This is by Niles Attalah and is an utterly bizarre film – even by my standards – the true-ish story of a French explorer who became king of the Mapuche tribes in chile, but was charged with treason by chile’s authorities for inciting rebellion. Its mostly in Spanish so you can really get lost in … Continue reading
This film stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara and is directed by David Lowry so reunites them after Aint them Bodies Saints and is one of the strangest, most haunting films I’ve ever seen. Yes, I know there are issues with Affleck, but there are a lot of cast and crew involved in this, so … Continue reading
I heard an interview a while ago with the band British Sea Power who provide the soundtrack to this film, so was glad to finally see it. Funded by Sheffield Documentary Festival, it is a fascinating selection of work from the British Film Institute from early black and white to the modern era. We see … Continue reading
This is one of the first foreign language films I saw, and despite its length, I remember being fascinated by it. Set in a farm settlement in 19th century Lombardy where the families have to give 2/3 of their produce to the landlord, it shows a year in the lives of 5 families. They live … Continue reading
I have often wondered why the UK has never produced an equivalent of Kerouac, of Hunter S Thompson, the wild, crazy, drug and alcohol fuelled travellers and story tellers. Yes, I know Britain is a lot smaller. Any road trip would be a lot shorter, but here’s a film that comes close. It begins with … Continue reading
This is another film free to subscribers of the BFI. The film is important in its own right, but also for the scandal that accompanied it – Ingrid Bergman had written to the director Roberto Rosellini as an admirer of his work, wishing to appear in a film. Their scandalous affair produced the actress Isabella … Continue reading
This film by Joanna Hogg features a very young Tom Hiddleston, probably the first of several they have done together. It’s an unusual take on relationships – 2 families are on summer holiday in Tuscany, when a 40something friend of the mother arrives. There is a lot of drinking, and the friend choses to hang … Continue reading
This is a film by critic Mark Cousins described as a love story about Neneh Cherry’s home city. I am not a fan of Cousins: his ponderous narration of his film on his film on children’s cinema was painful. This film comes free with subscriptions to BFI player, but most people have better uses of … Continue reading
This is the second time Liam Neeson has played a 17th century Jesuit priest, but this is a far cry from his role in The Mission. The film opens with him watching his fellows being tortured for refusing to recant their faith. Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield were his students, inspired to follow him to … Continue reading
This is the third Andrea Arnold directed film I’ve watched, so I think that’s the whole of her output, and this is another intriguing story of a young woman at odds with the world. Mia lives on a council estate in Essex. Her single mum has a boyfriend, an early appearance of Michael Fassbender. The … Continue reading
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