Kiarostami shoots the close-ups of more than a hundred actresses as they watch a theatrical presentation unfold in this conceptually bold but ultimately uninvolving treatise on the nature of spectatorship.
Way too sprawling and loosely-episodic to work effectively, the Portuguese auteur nevertheless gives us a rather cerebral docu-fictive, music-infused meta-film centering on the vibrancy and eccentricity of a small town blessed with a strong festive spirit.
The continuation of one of popular cinema’s enduring franchises is also one of Steven Spielberg’s rare misfires.
A woman at wits’ end desperate for a job—and her hungry dog—are the subject of Reichardt’s depressing slice of working-class Americana, starring Michelle Williams in top form.
The eternal love triangle is given the Hitchcockian treatment in Petzold’s spare but tightly-executed melodrama about outsiders in society.
Playing with narrative time liberally—or perhaps too haphazardly—Wong’s largely incoherent if artfully-conceived martial arts film works best as an evocation of old places and old romances.
The Safdies’ feature debut might not be a substantial piece of work but it is an uncut gem—rough and raw, yet possessing the heart of a passionate storyteller with a 16mm camera.
Nomadland before Nomadland, Rosi’s raw, no holds barred documentary on folks living in isolation on buses and vans in the Californian desert finds grace and empathy in their existence.
There’s something very deeply moving and universal about Jia’s seemingly mundane documentary about the stories of workers (and their children) who used to ply their trade in a Chengdu factory that had made way for new commercial development as China rapidly modernised in the 2000s.
Majid Majidi’s Berlinale Best Actor winner is a largely assured drama centering on the rural-urban divide in Iran through the eyes of a poor family.
