Matthew Rankin’s culture-bending comedy fable throws up all kinds of intellectual questions, but rarely engages on a deeper, emotional level.
Parsing the Puzzling Persian of Universal Language
Redmond Bacon
Redmond is the editor-in-chief of Journey Into Cinema.
Holy Cow. Curdled Maturity.
Love and cheese freely intermingle in Louise Courvoisier’s diverting yet underwhelming debut Holy Cow, (somehow) playing in Un Certain Regard.
(Don’t) Believe The Hyperboreans
Disturbing and entertaining in equal measure, Cristobal León and Joaquín Cociña’s wildly inventive metafiction The Hyperboreans is a standout work from Cannes.
Capitalism Is a Locust
The twin spectres of China and capitalism haunt every frame of KEFF’s gangland debut Locust, with shades of Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day.
When the Light Breaks Has (Almost) All The Right Takes
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.
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.