La Cocina uses its kitchen-setting as a springboard for a grand Statement on America. But it ruins the main dish by adding too many flavours.
Too Many Cooks Spoil La Cocina
Tag: Berlinale
Small Things Like These. Faux Terence Davies
Small Things Like These may highlight a vital decades-long human rights abuse but is sadly let down by its derivative imitation of Terence Davies’ best work.
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.
Christian Petzold Changes Pace with the Breezy Relationship Drama Afire
A perfect cast and a breezy tone, intermingling with moments of horror and danger, characterise Afire, a more low-key effort from Christian Petzold.
Berlinale 2023 Perspektive Deutsches Kino: German Soft Power
The explicitly German section of the Berlinale, Perspektive Deutsches Kino is a fascinating example of film festival soft power diplomacy.
Infinity Pool Gives you Everything but the Excrement
With Infinity Pool Brandon Cronenberg succeeds in turning lust and indulgence into a car crash of increasingly unnatural scenes we cannot look away from.
in water is Hong Sangsoo’s Best Film In Years
Hong Sangsoo innovates with new techniques to create his best film since On The Beach at Night Alone with In Water — a tremendous ode to the magic of art.
You Have to Try Very Hard to Appreciate Angela Schanelec’s Music
Despite a fine flair for creating aesthetically pleasing images, Music is a thoroughly singular filmmaking experience hard to genuinely love.
Further Adventures in the Panorama Section: Women Strike Back
The patriarchy pushed them to the edge. These three films from the Berlinale Panorama section show how women can fight back.
Yes, Past Lives Is as Good as They Say
Usually Sundance-hype films are overheated and underwhelming. The sly, smart Past Lives is a brilliant exception to the rule.