The Vanishing Soldier uses its picarasque, free-wheeling form to investigate the complexities and paradoxes of modern Isreal — to mixed results.
The Vanishing Soldier. Israel Smoulders.
Redmond Bacon
Redmond is the editor-in-chief of Journey Into Cinema.
Beautiful Summer Starts a Conversation That It Never Finishes
Promising a new look at female nudity in art and on-screen, Italian drama Beautiful Summer slowly gives into a panoply of clichés — live from Locarno.
Family Portrait Zooms In, Zooms Out, Hiding the Full Picture
The difficulties of ever seeing the full picture are acutely observed in Lucy Kerr’s arthouse debut Family Portrait, debuting at the Locarno Film Festival.
Animal Oozes with Summertime Sadness
The pitfalls of always providing entertainment are perfectly probed in Animal, Sofia Exarchou’s excellent sophomore film.
Filmmaking is Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano
A film goes into pre-production in Beirut the day after the infamous 2020 port explosion in Cyril Aris’ gripping doc Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano.
Keeping Mum. Keeping Schtum.
Keeping Mum investigates the difficulties of breaking generational trauma with open-heartedness and a willingness to embrace the cringe.
Empty Nets. Empty Catch.
Love fights the forces of economics and corruption in the underwhelming Iranian drama Empty Nets — live from Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Unexplainable Orthodoxies in Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife.
The paradoxes at the heart of the Romanian Orthodox Church are teasingly explored in Alexandru Solomon’s latest hybrid documentary — live from KVIFF.
Underseen Festival Favourites 2023
Taking stock of all the excellent films that have played at festivals in 2023 that you most probably haven’t heard of yet. From Cannes, Berlinale, and more.
Transylvania International Film Festival Day Four: No Bad Scenes, No Good Scenes
A film that uses every scene to tell a story and a film that uses every scene to bore the viewer to tears. A tale of contrasts, live from TIFF!