Probably the director’s most challenging and audacious work about a social misfit who falls in love with a woman with cerebral palsy, featuring one of the all-timer performances by any lead actress in Moon So-ri.
The Mexican auteur’s debut feels like the work of a veteran, a tour de force exploration of mortality and desires as nature, sexuality and the spiritual commingle in a tale about a man hoping to commit suicide in a remote canyon.
A down-to-earth and poignant drama about a female student who has a crush on her married male teacher facing a midlife crisis, featuring indelible performances from Jacky Cheung, Anita Mui, and a breakout role by Karena Lam.
Misunderstood when first released, this is one of Assayas’ most prophetic works, a cyber spy-thriller dealing with corporate espionage in the disturbing milieu of the burgeoning dark web and manga porn.
There is a kind of wide-eyed charm in seeing Haroun’s accessible early effort unfold as two boys try to find their missing father who inexplicably leaves the family one day.
Favouring a gritty aesthetic, Park’s ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’ first instalment of his Vengeance trilogy is a brutal and convoluted tragedy of interlocking fates as a child kidnapping goes awry.
Soderbergh’s take pales in comparison to Tarkovsky’s superior 1972 adaptation—it feels too cold and lacklustre overall though it does grow more inwardly emotional by its final act.
Spielberg’s biopic about one of America’s most notoriously successful conmen might seem like a breezy affair with largely captivating performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, but it does overstay its welcome at some point.
Featuring one of A.R. Rahman’s most outstanding songs (the title track), this is a generally solid work from Mani Ratnam about the complicated dynamics of family, with parts of it set against the context of Sri Lankan militancy.
Fantasy encroaches into reality in this slight if charming little anime from Studio Ghibli that might just finally make non-feline lovers realise why cats are to be fussed about.
Eternality Tan 