Category: film
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Film: Chhapaak (India, 2020)
Before we jump into this review, there are two things to address. There has been a lot of political dialogue around this film’s release related largely in part to ongoing events in India and actions by the film’s lead. We won’t be covering any of that within this review because it detracts from just reviewing…
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Film: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (India, 2019)
For all its flaws, I can’t think of another mode of cinema in which I see such a wide range of characters. Sure, your Hrithik Roshan’s and Deepika Padukones are caked in make up, their brown skin often lightening over time, but there’s also many more aged characters in Bollywood and they can gyrate and…
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Film: Dolor y Gloria (2019, Spain)
Pedro Almodóvar’s work is a catalogue of comedy and tragedy, controversy and black humour. I first encountered his work through the films Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios and Todo sobre mi madre, the latter of which I remember specifically touching me deeply. Although one of Spain’s most celebrated directors, his following is…
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Film: First They Killed My Father (2017, Cambodia/USA)
I debated whether to include this on my blog, wondering if it would actually count under ‘world cinema’, but given that the film was made with a large chunk of the cast and crew being from Cambodia, the film was shot in Cambodia, the story is from a Cambodian, and the dialogue is in Khmer…
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Film: Yabani Asly (2017, Egypt)
For my most recent world cinema watch, I went with an Egyptian film. This film is currently available on Netflix UK under the title ‘From Japan to Egypt’. Let’s dive in!
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Film: Andið eðlilega (Iceland, 2018)
Iceland. What do you think of when you hear this country’s name? Perhaps the Northern Lights, fjords, book-giving at Christmas? Andið eðlilega, or And Breathe Normally as it’s dubbed in English, takes a look at Iceland in a way you might never have seen before.
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Film: 5 international films to show your friends who hate films with subtitles
I think we all have at least one friend who scrunches up their nose when we try to get them to watch a film in another language. “I just hate subtitles!” they will often declare. The sad truth is that they are depriving themselves of a whole magical world of storytelling with this mindset. In…
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Film: Green White Green (Nigeria, 2016)
As far as I am aware, Nigeria is the major player in African cinema. In fact, most African cinema I have watched has been produced in Nigeria or has somehow involved Nigerian production. Green White Green is a breakneck-speed dash through the history and politics of the country, told through the eyes of three young…
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Film: Divines (France, 2016)
Of all the world cinema I watch, I find time and again that French cinema delivers the most consistently. The storylines are gripping, the cinematography often stunning, and I find myself still thinking about those films years later. As a side note, one of my current all-time favourites is Les Émotifs anonymes, which showed me…
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Film: La tribu (Spain, 2018)
Another Spanish film, I know! I promise I’ll get more diverse in my cinema this year. Right now I’m more concerned with how few books I’m reading and how few films I’m watching in general! Anyhow, I was browsing Netflix the other day and ended up watching this cheesy and somewhat bizarre offering from Spanish…
Voyage Endless 