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.
There is a sense of both melancholy and hope in this strong effort by Rohmer as he fashions a drama about the unwavering faith of a single mother who believes in her own idiosyncratic conception of love.
A charming little film by Sciamma, who gives us two child performances to savour in this subtle, magical realist take on the inseparable bonds between mothers and daughters.
A woman’s husband disappears in Ozon’s psychological drama about grief and denial, starring Charlotte Rampling in one of her finest performances.
Demy’s first feature is a modest, warm-spirited take on the bittersweet nature of past romances, transient acquaintances and the desire to find greener pastures.
The magic of cinema is exuded in this dialogue-as-lyrics French musical that is easily one of the most emotionally resonant pictures of its time and genre.
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.
Loosely based on the true story of a lesbian nun in 17th century Italy, Verhoeven’s largely compelling film (unfortunately banned in Singapore) ticks all the provocative checkboxes as he tackles religious hypocrisy and eroticism in the same effortless breath.
Isabelle Huppert is indeed the mesmerizing star of this twisted psychological drama, oozing with suspense marked by unease, foreshadowing and dread.
This is one of Rohmer’s more styleless films, though it is inherently more political than most of his output as he intellectualises the nature of political ecology, which may occasionally if unexpectedly come across as a tad dry.
Eternality Tan 