From Jekyll and Hyde to the Wolfman, to much more recent twists on atavistic transformations, the concept of shape-shifting has always been a popular one in fiction — with storytellers turning the dial up or down on the potential social commentary therein, according to taste and preference. In “Animale,” the closing film of this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week section, director Emma Benestan is rather more interested in the interpersonal dynamics navigated by 22-year-old female bull-runner Nejma (Oulaya Amamra) than in really savouring some promising horror implications. She gives Dr. Jekyll center stage, as it were, rather than getting too involved with Mr. Hyde.
Nejma works at a ranch in Camargue, France, where bulls are raised to compete in the arena for baying crowds of exhilarated spectators. It is a traditionally masculine environment: From the bulls to the men who wrangle them, the emphasis is on displays of physical strength and ferocity.
Nejma works at a ranch in Camargue, France, where bulls are raised to compete in the arena for baying crowds of exhilarated spectators. It is a traditionally masculine environment: From the bulls to the men who wrangle them, the emphasis is on displays of physical strength and ferocity.
- 5/23/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
IndieWire has published its Cannes 2024 Cinematography Survey. We analyzed the data to explore (again and again) that the nine-year-old camera, Arri Alexa Mini, is the most popular camera among Cannes filmmakers. Furthermore, interestingly, in its first appearance on the Cannes Cinematography Chart and jumped straight to second place, is the Arri 35.
The main cameras of Cannes 2024 are the Arri Alexa Mini and the 35. Cannes 2024 cinematography
The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival is taking place from 14 to 25 May 2024. IndieWire has reached out to the filmmakers behind 59 films screened in various categories in the festival. The DPs elaborated on the tools they utilized to tell their stories. Read the entire survey here.
Official poster of the 77th Cannes Film Festival featuring a still image from the movie Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991)
As the tradition calls, we took the data and filtered it to the cameras used, to explore tendency. Based on the info,...
The main cameras of Cannes 2024 are the Arri Alexa Mini and the 35. Cannes 2024 cinematography
The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival is taking place from 14 to 25 May 2024. IndieWire has reached out to the filmmakers behind 59 films screened in various categories in the festival. The DPs elaborated on the tools they utilized to tell their stories. Read the entire survey here.
Official poster of the 77th Cannes Film Festival featuring a still image from the movie Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991)
As the tradition calls, we took the data and filtered it to the cameras used, to explore tendency. Based on the info,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Yossy Mendelovich
- YMCinema
The anarchic spirit of Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane lives on in Emma Benestan’s Critics’ Week closer Animale, the genre-busting debut of a director who cites Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, and the naturalist films of Chloé Zhao as influences. More surprisingly, she also credits Abdellatif Kechiche, since her first break was as assistant editor on his 2013 Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color.
Emma Benestan
Benestan — who would later take a full-blown editor credit on Kechiche’s 2017 feature Mektoub, My Love — was then finishing her studies at France’s prestigious La Fémis film school, but observing Kechiche’s directorial style, and witnessing his penchant for mixing professional and amateur actors, was an education in itself. “It’s the way he marries professionals and amateurs that gives his films a certain spontaneity,” she explains. “I’d been taught the director had to control everything,...
Emma Benestan
Benestan — who would later take a full-blown editor credit on Kechiche’s 2017 feature Mektoub, My Love — was then finishing her studies at France’s prestigious La Fémis film school, but observing Kechiche’s directorial style, and witnessing his penchant for mixing professional and amateur actors, was an education in itself. “It’s the way he marries professionals and amateurs that gives his films a certain spontaneity,” she explains. “I’d been taught the director had to control everything,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist–moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As our year-end coverage continues, we must pay dues. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Jomo Fray)
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt slows down the cycle of life. The camera rests on hands, on backs, on people connected through touch, sound, and smell. There isn’t any rush, any intention to leave these moments. Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray find beauty, grace, and life in two people holding hands, dancing, skinning a fish, and the trees passing while a family drives down the road. The film doesn’t just feel like a...
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Jomo Fray)
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt slows down the cycle of life. The camera rests on hands, on backs, on people connected through touch, sound, and smell. There isn’t any rush, any intention to leave these moments. Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray find beauty, grace, and life in two people holding hands, dancing, skinning a fish, and the trees passing while a family drives down the road. The film doesn’t just feel like a...
- 12/6/2023
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch enter a new stage of their partnership, both professional and personal, through their co-direction of The Eight Mountains. Vandermeersch, primarily known for her work as an actress, had previously appeared in several of her husband’s other movies and received a screenplay collaboration credit on his Oscar-nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown. But as Van Groeningen began to approach shooting the adaptation of Paolo Coginetti’s novel that he’d co-written with his wife during pandemic lockdowns, he suggested that she join him in helming the film.
In many ways, their collaboration behind the camera gracefully complements the narrative that transpires in front of it. The Eight Mountains is a gentle two-hander following two friends, the impetuous Bruno and the introverted Pietro (played respectively as adults by Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli), that charts the ups and downs of their relationship over the course of four decades.
In many ways, their collaboration behind the camera gracefully complements the narrative that transpires in front of it. The Eight Mountains is a gentle two-hander following two friends, the impetuous Bruno and the introverted Pietro (played respectively as adults by Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli), that charts the ups and downs of their relationship over the course of four decades.
- 4/28/2023
- by Marshall Shaffer
- Slant Magazine
There must have been something in the air at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where two of the top prizes went to Belgian films about the impossible standards set up by masculinity leading to tragedy. Lukas Dhont’s Close, which centers on the end of the friendship between two teenagers over a harrowing school year, won the Grand Prix. The Jury Prize went to Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains, which concerns the end of a friendship between two men who meet as boys during a summer that marks them for the rest of their lives.
Whatever its pictorial beauty, often significant, this adaptation of Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller exemplifies my distaste for films that depict toxic masculinity without questioning it, or even suggesting there is nothing heroic or brave about refusing to leave behind damaging practices as long as they perpetuate some limited idea of what constitutes manhood.
Whatever its pictorial beauty, often significant, this adaptation of Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller exemplifies my distaste for films that depict toxic masculinity without questioning it, or even suggesting there is nothing heroic or brave about refusing to leave behind damaging practices as long as they perpetuate some limited idea of what constitutes manhood.
- 2/3/2023
- by Jose Solís
- The Film Stage
The winner of the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains introduces us to Pietro (Lupo Barbiero) as a young boy visiting the small mountain village of Grana with his mother. During this trip, he meets Bruno (Cristiano Sassella), a herder who also happens to be 11-years-old. Many years later, Pietro’s father passes away, leaving him a long-neglected plot of land in Grana. Upon returning to the Alpine town, he reunites with Bruno, who aids him in rebuilding a house on his newly-inherited land, strengthening a friendship that had previously […]
The post “Cows Are Terrible to Work With”: Dp Ruben Impens on The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Cows Are Terrible to Work With”: Dp Ruben Impens on The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The winner of the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains introduces us to Pietro (Lupo Barbiero) as a young boy visiting the small mountain village of Grana with his mother. During this trip, he meets Bruno (Cristiano Sassella), a herder who also happens to be 11-years-old. Many years later, Pietro’s father passes away, leaving him a long-neglected plot of land in Grana. Upon returning to the Alpine town, he reunites with Bruno, who aids him in rebuilding a house on his newly-inherited land, strengthening a friendship that had previously […]
The post “Cows Are Terrible to Work With”: Dp Ruben Impens on The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Cows Are Terrible to Work With”: Dp Ruben Impens on The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Academy Invites 397 New Members, Including Billie Eilish, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jamie Dornan, Dana Walden
Anya Taylor-Joy, Billie Eilish, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Disney exec Dana Walden are among the 397 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.
The 2022 class is 44 women, 37 belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 50 are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners, among the invitees. Some of the big names invited are recent winners Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Troy Kotsur (“Coda”), and nominees Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”). Also invited are a slew of global artists and artisans such as actors Robin de Jesús, Olga Merediz...
The 2022 class is 44 women, 37 belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 50 are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners, among the invitees. Some of the big names invited are recent winners Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Troy Kotsur (“Coda”), and nominees Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”). Also invited are a slew of global artists and artisans such as actors Robin de Jesús, Olga Merediz...
- 6/28/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
IndieWire reached out to the directors of photography whose feature films are premiering at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival to find out which cameras and lenses they used and, more importantly, why these were the right tools to create the look and visual language of these highly anticipated films.
Page 1: Competition (Palme d’Or Contenders)
Page 2: Out of Competition, Premieres, and Special Screenings
Page 3: Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, and Acid
Page 4: Directors’ Fortnight and Marché du Film
(Films are in alphabetical order by title.)
Competition (Palme d’Or Contenders)
“Boy from Heaven”
Dir: Tarik Saleh, DoP: Pierre Aim
Format: 4K Arriraw
Camera: Arri Lf
Lens: Scorpio 40mm
Aim: “Boy from Heaven” is the third film I made with Tarik after “The Nile Hilton Incident” and “The Contractor.” To shoot Tarik’s latest film, we only used one lens: the 40mm scope Scorpio. The general idea of...
Page 1: Competition (Palme d’Or Contenders)
Page 2: Out of Competition, Premieres, and Special Screenings
Page 3: Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, and Acid
Page 4: Directors’ Fortnight and Marché du Film
(Films are in alphabetical order by title.)
Competition (Palme d’Or Contenders)
“Boy from Heaven”
Dir: Tarik Saleh, DoP: Pierre Aim
Format: 4K Arriraw
Camera: Arri Lf
Lens: Scorpio 40mm
Aim: “Boy from Heaven” is the third film I made with Tarik after “The Nile Hilton Incident” and “The Contractor.” To shoot Tarik’s latest film, we only used one lens: the 40mm scope Scorpio. The general idea of...
- 5/27/2022
- by Chris O'Falt and Erik Adams
- Indiewire
Mount Meru, one of the tallest mountains in the world, is surrounded by eight seas and eight mountains. It is considered by many to be the center of the universe — physically, metaphysically, and spiritually. But it is probably the hardest mountain to get to, and even harder to stay on. Would you make the trip? Or would you see more by exploring its eight satellite peaks and waters? What if once you get up there, you still don’t feel complete? What will give your life meaning instead?
Pietro (Luca Marinelli at his strongest physically and most complex and tender emotionally) never stops thinking about these questions. It’s all he asks himself as he yearns for the mountains until the summer comes and he can climb the Italian Alps again, with his father – trying desperately to understand a son he can’t see himself in – and best friend, Bruno...
Pietro (Luca Marinelli at his strongest physically and most complex and tender emotionally) never stops thinking about these questions. It’s all he asks himself as he yearns for the mountains until the summer comes and he can climb the Italian Alps again, with his father – trying desperately to understand a son he can’t see himself in – and best friend, Bruno...
- 5/21/2022
- by Ella Kemp
- Indiewire
For his follow-up to the 2018 addiction drama “Beautiful Boy,” Belgian filmmaker Felix van Groeningen and his life-and-creative partner, Charlotte Vandermeersch, have delivered an Italian-language literary adaptation that might sound at first like a rather familiar song, especially if you’ve seen that other melancholy tale about two men forming and fostering a life-defining love at a steep elevation.
Van Groeningen and Vandermeersch’s “The Eight Mountains” – which premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday – is more than just a Dudes Rock “Brokeback Mountain.” Still, there is something to the comparison. Not for any narrative likeness – as a story about friendship, “The Eight Mountains” explores a bond more fraternal than romantic. But on a thematic front, the two very different titles share a bittersweet belief that while our most profound relationships may lift us up, they all too rarely save us.
Adapted from Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller, this...
Van Groeningen and Vandermeersch’s “The Eight Mountains” – which premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday – is more than just a Dudes Rock “Brokeback Mountain.” Still, there is something to the comparison. Not for any narrative likeness – as a story about friendship, “The Eight Mountains” explores a bond more fraternal than romantic. But on a thematic front, the two very different titles share a bittersweet belief that while our most profound relationships may lift us up, they all too rarely save us.
Adapted from Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller, this...
- 5/18/2022
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
“Dune” has been named the best-shot film of 2021 by the American Society of Cinematographers, which held its annual awards show on Sunday evening in Los Angeles.
Cinematographer Greig Fraser won the award over a field that included fellow Oscar nominees “The Power of the Dog,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “Nightmare Alley,” as well as “Belfast.”
In the first 35 years of its existence, the ASC winner has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Cinematography less than half the time, although that percentage has improved recently. “Dune” is considered one of the front runners for this year’s cinematography Oscar, with Fraser seemingly in a close with Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog,” who could be the first woman ever to win in the category.
Other feature-film awards went to Jessica Beshir for “Faya Dayi” in the documentary category and Pat Scola for “Pig” in the spotlight category,...
Cinematographer Greig Fraser won the award over a field that included fellow Oscar nominees “The Power of the Dog,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “Nightmare Alley,” as well as “Belfast.”
In the first 35 years of its existence, the ASC winner has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Cinematography less than half the time, although that percentage has improved recently. “Dune” is considered one of the front runners for this year’s cinematography Oscar, with Fraser seemingly in a close with Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog,” who could be the first woman ever to win in the category.
Other feature-film awards went to Jessica Beshir for “Faya Dayi” in the documentary category and Pat Scola for “Pig” in the spotlight category,...
- 3/21/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The awards took place In Brussels for the first time in two years after pandemic hiatus.
Laura Wandel’s drama Playground and Raphaël Balboni and Ann Sirot’s comedy drama Madly In Life tied as the top winners at Belgium’s Magritte awards on Saturday (February 12).
Both features won prizes in seven categories of the awards focused on French-language Belgian films.
Madly In Life stars Jo Deseure and Jean Le Peltier as a couple dealing with the dementia of the husband’s mother.
It won best film, screenplay, actress, actor, supporting actor (for Gilles Remiche), production design and costumes.
Playground...
Laura Wandel’s drama Playground and Raphaël Balboni and Ann Sirot’s comedy drama Madly In Life tied as the top winners at Belgium’s Magritte awards on Saturday (February 12).
Both features won prizes in seven categories of the awards focused on French-language Belgian films.
Madly In Life stars Jo Deseure and Jean Le Peltier as a couple dealing with the dementia of the husband’s mother.
It won best film, screenplay, actress, actor, supporting actor (for Gilles Remiche), production design and costumes.
Playground...
- 2/13/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The American Society of Cinematographers announced their 2022 nominees this morning and it was good news for Sci-Fi fans. Over six categories projects such as “Dune,” “Foundation,” “Titans,” “Snowpiercer,” “Superman & Lois” and “The Nevers” earned nominations. Of course, it’s the film nods that will get the most attention.
Read More: “Belfast,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Succession” lead 2022 SAG Awards nominations
Greig Fraser‘s work on “Dune” was nominated in the Feature Film category alongside Bruno Delbonnel for “Tragedy of Macbeth,” Dan Lausten for “Nightmare Alley,” Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog” and Haris Zambarloukos for “Belfast.” Additionally, the Spotlight category saw Ruben Impens recognized for “Titane,” Pat Scola for “Pig” and a very deserving Adolpho Velos for “Jockey.”
On the television side, other nominees included James Laxton for “The Underground Railroad,” Ben Richardson for “Mare of Easttown,” David Garbett for “Sweet Tooth” and Adam Bricker for “Hacks.
Read More: “Belfast,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Succession” lead 2022 SAG Awards nominations
Greig Fraser‘s work on “Dune” was nominated in the Feature Film category alongside Bruno Delbonnel for “Tragedy of Macbeth,” Dan Lausten for “Nightmare Alley,” Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog” and Haris Zambarloukos for “Belfast.” Additionally, the Spotlight category saw Ruben Impens recognized for “Titane,” Pat Scola for “Pig” and a very deserving Adolpho Velos for “Jockey.”
On the television side, other nominees included James Laxton for “The Underground Railroad,” Ben Richardson for “Mare of Easttown,” David Garbett for “Sweet Tooth” and Adam Bricker for “Hacks.
- 1/25/2022
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Faya Dayi, Cusp in running for documentary prize.
Dune and Belfast are in the running for the feature film prize at the American Society Of Cinematographer’s 36th ASC Awards as Ari Wegner became only the second woman to be nominated by the guild for her work on The Power Of The Dog.
Greig Fraser is recognised for Dune, Haris Zambarloukos for Belfast, Wegner for The Power Of The Dog, Bruno Delbonnel for The Tragedy Of Macbeth, and Dan Laustsen for Nightmare Alley. Rachel Morrison was the trailblazer for female cinematographers when she earned an ASC nomination for Mudbound in...
Dune and Belfast are in the running for the feature film prize at the American Society Of Cinematographer’s 36th ASC Awards as Ari Wegner became only the second woman to be nominated by the guild for her work on The Power Of The Dog.
Greig Fraser is recognised for Dune, Haris Zambarloukos for Belfast, Wegner for The Power Of The Dog, Bruno Delbonnel for The Tragedy Of Macbeth, and Dan Laustsen for Nightmare Alley. Rachel Morrison was the trailblazer for female cinematographers when she earned an ASC nomination for Mudbound in...
- 1/25/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The American Society of Cinematographers on Tuesday unveiled nominations for its 36th annual ASC Awards, honoring the year’s best in feature film, documentary and television cinematography.
The society’s marquee Feature Film nominees include Bruno Delbonnel for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Greig Fraser for Dune, Dan Laustsen for Nightmare Alley, Ari Wegner for The Power of the Dog and Haris Zambarloukos for Belfast.
Last year, the ASC awarded Mank‘s Erik Messerschmidt with the Feature Film trophy, on his way to winning the Cinematography Oscar for the black-and-white film. This year, Belfast and Macbeth are also both black and white, along with for that matter Guillermo del Toro’s alt-version of Nightmare Alley.
The ASC film winner historically goes on to win the Oscar about half the time — 16 times in the past 35 years.
In TV, there were no repeats from last year’s shows on today’s list. Jon Joffin,...
The society’s marquee Feature Film nominees include Bruno Delbonnel for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Greig Fraser for Dune, Dan Laustsen for Nightmare Alley, Ari Wegner for The Power of the Dog and Haris Zambarloukos for Belfast.
Last year, the ASC awarded Mank‘s Erik Messerschmidt with the Feature Film trophy, on his way to winning the Cinematography Oscar for the black-and-white film. This year, Belfast and Macbeth are also both black and white, along with for that matter Guillermo del Toro’s alt-version of Nightmare Alley.
The ASC film winner historically goes on to win the Oscar about half the time — 16 times in the past 35 years.
In TV, there were no repeats from last year’s shows on today’s list. Jon Joffin,...
- 1/25/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
“Dune,” “Belfast,” “Nightmare Alley,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “The Power of the Dog” are among the films nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers in the feature film category.
The ASC nominees for feature film, documentary and television cinematography represent the organization’s picks for the most compelling visual filmmaking. Last year’s ASC feature film winner was “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt who upset “Nomadland” Dp Joshua James Richards, the Oscar favorite. Messerschmidt went on to win the Best Cinematography Oscar.
Cinematographer Ari Wegner was nominated in the theatrical film category for her work on Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog,” becoming the second woman ever nominated by the guild, after Rachel Morrison for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” (2017).
“Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion made history almost 30 years ago when she became the second woman ever to be nominated for best director for “The Piano” (1993) after Lina Wertmüller...
The ASC nominees for feature film, documentary and television cinematography represent the organization’s picks for the most compelling visual filmmaking. Last year’s ASC feature film winner was “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt who upset “Nomadland” Dp Joshua James Richards, the Oscar favorite. Messerschmidt went on to win the Best Cinematography Oscar.
Cinematographer Ari Wegner was nominated in the theatrical film category for her work on Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog,” becoming the second woman ever nominated by the guild, after Rachel Morrison for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” (2017).
“Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion made history almost 30 years ago when she became the second woman ever to be nominated for best director for “The Piano” (1993) after Lina Wertmüller...
- 1/25/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay and Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Mike Mills’ A24 film C’mon C’mon triumphed at the 2021 EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, celebrating the art of cinematography—claiming its high honor, the Golden Frog, along with its Audience Award.
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s Golden Frog win gives him new momentum as a 2022 Oscar contender, on the heels of his first nomination in 2019 for his work on Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite. While only handful of past winners since the festival’s founding in 1993 have gone on to secure the Best Cinematography Oscar, 12 of 30 have nabbed nominations. And over the last eight years, 5 winners have gone on to nominations—most recently, Joshua James Richards with Nomadland, and Lawrence Sher with Joker.
In Mills’ film, which opened in theaters across North America yesterday, Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, a radio journalist whose latest project has him interviewing children across the U.S. about the state of affairs in the world. Johnny forges a tenuous...
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s Golden Frog win gives him new momentum as a 2022 Oscar contender, on the heels of his first nomination in 2019 for his work on Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite. While only handful of past winners since the festival’s founding in 1993 have gone on to secure the Best Cinematography Oscar, 12 of 30 have nabbed nominations. And over the last eight years, 5 winners have gone on to nominations—most recently, Joshua James Richards with Nomadland, and Lawrence Sher with Joker.
In Mills’ film, which opened in theaters across North America yesterday, Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, a radio journalist whose latest project has him interviewing children across the U.S. about the state of affairs in the world. Johnny forges a tenuous...
- 11/20/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Life on the road and fantasy worlds held sway at the 29th edition of the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival on Saturday, winning big after a week of scaled down but enthusiastic industry events, seminars and screenings celebrating cinematography.
“C’mon C’mon,” shot by Robbie Ryan and directed by Mike Mills, won this year’s Golden Frog. The film, which tells the story of a radio journalist driving between American cities with his nine-year-old nephew Jesse, enchanted jurors with its black-and-white imagery, one of several top contenders in monochrome.
Ryan, praised for his “precise and humble eye” and “cinema that touches the soul,” accepted via video from a film set in Hungary, calling “C’mon C’mon” a “small film,” made just prior to the Covid pandemic by a crew “traveling around like a circus.”
Buzz built early on during the fest for Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” shot by Bruno Delbonnel,...
“C’mon C’mon,” shot by Robbie Ryan and directed by Mike Mills, won this year’s Golden Frog. The film, which tells the story of a radio journalist driving between American cities with his nine-year-old nephew Jesse, enchanted jurors with its black-and-white imagery, one of several top contenders in monochrome.
Ryan, praised for his “precise and humble eye” and “cinema that touches the soul,” accepted via video from a film set in Hungary, calling “C’mon C’mon” a “small film,” made just prior to the Covid pandemic by a crew “traveling around like a circus.”
Buzz built early on during the fest for Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” shot by Bruno Delbonnel,...
- 11/20/2021
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Titane A few days ago, on the eve of the fest, I wrote about how excited I was at the prospect of catching a number of films from directors who’d screened works in previous Cannes editions, but had only now found a spot in the official competition. Such was the case for Julia Ducournau, who’d first travelled to Cannes in 2016, when her cannibal coming-of-age thriller Raw nabbed the Fipresci award in the Critics Week. Watching her second feature, Titane, felt like treading into a familiar turf. The film features motifs Ducournau’s debut pivoted on, chiefly an interest in our bodily urges, in the fluidity and unpredictability of our desires. Much like Raw, it’s a gross-out peppered with stomach-churning moments, but one that swims between tenderness and brutality to complicate the distinction between humans and the objects we fetishize. It’s in that miraculous, unstable balance that...
- 7/15/2021
- MUBI
As if to assure us that reaching international art cinema’s most hallowed grounds hasn’t turned her soft, Julia Ducournau opens her sophomore feature “Titane,” which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, with as follows: A car crash, an up-close shot of open-cranium surgery, neon-lit car show girls twerking and grinding in hot pants, body modification, body scarification, girl-on-girl-flirtation, girl on-girl-copulation, girl-on-machine-copulation, boobs, bums, blood and barf, and about five gruesome murders.
And that’s just in the first ten minutes. The Dardenne brothers, this is not.
Not that “Titane” even wants that mantle. Ducournau’s follow-up to “Raw” is more than comfortable in its genre trappings, offering grab bag nods to past masters and positively delighting in sex, violence and grisly prosthetics as it chants “Long live the new flesh” from the film world’s toniest perch, inviting all gathered to join along.
This visually evocative,...
And that’s just in the first ten minutes. The Dardenne brothers, this is not.
Not that “Titane” even wants that mantle. Ducournau’s follow-up to “Raw” is more than comfortable in its genre trappings, offering grab bag nods to past masters and positively delighting in sex, violence and grisly prosthetics as it chants “Long live the new flesh” from the film world’s toniest perch, inviting all gathered to join along.
This visually evocative,...
- 7/13/2021
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
Belgian director Felix van Groeningen (“Beautiful Boy”) and Charlotte Vandermeersch have started shooting in the Alps on “The Eight Mountains,” an Italian drama based on a bestseller about male bonding set against a mountainous backdrop.
Vision Distribution will launch international sales of the film at the upcoming Cannes virtual market.
The film will be released in France by Pyramide Distribution and in Benelux by Kinepolis Film Distribution and Dutch FilmWorks.
Pic marks the first foray into Italian-language filmmaking for Van Groeningen who prior to “Beautiful Boy,” his English-language debut, broke out with Oscar-nominated “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” which is in Dutch, followed by “Belgica” winner of a prize at Sundance.
Van Groeningen has teamed up on “Eight Montains” with Vandermeersch, his partner in life, an actor and writer now making her directorial debut. They previously collaborated professionally on “Breakdown” on which she served as a co-writer.
“Bringing this deeply human,...
Vision Distribution will launch international sales of the film at the upcoming Cannes virtual market.
The film will be released in France by Pyramide Distribution and in Benelux by Kinepolis Film Distribution and Dutch FilmWorks.
Pic marks the first foray into Italian-language filmmaking for Van Groeningen who prior to “Beautiful Boy,” his English-language debut, broke out with Oscar-nominated “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” which is in Dutch, followed by “Belgica” winner of a prize at Sundance.
Van Groeningen has teamed up on “Eight Montains” with Vandermeersch, his partner in life, an actor and writer now making her directorial debut. They previously collaborated professionally on “Breakdown” on which she served as a co-writer.
“Bringing this deeply human,...
- 6/15/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
An official selection at International Film Festival Rotterdam, Sundance Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and more, Dutch director Sacha Polak’s Dirty God is a powerful character study led by first-time actor Vicky Knight. A real-life burn victim, the drama follows her character’s journey as a British woman who tries to rebuild her life after being scarred from an acid attack. Courtesy of Dark Star Pictures, we’re pleased to premiere the U.S. trailer which features stunning cinematography from Ruben Impens.
Dirty God will open with a virtual release through Laemmle Theaters in LA, Gateway Film Center (Virtual) in Columbus, and more theaters to be announced on November 13, 2020. The film will also be made available on digital platforms on December 15, 2020.
Jared Mobarak said in our Sundance review, “Knight is a first-time actor and yet she embodies this role with an authenticity that goes beyond mere performance. She...
Dirty God will open with a virtual release through Laemmle Theaters in LA, Gateway Film Center (Virtual) in Columbus, and more theaters to be announced on November 13, 2020. The film will also be made available on digital platforms on December 15, 2020.
Jared Mobarak said in our Sundance review, “Knight is a first-time actor and yet she embodies this role with an authenticity that goes beyond mere performance. She...
- 10/9/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Mustang is an impressive indie prison drama marking the directional debut of French actress Laure De Clermont. It tells a moving story based on a real program involving inmates and wild horses.
The Mustang is the story of Roman Coleman (Matthias Schoenaerts), an inmate at a Nevada State prison and a man of few words. Not only does his bald and hulking physique make for a threatening presence, his terse and brooding disposition adds to his menace. He’s a heavily-tattooed caged brute doing stints in and out of solitary confinement. His crime isn’t revealed until near the film’s end but it’s hinted that his beastly exterior masks a deep anguish. His relationship with his pregnant daughter Martha (Gideon Adlon), who visits, is strained, and he even loses his temper when she comes to ask him to sign some papers. She wants to make a better...
The Mustang is the story of Roman Coleman (Matthias Schoenaerts), an inmate at a Nevada State prison and a man of few words. Not only does his bald and hulking physique make for a threatening presence, his terse and brooding disposition adds to his menace. He’s a heavily-tattooed caged brute doing stints in and out of solitary confinement. His crime isn’t revealed until near the film’s end but it’s hinted that his beastly exterior masks a deep anguish. His relationship with his pregnant daughter Martha (Gideon Adlon), who visits, is strained, and he even loses his temper when she comes to ask him to sign some papers. She wants to make a better...
- 3/29/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Horses and men have been mythic companions as long as movies have been around, so why does it feel as if within only the last couple of years, with “The Rider,” “Lean on Pete,” and now French filmmaker Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s touching drama “The Mustang,” have we gotten a fuller examination of this relationship?
Maybe because we’re finally seeing horses treated as flesh-and-blood characters and not simply beautiful accessories or four-legged extensions of the rider’s personality (or just vehicles for transport). Which is surely why de Clermont-Tonnerre was drawn to the stories coming out of prison programs around the world that utilized animals as therapy — living, breathing, loving creatures who could help resocialize those coarsened by incarceration.
But “The Mustang” — which de Clermont-Tonnerre wrote with Mona Fastvold (“The Childhood of a Leader”) and Brock Norman Brock (“Yardie”), and which recently premiered at Sundance — isn’t just about...
Maybe because we’re finally seeing horses treated as flesh-and-blood characters and not simply beautiful accessories or four-legged extensions of the rider’s personality (or just vehicles for transport). Which is surely why de Clermont-Tonnerre was drawn to the stories coming out of prison programs around the world that utilized animals as therapy — living, breathing, loving creatures who could help resocialize those coarsened by incarceration.
But “The Mustang” — which de Clermont-Tonnerre wrote with Mona Fastvold (“The Childhood of a Leader”) and Brock Norman Brock (“Yardie”), and which recently premiered at Sundance — isn’t just about...
- 3/15/2019
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
It’s rare when a young female filmmaker scores a breakout like Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre did when she unleashed The Mustang at Sundance 2019. Now audiences can see what all the shouting is about. The ticking time bomb of male rage — dangerous if you get too close — may seem like an unlikely topic for a French actress to tackle in her feature debut as a director. But don’t expect this firebrand to stay corraled by sexist preconceptions. Clermont-Tonnerre comes from a place of defiance, and her fearless instincts surge through every frame.
- 3/13/2019
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
Lost souls of the animal and human variety coming together in a quest for salvation has been depicted on film numerous times before. Rarely, however, has it also been a prison movie where this story is being told. That’s where The Mustang comes into play. This flick never tries to be anything more than it is, but what it is somehow becomes beautiful. In the wrong hands, it could have been unrelentingly bleak and almost impossible to sit through. The threat of violence looms around every corner. Yet, what stays with you here is the passion that can be had through dedication. What stays with you is the power of redemption. All told, what stays with you is how good a work The Mustang truly is. The movie is a prison drama, centered on the story of Roman (Matthias Schoenaerts) an inmate serving time for a violent crime. We...
- 3/13/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Can we talk about Matthias Schoenaerts? The Belgian actor made a splash on the festival circuit with Bullhead in 2011, leading to roles–both lead and supporting–in everything from Rust & Bone to Red Sparrow. Since his breakout though, he’s never matched the same attention despite a decade’s worth of good work. With Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s The Mustang, let’s hope that changes. The prison drama is a well-worn sub-genre, ripe with predictive beats and expected narrative turns. Those behind this picture are determined to subvert those expectations, and the attempt–though not fully realized–is much appreciated.
Here Schoenaerts plays Roman Coleman, an inmate of a Nevada prison who is placed in a state-mandated rehabilitation program to train wild horses. The mustang he’s paired is particularly unruly, a trait applicable to Roman himself. When his estranged daughter (an impressive Gideon Adlon) visits, all he wants is...
Here Schoenaerts plays Roman Coleman, an inmate of a Nevada prison who is placed in a state-mandated rehabilitation program to train wild horses. The mustang he’s paired is particularly unruly, a trait applicable to Roman himself. When his estranged daughter (an impressive Gideon Adlon) visits, all he wants is...
- 2/1/2019
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
A young working-class woman in London barely has the mechanisms to cope with a horrific acid attack that’s left her face permanently scarred in “Dirty God,” the first English-language feature from Dutch director Sacha Polak. Neatly fitting into Polak’s liberatingly frank takes on female sexuality, the film boasts a stand-out performance from newcomer Vicky Knight and an unflinching portrait of a strong-willed yet immature protagonist facing a radical change in how the world looks at her as well as how she sees herself. While the script’s insistence on transforming the character from victim to resolute survivor doesn’t fully wash, its bold treatment of an unapologetic woman from the projects will play well on independent screens.
Never one to shy away from images traditionally considered unsettling, Polak opens with widescreen close-ups of acid-damaged flesh, the camera capturing the mass of ravaged, puckered tissue covered in shallow dendrite-like ridges.
Never one to shy away from images traditionally considered unsettling, Polak opens with widescreen close-ups of acid-damaged flesh, the camera capturing the mass of ravaged, puckered tissue covered in shallow dendrite-like ridges.
- 1/28/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Dirty God
Dutch director Sacha Polak embarks on another harrowing experience with third feature, Dirty God (which commenced filming at the beginning of 2018). Produced by Michael Elliot of Efm Films and Maureen Slot of Viking Film (who produced Polak’s 2015 feature Zurich), Polak snags Felix van Groeningen’s usual Dp Ruben Impens. The English language production stars Vicky Knight, Frieda Thiel, Luke White and Michael John Treanor. Polak’s 2012 debut Hemel won a Fipresci Prize following its premiere in Generation 14 plus at the Berlin International Film Festival. She returned to Berlin in the Forum sidebar with 2015’s Zurich, which took home a C.I.C.A.E.…...
Dutch director Sacha Polak embarks on another harrowing experience with third feature, Dirty God (which commenced filming at the beginning of 2018). Produced by Michael Elliot of Efm Films and Maureen Slot of Viking Film (who produced Polak’s 2015 feature Zurich), Polak snags Felix van Groeningen’s usual Dp Ruben Impens. The English language production stars Vicky Knight, Frieda Thiel, Luke White and Michael John Treanor. Polak’s 2012 debut Hemel won a Fipresci Prize following its premiere in Generation 14 plus at the Berlin International Film Festival. She returned to Berlin in the Forum sidebar with 2015’s Zurich, which took home a C.I.C.A.E.…...
- 1/2/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Today we are recognizing Beautiful Boy, as well as star Timothée Chalamet. Our Hollywood Film Tributes recognize films and talent for their excellence in the art of filmmaking. In a very short period of time, Timothée Chalamet has become as hot an actor as there is in the field. In demand by top tier filmmakers, Chalamet has shown acting chops, star power, personality, and that X factor which launches a young man into the stratosphere. His turn last year in Call Me By Your Name made him an Oscar nominee, while he also turned heads in the Academy Award nominee Lady Bird. Coming off of small but impactful work in things like Interstellar and Men, Women & Children, he’s now gone to even bigger heights with Beautiful Boy. From our piece on the film (and Chalamet) back in October: Based off of two memoirs by David Sheff and Nic Sheff,...
- 12/10/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
“Beautiful Boy” uses non-linear storytelling, intercutting frequent flashbacks — sometimes very brief, sometimes longer — in the fact-based tale of a dad (Steve Carell) dealing with his son’s (Timothee Chalamet) drug addiction and rehab.
Director Felix van Groeningen and his editor Nico Leunen have used this method of storytelling for five of the six films they’ve made together. The style is a good match for the story of the Amazon-Plan B film: “The flashbacks are important to show the emotional journey of these characters, to see the unique bond, and to see David questioning himself,” says van Groeningen. “This shows how his memory works and shows their higher highs and lower lows.
“I give Nico a lot of credit for being able to jump around time and not confuse the audience. With the first cut, we had to find the emotional logic that makes sense. Other versions jumped back and forth more,...
Director Felix van Groeningen and his editor Nico Leunen have used this method of storytelling for five of the six films they’ve made together. The style is a good match for the story of the Amazon-Plan B film: “The flashbacks are important to show the emotional journey of these characters, to see the unique bond, and to see David questioning himself,” says van Groeningen. “This shows how his memory works and shows their higher highs and lower lows.
“I give Nico a lot of credit for being able to jump around time and not confuse the audience. With the first cut, we had to find the emotional logic that makes sense. Other versions jumped back and forth more,...
- 11/15/2018
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Ever since Cameron Crowe first attempted to make this movie years ago, Beautiful Boy has been on my radar. That version helmed by Crowe (set to star Mark Wahlberg) never came to pass, but this week sees the film actually hitting theaters. Now a starring vehicle for Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet, it’s way more about the performances than the filmmaker behind the camera (more on that later). The flick made some waves on the fall festival circuit, but now faces a different test. Critics were into it, to differing degrees, but will audiences take to the somber material? If so, the road ahead may be strong for it. As an acting showcase, this is good stuff. Overall though? It’s more of a mixed bag. Based off of two memoirs by David Sheff and Nic Sheff, the movie looks at the effect of drug addiction on a family,...
- 10/11/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Director of ‘Zurich’ and ‘Hemel’ has street cast a survivor of a similar assault as her lead.
Screen has an exclusive first look image from Dirty God, a drama about a young woman in South London rebuilding her life after an acid attack leaves her with severe facial burns.
It is directed and co-written by Sacha Polak, who has previously won the Cicae Award and the Fipresci Prize at Berlin Film Festival for her features Zurich and Hemel respectively. In what is Polak’s English language debut, she has cast newcomer Vicky Knight in the lead role; Knight has facial scarring as a burns survivor herself.
The supporting cast has both established and rising names, including Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager, Mr Selfridge), Rebecca Stone (Prank Me), Bluey Robinson (EastEnders, Doctors), and Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann, Scarred Hearts).
The film comes at a time when acid attacks are significantly on the rise in the UK; a recent...
Screen has an exclusive first look image from Dirty God, a drama about a young woman in South London rebuilding her life after an acid attack leaves her with severe facial burns.
It is directed and co-written by Sacha Polak, who has previously won the Cicae Award and the Fipresci Prize at Berlin Film Festival for her features Zurich and Hemel respectively. In what is Polak’s English language debut, she has cast newcomer Vicky Knight in the lead role; Knight has facial scarring as a burns survivor herself.
The supporting cast has both established and rising names, including Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager, Mr Selfridge), Rebecca Stone (Prank Me), Bluey Robinson (EastEnders, Doctors), and Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann, Scarred Hearts).
The film comes at a time when acid attacks are significantly on the rise in the UK; a recent...
- 2/14/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Director of ‘Zurich’ and ‘Hemel’ has street cast a survivor of a similar assault as her lead.
Screen has an exclusive first look image from Dirty God, a drama about a young woman in South London rebuilding her life after an acid attack leaves her with severe facial burns.
It is directed and co-written by Sacha Polak, who has previously won the Cicae Award and the Fipresci Prize at Berlin Film Festival for her features Zurich and Hemel respectively. In what is Polak’s English language debut, she has cast newcomer Vicky Knight in the lead role; Knight has facial scarring as a burns survivor herself.
The supporting cast has both established and rising names, including Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager, Mr Selfridge), Rebecca Stone (Prank Me), Bluey Robinson (EastEnders, Doctors), and Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann, Scarred Hearts).
The film comes at a time when acid attacks are significantly on the rise in the UK; a recent...
Screen has an exclusive first look image from Dirty God, a drama about a young woman in South London rebuilding her life after an acid attack leaves her with severe facial burns.
It is directed and co-written by Sacha Polak, who has previously won the Cicae Award and the Fipresci Prize at Berlin Film Festival for her features Zurich and Hemel respectively. In what is Polak’s English language debut, she has cast newcomer Vicky Knight in the lead role; Knight has facial scarring as a burns survivor herself.
The supporting cast has both established and rising names, including Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager, Mr Selfridge), Rebecca Stone (Prank Me), Bluey Robinson (EastEnders, Doctors), and Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann, Scarred Hearts).
The film comes at a time when acid attacks are significantly on the rise in the UK; a recent...
- 2/14/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Brendon Connelly Apr 6, 2017
Director Julia Ducournau chats to us about her new cannibal horror, Raw...
Raw is, when you serve it up ungarnished, a coming of age movie with lots of familiar tropes: college rites of hazing, sibling rivarly, sexual awakening. And then there are some less familiar tropes too – or at least less familiar to the coming of age genre – such as the consumption of human flesh.
It's a very particular balance of genres managed by a very particular director. I spoke to Julia Ducournau about her work here, from here original concepts of taboo and transgression to the finer points of lighting and musical arrangement. Here's how that conversation went down – with one spoiler that we try, pretty hard, to dance around.
Let's start at the beginning. What was the first image you imagined for this film?
Sometimes it is an image, indeed, but not this time. This...
Director Julia Ducournau chats to us about her new cannibal horror, Raw...
Raw is, when you serve it up ungarnished, a coming of age movie with lots of familiar tropes: college rites of hazing, sibling rivarly, sexual awakening. And then there are some less familiar tropes too – or at least less familiar to the coming of age genre – such as the consumption of human flesh.
It's a very particular balance of genres managed by a very particular director. I spoke to Julia Ducournau about her work here, from here original concepts of taboo and transgression to the finer points of lighting and musical arrangement. Here's how that conversation went down – with one spoiler that we try, pretty hard, to dance around.
Let's start at the beginning. What was the first image you imagined for this film?
Sometimes it is an image, indeed, but not this time. This...
- 4/6/2017
- Den of Geek
Bar None: Van Groeningen Returns to Musical Inclinations for Vibrant Sibling Portrait
Belgian auteur Felix Van Groeningen, the front runner of the Belgian New Wave, returns with his fifth feature, Belgica, a portrait of two estranged brothers reuniting to open a successful night club, an experience forcing them to reexamine both their shortcomings and sometimes toxic enabling of each other’s worst tendencies. The film follows a career high for Van Groeningen, who scored an international breakout with 2013’s The Broken Circle Breakdown, another musically inclined drama which netted him an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film. Though his latest still includes unpredictable emotional highs and lows within a familiar set of family and friends, his latest is more sobering by comparison. With a killer soundtrack this is a well-proportioned character piece for its two leads, requiring a bit of patience for the film’s rather lofty running time...
Belgian auteur Felix Van Groeningen, the front runner of the Belgian New Wave, returns with his fifth feature, Belgica, a portrait of two estranged brothers reuniting to open a successful night club, an experience forcing them to reexamine both their shortcomings and sometimes toxic enabling of each other’s worst tendencies. The film follows a career high for Van Groeningen, who scored an international breakout with 2013’s The Broken Circle Breakdown, another musically inclined drama which netted him an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film. Though his latest still includes unpredictable emotional highs and lows within a familiar set of family and friends, his latest is more sobering by comparison. With a killer soundtrack this is a well-proportioned character piece for its two leads, requiring a bit of patience for the film’s rather lofty running time...
- 1/22/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
When I asked writer-director Felix van Groeningen what he would do after the Oscar-nominated "Broken Circle Breakdown," he insisted he's stick close to home. And so he has. His next project is drama "Belgica" with Belgium's hottest star, Cesar-winner Matthias Schoenaerts ("Rust and Bone") opposite Stef Aerts ("Oxygen"). Belgica, Groeningen’s fifth feature film, is a family drama set in the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene. Two brothers who open up a successful bar get swept up in its early success. Groeningen wrote the script with his "With Friends Like These" co-writer Arne Sierens. Groeningen will reteam with a number of his collaborators from "The Broken Circle Breakdown." Menuet returns as producer in coproduction with Topkapi and Pyramide Productions, along with longtime producer Dirk Impens, director of photography Ruben Impens, and editor Nico Leunen. Principal photography will begin this Fall in Belgium. "The Broken Circle...
- 2/18/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
★★★★☆ Through the sultry twangs of a bluegrass slide-guitar, two lovers Elise (Veerle Baetens) and Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) strike up a relationship that will take them through passion, parenthood, grief and back again. Belgian director Felix Van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) is a rousing and intensely emotional story about an unconventional love affair set to bluegrass against a debate about stem cell research. In fact, the film's only minor let-down may well be in its combination of raw emotional drama and a strong political message, a marriage which often feels forced to the point of soapbox screaming.
Some rather heavy-handed metaphors - including a shot of the Twin Towers crumbling to the ground as a key family moment plays out - occasionally dampens what is an otherwise handsome and devastating European drama. Based on the acclaimed stage play by Mieke Dobbels and Johan Heldenbergh, The Broken Circle Breakdown follows...
Some rather heavy-handed metaphors - including a shot of the Twin Towers crumbling to the ground as a key family moment plays out - occasionally dampens what is an otherwise handsome and devastating European drama. Based on the acclaimed stage play by Mieke Dobbels and Johan Heldenbergh, The Broken Circle Breakdown follows...
- 10/24/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
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