Category Archives: Cinema

When honour is your only possession – “Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum” [W.Germany 1975]

. – It’s Neuer Deutscher Film time..! And I’ll start the filmography of Volker Schlöndorff – one of the important directors of New German Cinema, not with his Oscar-winning Die Blechtrommel (that comes later), but a slightly lesser known, but … Continue reading

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Love under an ash-cloud – “Cenizas del Cielo” [2008 Spain]

Using his intimate knowledge of the Asturias region, Spanish director José Antonio Quirós creates crowd-pleasing drama and romance through the film, “Cenizas del Cielo” [Eng. Title: Ashes from the Sun]. Storyline: Travel writer Paul Ferguson’s (Gary Piquer) progress through northern … Continue reading

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Survival in the face of savagery – “Zateryannyy v Sibiri” [1991 USSR, UK]

I’m stating the obvious – a film like “Zateryannyy v Sibiri” [Eng. Title: Lost in Siberia] would have been unthinkable in the USSR, were it not for Glasnost. It was nevertheless the first authoritative portrayal of the workings of the … Continue reading

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Letting sleeping beauties lie: “Bella Addormentata” [2012 Italy]

Veteran director Marco Bellocchio’s latest drama, “Bella Addormentata” [Eng. Title: Dormant Beauty] takes on the subject of euthanasia in a predominantly catholic Italy, by setting the film against a backdrop of real-life events in 2009, when the father of Eluana … Continue reading

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Desperately seeking a trophy-lover: “L’imbalsamatore” [2002 Italy]

Matteo Garrone once again takes us on a trip through the dark recesses of desire and obsession in his psychological ‘romantic’ drama, “L’imbalsamatore” [Eng. Title: The Taxidermist aka The Embalmer]. So much so that the grey decaying Neapolitan landscape will … Continue reading

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