Monthly Archives: July 2014

The story of a divorce, from a male perspective: “Valkoinen kaupunki” [2006 Finland]

Writer-director Aku Louhimies’ melodrama “Valkoinen kaupunki” [Eng. Title: Frozen City] looks at the break-up of a marriage and its aftermath from a viewpoint rarely given airtime, either in law or practice – the husband’s. The film – a depressingly … Continue reading

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A brief review: “Ocho apellidos vascos” [2014 Spain]

Emilio Martínez Lázaro’s recent box-office hit “Ocho apellidos vascos” [Eng. Title: Spanish Affairs] is a fish-out-of-water romantic comedy that draws on but discredits some widely held prejudices between Andalusian and Basque people, against each other.
The film begins with Basque … Continue reading

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A film review: “Le milieu du monde” [Switzerland, France 1974]

With his romantic drama “Le milieu du monde” [Eng. Title: The Middle of the World], Alain Tanner signals a marked shift in the style and content of his film-making, one that’ll also usher-in the most productive and creative phase … Continue reading

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A film review: “Volchok” [2009 Russia]

The title for Vasiliy Sigarev’s début feature “Volchok” [Eng. Title: Wolfy] refers to a spinning top, but it can also mean a wolf cub, and a way of describing a feral child. The depressing film is about the relationship … Continue reading

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Alberto Lattuada’s “Oh, Serafina!” [1976 Italy]

If it’s time to indulge in some guilty-pleasure, what better way than revisiting the seventies. The decade – in Europe, America, and almost certainly worldwide, had a pop-culture that is now officially described as ‘classy’, where artists began to … Continue reading

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