Dispatches are beginning to come in from this year's Vancouver International Film Festival, which opened on Thursday and runs through October 14. I'll be collecting notes and links here.
"I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to take of Markus Schleinzer's Michael, at first, given that it begins as the Jeanne Dielman of Austrian kidnapper-pedophile movies," writes Jim Emerson. Fortunately, once the opening title appears on the screen it gets better…. Oddly, just before I came to Vancouver I watched the documentary, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, which detailed how the director labored to transfer the audiences ambivalent sympathies for the shower-slaughtered Marion Crane to the mother-hen-pecked son and motel manager Norman Bates, who finds himself in the position of having to clean up after his mother's mess. There's none of that in Michael — not a bit of audience-implicating suspense that he might slip up and get caught,...
"I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to take of Markus Schleinzer's Michael, at first, given that it begins as the Jeanne Dielman of Austrian kidnapper-pedophile movies," writes Jim Emerson. Fortunately, once the opening title appears on the screen it gets better…. Oddly, just before I came to Vancouver I watched the documentary, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, which detailed how the director labored to transfer the audiences ambivalent sympathies for the shower-slaughtered Marion Crane to the mother-hen-pecked son and motel manager Norman Bates, who finds himself in the position of having to clean up after his mother's mess. There's none of that in Michael — not a bit of audience-implicating suspense that he might slip up and get caught,...
- 10/3/2011
- MUBI
Updated through 5/28.
The titles below will take you to the roundups, that is, the coverage of the coverage of each film screening in the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Click the names after the titles for our own reviews, whether they be quick takes or longer considerations. And finally, pointers to assessments of this year's edition, made both before and after the awards are announced, will collect at the bottom of this page.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.
Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. Daniel Kasman.
Alain Cavalier's Pater.
Joseph Cedar's Footnote.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike. Daniel Kasman.
Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist.
Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre. Daniel Kasman.
Naomi Kawase's Hanezu.
Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty.
Maïwenn's Poliss. Daniel Kasman.
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
The titles below will take you to the roundups, that is, the coverage of the coverage of each film screening in the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Click the names after the titles for our own reviews, whether they be quick takes or longer considerations. And finally, pointers to assessments of this year's edition, made both before and after the awards are announced, will collect at the bottom of this page.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.
Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. Daniel Kasman.
Alain Cavalier's Pater.
Joseph Cedar's Footnote.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike. Daniel Kasman.
Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist.
Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre. Daniel Kasman.
Naomi Kawase's Hanezu.
Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty.
Maïwenn's Poliss. Daniel Kasman.
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
- 5/28/2011
- MUBI
Updated through 5/21 — with awards announcements.
As noted last week, with support from the 4+1 Film Festival, we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Critics' Week with a free retrospective of some of the greatest films screened over the past 50 editions. What follows is a roundup of what the critics are saying about the films screening this year.
"Jonathan Caouette's film Tarnation — created for $300 (£185) on his iMac out of old Super 8 videos and family photos — created a stir at Cannes in 2004 for its original visual language," begins Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian. "In his latest he returns to Tarnation's material: his rich but intensely difficult family life. At the heart of Walk Away Renée is a road trip he takes with his mother, Renée, from Houston to New York State, as he helps her transfer from one assisted-living facility to another. Renée, who received electric shock therapy from the age...
As noted last week, with support from the 4+1 Film Festival, we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Critics' Week with a free retrospective of some of the greatest films screened over the past 50 editions. What follows is a roundup of what the critics are saying about the films screening this year.
"Jonathan Caouette's film Tarnation — created for $300 (£185) on his iMac out of old Super 8 videos and family photos — created a stir at Cannes in 2004 for its original visual language," begins Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian. "In his latest he returns to Tarnation's material: his rich but intensely difficult family life. At the heart of Walk Away Renée is a road trip he takes with his mother, Renée, from Houston to New York State, as he helps her transfer from one assisted-living facility to another. Renée, who received electric shock therapy from the age...
- 5/21/2011
- MUBI
How can one of the oldest trade on Earth (prostitution) enter modernization in the so-called harmonious Chinese society? Considering that prostitution is officially forbidden. Considering also that corruption can solve (almost) any problem. Wu is a businessman without an opportunity: in his Macau "Chang'e" Sauna business is slow, debts are heavy. Some solutions are at hand: motivate the employees, provide new attractive girls and extended "services." The story involves a small-time pimp and his troupe of girls supervised by single mother Li, a few rich "bosses," some corrupted policemen and a young factory worker. With the help of genius cinematographer Yu Lik-wai (long-time partner to Jia Zhangke), Zou Peng turns his back on all the possible clichés of the "Chinese film for foreign festivals." No semi-documentary heart-breaking social comedy, no period-oriented conventional melodrama—more a playful follow-up to Jia's witty "sci-fi" scenes in Still Life. Playful yet dramatic, tender and violent,...
- 5/21/2011
- MUBI
Updated through 4/28.
La Semaine de la Critique, known in the English-speaking world as Critics' Week, is celebrating its 50th year, and festivals and institutions from all over — and we at Mubi are excited to be among them — are chiming in with special series and retrospectives saluting some the greatest film that have premiered at this parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Watch this space for upcoming details. Meantime, here's the lineup for Critics' Week 2011.
Feature Films
Hagar Ben Asher's The Slut. This debut feature "will tell of a woman (Ben Asher herself) drifting away from one sexual encounter to another," writes Eithan Weitz at Ioncinema. Tamar’s behavior is fixed. One man after another, a hand job, a blow job, and so on. But she is also the mother of Mika and Noa, 12 and 8. She no longer seeks redemption, until Shai arrives. He comes in order to handle his dead mother’s property.
La Semaine de la Critique, known in the English-speaking world as Critics' Week, is celebrating its 50th year, and festivals and institutions from all over — and we at Mubi are excited to be among them — are chiming in with special series and retrospectives saluting some the greatest film that have premiered at this parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Watch this space for upcoming details. Meantime, here's the lineup for Critics' Week 2011.
Feature Films
Hagar Ben Asher's The Slut. This debut feature "will tell of a woman (Ben Asher herself) drifting away from one sexual encounter to another," writes Eithan Weitz at Ioncinema. Tamar’s behavior is fixed. One man after another, a hand job, a blow job, and so on. But she is also the mother of Mika and Noa, 12 and 8. She no longer seeks redemption, until Shai arrives. He comes in order to handle his dead mother’s property.
- 4/28/2011
- MUBI
The 50th edition of the Cannes Critics Week announced its lineup on Monday. War is declared by French director Valerie Donzelli will be the opening film of the Critics Week. Why are you crying? by Katia Lewcowicz will be the closing film of the selection.
The Special Session will include screening of Walk Away Renee by Jonathan Caouette (Etats-Unis/France/Belgique) and My Little Princess by Eva Ionesco (France).
Founded in 1962 by the Union of French Film Critics, the Critics Week is the oldest of the Cannes festival sidebars. Each year, a panel of international critics selects around a dozen shorts and features from first and second-time filmmakers to compete in this section.
This year, the event will take place from May12-20, 2011.
The complete lineup:
Feature films
Las Acacias by Giorgelli Pablo (Argentina / Spain)
Hail by Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria / France)
17 girls by Delphine Coulin, Coulin Muriel (France)
Sauna on...
The Special Session will include screening of Walk Away Renee by Jonathan Caouette (Etats-Unis/France/Belgique) and My Little Princess by Eva Ionesco (France).
Founded in 1962 by the Union of French Film Critics, the Critics Week is the oldest of the Cannes festival sidebars. Each year, a panel of international critics selects around a dozen shorts and features from first and second-time filmmakers to compete in this section.
This year, the event will take place from May12-20, 2011.
The complete lineup:
Feature films
Las Acacias by Giorgelli Pablo (Argentina / Spain)
Hail by Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria / France)
17 girls by Delphine Coulin, Coulin Muriel (France)
Sauna on...
- 4/19/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Justin Kurzel’s first feature Snowtown will screen at the 50th edition of the Critics’ Week in Cannes.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to launch Warp Films Australia’s first film to an international audience as part of Critics’ Week. We feel privileged that Snowtown has been included in such company,” said the film’s producers Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw.
The film, a psychological drama based on the ‘Bodies in Barrels’ murders that shocked Australia in the late 1990s, will screen as Les Crimes de Snowtown, alongside the following titles:
Las Acacias Pablo Giorgelli (Argentina/Spain)
Avé Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria/France)
17 fille Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin (France)
Sauna on Moon Zou Peng (China)
The Slut (Hanotenet) Hagar Ben Asher (Israel/Germany)
Take Shelter Jeff Nichols (USA)
According to Paul Wiegard, managing director of the film’s distributor, Madman Entertainment, this screening will provide “a fantastic introduction to...
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to launch Warp Films Australia’s first film to an international audience as part of Critics’ Week. We feel privileged that Snowtown has been included in such company,” said the film’s producers Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw.
The film, a psychological drama based on the ‘Bodies in Barrels’ murders that shocked Australia in the late 1990s, will screen as Les Crimes de Snowtown, alongside the following titles:
Las Acacias Pablo Giorgelli (Argentina/Spain)
Avé Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria/France)
17 fille Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin (France)
Sauna on Moon Zou Peng (China)
The Slut (Hanotenet) Hagar Ben Asher (Israel/Germany)
Take Shelter Jeff Nichols (USA)
According to Paul Wiegard, managing director of the film’s distributor, Madman Entertainment, this screening will provide “a fantastic introduction to...
- 4/18/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Last year the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week includes Janus Metz‘s fantastic war doc Armadillo (in limited theaters as of last week) and Quentin Dupieux‘s delightfully wacky Rubber. Today, 2011′s line-up has been unveiled. The two big films include one of my favorites from Sundance, Jeff Nichol’s Shotgun Stories follow-up Take Shelter (starring Man of Steel’s Michael Shannon) and Jonathan Caouette‘s first feature since his intimate documentary Tarnation, titled Walk away Renée. Check out the full list below (as well as the rest of the line-up here) and come back for our reviews straight from Cannes.
Feature Films
• Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – Arg
• Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – Bul/Fr
• 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – Fr
• The Slut (Hanotenet), directed by Hagar Ben Asher – Isr/All
• Snowtown (Les Crimes de Snowtown), directed by Justin Kurzel – Aus
• Sauna on Moon, directed by Zou Peng – Chi
• Take Shelter,...
Feature Films
• Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – Arg
• Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – Bul/Fr
• 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – Fr
• The Slut (Hanotenet), directed by Hagar Ben Asher – Isr/All
• Snowtown (Les Crimes de Snowtown), directed by Justin Kurzel – Aus
• Sauna on Moon, directed by Zou Peng – Chi
• Take Shelter,...
- 4/18/2011
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A Sundance favorite, a follow-up to a budget-less art house hit, and an anticipated Israeli film are a few of the highlights from the announced lineup for the 2011 Critic's Week (aka Semaine de la Critique), the oldest sidebar in Cannes. The selection only admits films which are either debut or sophomore efforts, so we'll be going in knowing scant details on what to expect, and likely coming out with some new major voices to follow. As we can see in the quintet of posters, past Critic's Week discoveries includes cinema gods Wong Kar-wai and Bernardo Bertolucci, as well as Jacques Audiard and Barbet Schroeder. As this is the sidebar's 50th anniversary, there might be even more treats to be announced in the near future. Yesterday, we reported that Hagar Ben Asher's The Slut had been selected for competition, and this was corroborated this morning. Ben Asher is an alumni of...
- 4/18/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
The lineup has been announced for the 2011 edition of Critic's Week in Cannes and anchoring the lineup are a pair of familiar titles: Australian thriller Snowtown and American effort Take Shelter. Expect to hear more about these titles in the coming days but for now, here are the official selections:Feature Films • Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli - Arg • Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov - Bul/Fr • 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin - Fr • The Slut (Hanotenet), directed by Hagar Ben Asher - Isr/All • Snowtown (Les Crimes de Snowtown), directed by Justin Kurzel - Aus • Sauna on Moon, directed by Zou Peng - Chi • Take Shelter, directed by Jeff Nichols - Us Short Films...
- 4/18/2011
- Screen Anarchy
(via Peter Knegt at IndieWire) Feature Films • Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – Arg • Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – Bul/Fr • 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – Fr • The Slut...
- 4/18/2011
- by Ryan Adams
- AwardsDaily.com
Those compiling their best of the year lists would do well to consult the roll-call of gong-winners handed out by an august band of international critics
Any perspicacious film festival-goer or festival-watcher will have noticed that one of the prizes awarded at most festivals, in addition to the Golden Palms, Golden Lions or Golden Leopards etc, is the Fipresci (Federation International de la Presse Cinematographic) – aka the international film critics' award. In principle, this should be the most prestigious and sought-after prize of all, because the juries are made up of professional film critics (usually five, each from a different country) who are paid to tell the public what is good or bad and why.
Unfortunately, the Fipresci prize does not carry with it any money but, in theory, it does help the film gain a distributor. However, on one occasion, I remember that a director, who had just won the Fipresci prize,...
Any perspicacious film festival-goer or festival-watcher will have noticed that one of the prizes awarded at most festivals, in addition to the Golden Palms, Golden Lions or Golden Leopards etc, is the Fipresci (Federation International de la Presse Cinematographic) – aka the international film critics' award. In principle, this should be the most prestigious and sought-after prize of all, because the juries are made up of professional film critics (usually five, each from a different country) who are paid to tell the public what is good or bad and why.
Unfortunately, the Fipresci prize does not carry with it any money but, in theory, it does help the film gain a distributor. However, on one occasion, I remember that a director, who had just won the Fipresci prize,...
- 12/24/2009
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
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