Funnier than most out-and-out comedies, Sterben captures the messy absurdity of life in all its glory, despite, or perhaps, because of, the sad subject matter.
Sterben Hits the Thin Line with Ease
Tag: Film
Polyphonic Russian Voices, Deftly Intercepted
A rigorous and brutal documentation of Russian brutality in Ukraine, Intercepted’s absences stir the worst recesses of the human imagination.
Brief History of a Family: Failson v. Social Climber
The problems with China’s one-child policy are laid bare in Jianjie Lin’s effective and creepy debut Brief History of a Family, live from Berlinale Panorama.
There’s Plenty of Fake News at The Editorial Office
Roman Bondarchuk takes us to a pre-invasion Southern Ukraine in his Forum satire The Editorial Office, filled with weighty topics while lacking cinematic bite.
Too Many Cooks Spoil La Cocina
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.
Love to Love Me Baby
Sam & Andy Zuchero’s unconventional love story, Love Me, is buoyed by two excellent performances from Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun.
The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire Rejects Conventionality in Favour of Archival Speculation
Madelaine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire mounts a corrective to the surrealist’s occluded legacy through a personal essayistic structure.
Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust Won’t Be a Hit. It’s Too Unique For That.
Using an Unreal Game Engine to bold and unsettling effect, Ishan Shukla’s Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust is a truly unique and strange sci-fi vision.
Small Hours of the Night Gives Testimony to Disembodied Dissidence
Daniel Hui’s chamber piece makes the most of its limited location to provide fascinating ruminations on the reverberations of Singaporean history.
Days of Happiness Plays the Notes, Not the Music
Days of Happiness may offer the antidote to Tár’s toxicity, but it lacks the passion needed to make for a masterful conductor character study.