When the Light Breaks is Rúnarsson’s return to his earlier, sadder work, but is undone by an unnecessarily sentimental streak. Opens Un Certain Regard.
When the Light Breaks Has (Almost) All The Right Takes
Redmond Bacon
Redmond is the editor-in-chief of Journey Into Cinema.
Okurimono Captures the Long Shadow of History
A personal tale of atomic devastation set in the stunning town of Nagasaki, Laurence Lévesque’s Okurimono is a slow-burn inquiry into the ever-present past.
Mother Vera. Breaking the Habit
Mother Vera displays its photography origins with stark yet visually striking black-and-white photography, depicting the life of a nun in remote Belarus.
Fragments of Ice Dances Under a Crumbling Empire
Blessed with a treasure trove of archive material left by her father, Maria Stoianova shares her story growing up during the collapse of the Soviet Union
Berlinale 2024: After Hours
From retrospective to classics to special, here are mini-reviews of everything else Journey into Cinema saw at Berlinale 2024.
Subject: Filmmaking Shows Why Everyone Needs to Study Cinema
55 years in the making, Edgar Reitz’ wonderful Subject: Filmmaking is a charming case for obligatory film classes in schools everywhere.
Pepe is Dead. Long Live Pepe.
Hippos become a metaphor for Colombia, the state of humanity and the world’s capacity for cruelty in Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias’s unclassifiable Pepe.
Matt and Mara, Between Poetry and Prose
Finding that magical, liminal space between poetry and prose, Kazik Radwanski’s Matt and Mara cleverly captures the contradictions of the human imagination.
Isabelle Huppert is an Agent of Chaos in A Traveler’s Needs
Isabelle Huppert is the worst French teacher of all time in Hong Sangsoo’s sly and very funny comment on Korean national anxieties.
Architecton Insists Upon Itself
Architecton has some awe-inspiring visuals, but its let down by its distracting high frame rate and suspect choice of images.