Based on a true story, Hive tells of the tragedy of the aftermath of the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Specifically it focuses on its impact on the village of Krusha e Madhe. The film follows one woman, Fahrije Hoti (Yllka Gashi). Her husband disappeared seven years earlier, leaving behind not only her,…
A few films have looked at the Bosnian conflict of the 90s (Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome To Sarajevo, for one), but few have been as powerful, compelling or intelligent as this searing drama from Serbian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic. Quo Vadis, Aida? was apparently one of former President Barack Obama’s favourite films of the year. The film…
From little things, big things grow. Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi transforms a short story by Haruki Murakami into a 3-hour paean to love, loss and healing with Drive My Car. The film is a transcendent exploration of almost unbearable pathos, but with a shining light at the end. Another Murakami short story provided the source material…
Director Pedro Almodóvar and actor Penélope Cruz are a match made in heaven. The pair have been mainstays of Spanish cinema for decades, and their collaborations stretch back to Live Flesh (1997). Along the way, they’ve given audiences classics like All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006) and Broken Embraces (2009). The latest Almodóvar film…
Writer-director Joachim Trier presents a compelling story via an prologue, 12 chapters and an epilogue in The Worst Person in the World. The unusual treatment of the narrative by Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt works nicely. The film follows beautiful and buoyant Julie (Renate Reinsve). She was a decent and friendly person who could be…
How was the restaurant born? The French dramatic comedy Delicious (Délicieux) provides a fictional answer to that question. At the dawn of the French Revolution, Pierre Manceron (Gregory Gadebois) is a master chef in the employ of the arrogant Duke of Chamfort (Benjamin Lavernhe). The Duke loves the food Manceron and his chefs prepare in…
A surreal nightmare, Titane pushes the boundaries of taste. Still, it’s intriguing throughout and doesn’t let up for its entire 100 minutes plus. A father (Bertrand Bonello), who turns out to be a doctor, is having trouble controlling his seven-year-old daughter Alexia (Adele Guigue) in the back seat of their car while driving. She makes…
Following Nordic tradition, Lamb is a mystery that becomes more and more compelling the longer it goes. It’s a slow-moving, supernatural drama that only comes into its own after an incident more than a quarter of an hour in. Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason) are a hardworking, childless farming couple in remote,…
Screening from 20 October (with Canberra and Melbourne to follow on 17 and 19 November respectively) Palace and ST. ALi coffee have announced the full line-up for the 2021 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival. After another disrupted year, this hallmark event celebrating Italian culture, stories and language hits screens around the country just in time…
A love story against a backdrop of civil war, Skies of Lebanon has a decided artistic and poetic bent. It is the 1950s and despite not speaking a word of Arabic, Alice (Alba Rohrwacher) leaves her straitlaced existence in Switzerland for a nannying job in Beirut. In a café she meets and falls for a…
