Loznitsa expertly puts footage together from Leningrad in August 1991 as tens of thousands of nervous Russians filled the streets, with the political fate of their country hanging in the balance after communist hardliners staged what would become a failed coup d’état to revive the collapsing Soviet Union.
Akerman’s last fiction feature is an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Malaysia-set first novel in an assured slow cinema style that is evocative of the tropical landscape (shot in Cambodia) where a white man is facing an existential crisis dealing with his estranged mixed-race daughter.
Akerman’s final film, shot in long takes that aren’t always compelling, features her late mother in the domesticity of her home as they enjoy the conversations and comfortable silences.
Two actresses share a minimalist stage as they perform the written correspondences from the late American poet-writer Sylvia Plath to her mother in this wholly intimate endeavour from Akerman.
The story of a radicalised young boy who desires to kill his schoolteacher is rendered with subtle but powerful strokes, making this one of the Dardennes’ most relevant films.
Another compelling gem from the Dardennes—tender, empathetic and mature, yet so deceptively simple.
Arguably the Dardennes’ most important film with a searing performance by debutant Emilie Dequenne, though its nauseating vérité style takes getting used to.
Now regarded as the first ‘Dardennes’ feature, this is an assured realist work about moral quandaries set to the tune of a coming-of-age film.
The extraordinary lead performance by Victor Polster is certainly much more compelling than the film itself, in this decent Cannes Camera d’Or winner.
Eternality Tan 