One of the holy grails of world cinema, there is an elusive, mythic halo cast over Erice’s ‘incomplete’ film, a memory piece about a daughter’s melancholy reflection of her secretive father during her post-Spanish Civil War days of childhood.
Stunningly shot in black-and-white, Tseden shows immaculate control over his long take, slow cinema-style as a Tibetan sheep herder becomes stuck in a Kafka-esque scenario making his identity card, but an encounter with a hairdresser suggests the possibility of a new life.
One of 2024’s most beguiling films as the relationship woes of a European couple bring us all over colonised Asia, but the always deceptive Gomes plays with time as an artificial construct, celebrating modern Asia and traditional Asian arts with hints of Jia Zhangke and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
We can already witness a crystalline vision in Zanussi’s debut feature as he gives us an existential take on what makes one continue to live the life that one now lives, as two physicist friends deliberate on their vastly different life paths.
There is enough time-ticking tension to make the age-old formula work to some extent, though it can also feel emptily spectacular but still somewhat entertaining in this half-decent entry to the ‘Alien’ franchise.
A girl seeks the help of a samurai cursed with immortality to avenge the death of her family in Miike’s plot-heavy actioner that feels a tad sprawling and repetitive.
A construction worker becomes an actor in a theatre production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in this moving and sincere film about how art can help us process grief and cope with daily strife, played by a real-life family of acting professionals who give such naturalistic performances.
Akin’s exuberant documentary is a work of real cultural value, capturing the vibrant if ‘unclassifiable’ Turkish underground and street music scene with an inquisitive spirit.
A polished but disturbing period film with a ‘modern’ sound design, set in the years after WWI in Copenhagen, as an unemployed and pregnant young woman seeks refuge with an older woman who operates a clandestine baby adoption service.
Godard’s work goes right into the heart of French youths at odds with politics and sex, locating the mounting angst and ennui as he imbues his freewheeling drama with a serious ‘documentary’ disposition.
