Tagged Berlinale 2015

Rambunctious, kinetic, and aggressively styled, Eisenstein in Guanajuato is Peter Greenaway’s best film in years. This tale of Sergei Eisenstein’s sexual awakening in Mexico is overflowing with vim and...

El Club traverses its traumatic themes with lyricism, dark humour and jolting explicitness shaped by a cleverly written and constructed screenplay. It maintains a remarkable atmosphere, instilled by evocative...

As soon as the lights dim, Ten No Chasuke detonates into hilarious and fascinating existence. Armed with an inimitable concept, Sabu fearlessly dives in with a relentless arsenal of one liners and visual...

Love and Mercy begins with promise but this is subsequently dismantled. The positives include wonderful orchestration and initially smooth linkage between the separate chronologies; they extend to the able...

There are some who might approach Cinderella with cynicism or circumspection. Abandon these sentiments. Yes, the film begins somewhat too treacly, complete with melodramatic exchanges and breathily gasped...

How do you add tension to a story when the audience is already aware of your conclusion? Hirschbiegel wisely focuses Elser‘s attention upon the individual, exploring the why and what rather than the drama...

Every now and then a film comes along that is so powerful, bold and admirable in its aims and ambitions that you feel the world must sit up and take notice. Joshua Oppenheimer has done it once before with The...

Chock-full of surprises and nigh-on indefinable, Nasty Baby shocks, subverts and delights in equal measure - to say much more would risk revealing too much. Sharp and sardonic, this naturalistically-acted...

It might seem peculiar that a film comprised of a series of observations and very little dialogue could be so riveting, yet it is. This is facilitated by Jem Cohen’s insightful eye. Through his perspective...

The preconceptions about this film (equalling little more than a pile of cinematic manure) could cloud collective judgements in the strong opening 15 minutes. However the skepticism is, disappointingly,...

A sensitive and touching central performance from Ian McKellen is the most recommendable element of the functional but limited Mr. Holmes. Sadly the protagonist is failed on nearly all sides, hamstrung by...