Porumboiu’s The Treasure is an effective deadpan comedy with dry, satirical content and a resigned tone despite guffaw-worthy exchanges. It is made almost entirely of medium to long two and three shots, with little cinematic flourishes. But this conventional cinematic rhetoric is not in any way a hindrance to the film’s emotive power; instead, the film’s…
With Cemetery of Splendour, Apichatpong Weerasethakul has perhaps made his most accessible film. Dealing for years with spirits, dreams, and mediums, Weerasethakul’s narrative arcs have often plagued viewers in their search for meaning or personal connection. But with Cemetery of Splendour, though all these features exist, Weerasethakul’s careful direction…
Thematically focused on the notion of dignity, Measure of a Man is a humanist film in the vein of the Dardenne Brothers, which explores through hand camera cinematography the details of a frustrated man’s life. It measure’s man’s livelihood in the current business-economic state of society which places capital and commerciality above human qualities…
The original Portuguese title Que Horas Ela Volta? translates to “What time will she come back?”, words stated twice in The Second Mother, first by Fabinho in regards to his mother’s constant leaving for work, and second by Jessica as she remembers feelings since childhood. Thematically, the film deals with separate classes in Brazil and how families may…
Through its sparse aesthetic design and meditative rhythm, Embrace of the Serpent recalls the austere nature-focused films of Werner Herzog and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, to name a few. Shot in super 35mm black and white and boasting a wonderful mise-en-scene with gorgeous imagery of the Amazon River and Jungle, the film transforms the…
At the age of twelve, Steve Fonyo had to face an insurmountable situation for someone so young. Doctors had to remove most of his left leg due to bone cancer. Years later at the age of eighteen, and inspired by Terry Fox, Fonyo successfully ran across Canada to 14 million dollars for cancer research. His attempt wasn’t covered widely at first because of Terry Fox’s…
Stronger in theory than in execution, Garrity’s Borealis boasts a dense script and meaningful direction which is somewhat undermined by flawed character motivation, contrived plot developments, and a slogging comedy-crime arc. Perhaps a bit indulgent to start, when the film reaches its cathartic closure, much of this seeming indulgence is forgiven through…
Bunuel meets Hitchcock in this absurd dark comedy thriller full of deadpan humour and Bernard Herman-esque string motifs. In a dystopian world of the future, people are meant to become couples and loners and transformed into animals. At The Hotel, single people from The City are given 45 days to find a partner or risk being turned into an animal. Helping…
Shot in black and white with much silence and cinematographic depth, Garrel’s In the Shadow of Women is an aesthetically pure three act take on romance, infidelity, and naked love. Simple and honest, perhaps to a fault, Garrel creates unembellished characters whose very human attributes are clear and unadorned. Their self-awareness does not…
Seeing Innocence of Memories provided one of the few times that I’ve left a theater in awe, as if life’s essence had shifted in those past 90 minutes of pure cinema. Objects seen before suddenly took on a new light, informed by my newfound understanding of the intertwining of one’s soul and conscience with memory. Objects suddenly felt alive, as if breathing, a…