The Art… or is it?
George is a troublesome teenager from New York City. Dexterous boy is unlikely to graduate from college, but he’s got a weighty reason for not bothering with his homework, seeing it as a meaningless activity in the context of the utter unimportance of our earthly existence. Dejected by realisation of his own mortality, George has … Read more
The Tree
Julie Bertuccelli France, Australia, Germany, Italy, 2010/11 The story of the father of a family passing away in a tragic accident and reincarnating in an immense fig tree spreading its branches far and wide above the household leaves a dual impression. On the one hand, the touching tale of love and loss is a celebration … Read more
Killing Bono
Dynamic, funny and real, the film tells a story of the McCorrmy brothers’ vain efforts to make their way through the 80s music scene and outstrip the fame of their old school mates, U2. It has all the ingredients of a proper band movie: garage practices, underground gigs, the sweet smell of success and the … Read more
Mary and Max
Adam Elliot, Australia, 2009 The tale of a 20-years-long correspondence between an Australian schoolgirl and an elderly Jew living in New York is all the more touching if you know that the film is based on a real story. Mary Daisy Dinkle is a little girl living in the suburbs of Melbourn. Her eyes are … Read more
Somewhere… something, sometime
Sofia Coppola, USA, 2010 The film opens with a static shot – a car racing in circles on an empty track. Engine roar escalates swiftly, then cuts the air and distances again, then again and again. As we count four rounds, the car stops, a man opens the door, steps out and stands next to … Read more
Amaya – Hong Kong Confidential
Maris Martinsons Latvia, Hong Kong, 2010 A page from a visual diary, this is a film with no beginning or end. An episode from a life en route, not measured in time, but the space covered, with no past or future, but only the places left behind and the places yet to be visited. This … Read more
Anime as a portrait of Japanese society
Makoto Shinkai Japan, 2005 It’s five centimeters per second – a speed at which cherry blossom falls. The animated film tells a story of a young love that stretches beyond the boundaries of everyday existence. Unfulfilled, with time it looses past clarity; the contours vanish and the feeling becomes a memory of love – too … Read more
Rabbit Hole
John Cameron Michell USA, 2010 Married couple struggles to revert to the peaceful life, after their four-year-old son dies in a car accident. Based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, this is a remarkably intelligent story. Striking, but not hyperbolic, the film is an incredibly accurate physiological portrait of the two loving people, trapped in … Read more
Have you got nothing else to say, Eminem?
New York entertainment blog Deadline has recently announced that Eminem will return on the big screen as a star of a new boxing drama Southpaw. After his Hollywood debut with the lead act in the 8 Mile hip-hot drama, released in 2002, the rapper comes back to the cinemas with, what would you think – … Read more
Love & Jazz; Chico & Rita
Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba Spain, UK This film is a song – romantic and fluid. This film is a dance – passionate and rhythmic. This is Latin bolero – music of dramatic love stories. Chico & Rita is a tale of a chance encounter, passionate love and broken hearts – familiar, yet never ageing scenario. … Read more
