Monthly Archives: November 2013

Fighting tradition is never easy: “Mariage tardif” [2001 Israel, France]

Writer-director Dover Koshashvili’s impressive début feature, “Mariage tardif” [Orig. Title: Hatuna Meuheret, Eng. Title: Late Marriage] is a bitter-sweet satirical comedy that doesn’t flinch in laying bare the consequences of staunchly held traditional values colliding with modern aspirations within … Continue reading

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When can consensual sex become rape: “La condanna” [1991 Italy]

Marco Bellocchio throws the cat among the pigeons in his courtroom drama “La condanna” [Eng. Title: The Conviction] by pitting the legal interpretation of consensual sex against the dynamics of sexual politics.
“Does the female expect the male to take … Continue reading

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Art, for love: “I Ypografi” [2011 Greece]

Stelios Haralambopoulos’ romantic mystery-melodrama “I Ypografi” [Eng. Title: The Signature] is one of those hard-to-categorise films that’s also extremely difficult to write about without giving away the plot – the reason why this review is also going to be … Continue reading

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Self-discovery, the trippy way: “Crystal Fairy” [2013 Chile]

Sebastián Silva’s English language feature “Crystal Fiary” [Full Title: Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus, and 2012] is a character study of two American tourists in Chile with very different outlooks. I had seen only one other film from … Continue reading

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A Glasnost-borne satire: “Gorod Zero” [1989 USSR]

Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka in Karen Shakhnazarov’s surreal dark comedy “Gorod Zero” [Eng. Title: City Zero] – a biting satire on a Soviet system resolutely chained to inertia and bureaucracy against the blowing winds of change.
The film … Continue reading

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