Boy, I had a hard time assigning a category to this film – director Ted Kotcheff (First Blood (1982)) drops us into the middle of the heat-soaked, desolate ‘Outback’ (which was the film’s alternative title) in Australia at Christmas, along with young bonded school teacher John Grant (Gary Bond). ...

Batoru rowaiaru (Battle Royale) (2000) 1

Nov

2010

A question of violence From the outset, it needs to be pointed out that this film was never banned in the US – a factor that has doubtless caused the production company to shift a shedload of copies. The actual reasons are far more mundane – the distribution deal fell through and the film (and ...

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Nov

2010

Once upon a time in the east I’ll put my hands up to having a bit of a soft spot for Hong Kong cinema. There must be something about living on an island that’s as high as it is wide and crammed full of people that makes their directors and writers just a little crazy ...