Atlantis is a 2019 Ukrainian dystopian post-apocalyptic film directed by Valentyn Vasyanovich and follows a former soldier with PTSD from his duty in a fictional war with Russia trying live his life in the year 2025 after all the horrors he has encountered. It is a slow film with lots long takes and wide landscape […]
The US-Drama “Sound of Metal” is a great feature-length debut written and directed by Darius Marder about dealing with unpredictable changes in life. The film follows Ruben (Riz Ahmed), who is the drummer of a metal-duo with his girlfriend and singer Lou (Olivia Cooke). Together they are living their dream, touring the country and playing
Sound of Metal – ★★★½ Read More »
The moving US drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman is currently being shown in cinemas. In a natural, almost documentary style, cinematographer Hélène Louvart accompanies a 17-year-old girl who is unintentionally pregnant and, due to a lack of support in her hometown, leaves for New York City with her cousin to attend a
Never Rarely Sometimes Always – ★★★★½ Read More »
The stylish psychological thriller “You Were Never Really Here” by Lynne Ramsay from 2017 is now available on Netflix. A short, exciting art-house film with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, who plays a mercenary traumatized by his time in the military, who is commissioned by a politician to free his daughter from a human
You Were Never Really Here – ★★★½ Read More »
The US comedy drama “Marriage Story” with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson by Noah Baumbach from 2019 on Netflix is excellent. A sensitive portrait of a break-up marriage and at the same time of a family that stays together. The acting and the dialogues are excellent and especially Adam Driver and Laura Dern, in a
Marriage Story – ★★★★½ Read More »
Amazon Prime Video now feautures the most visually beautiful and finest art house film of 2019, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” by Celine Sciamma from France. A historical drama about the relationship of a young aristocrat and a painter who is supposed to portray her. The framing, the light, the colours and the faces
Portrait of a Lady on Fire – ★★★★★ Read More »
The 2017 biographical film “A Prayer Before Dawn” by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire is now available on Prime Video and is one of the greatest smaller international films I discovered that year. It is based on the experiences of British Billy Moore, a drug-addicted Muay Thai boxer who lives in Thailand and is jailed for drug dealing.
A Prayer Before Dawn – ★★★★ Read More »
On Amazon Prime you can see the excellent movie “Dolor y Gloria” (Pain and Glory) from 2020 by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. A very personal work about an ageing film director with physical suffering, reflecting on the relationships and experiences that have shaped him in his life. Very sensitive film with Antonio Banderas and
Dolor y Gloria – ★★★★ Read More »
Das Weisse Band (“The White Ribbon”) is the first film I saw by Michael Haneke and is still my favourite film by the Austrian Director. Using the inhabitants of a small village just before the beginning of the First World War as an example, Haneke depicts the German society of that time, in which strict
Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) – ★★★★★ Read More »
The Taiwanese film “Yi Yi” by Edward Yang from the year 2000 is a masterfully crafted, calm reflection on the aspects of human life. Using the example of a family of three generations, the drama shows how everyone, old or young, faces their own personal problems and challenges. While the film begins with a wedding,