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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2019

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019

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Programme

18 films · 6 reviews

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Adoration

A young boy becomes infatuated with a young inmate at his mother's psychiatric hospital.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2019; Director: Fabrice du Welz; Writer: Romain Protat, Vincent Tavier, Fabrice du Welz; Stars: Benoît Poelvoorde, Laurent Lucas, Peter Van den Begin, Fantine Harduin, Gwendolyn Gourvenec, Martha Canga Antonio, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Anaël Snoek, Renaud Rutten, Sandor Funtek, Thomas Gioria, Jean-Luc Couchard, Pierre Nisse, Pierre Brichese, Maïté Lorand)

The Barefoot Emperor

The last king of the Belgians wakes to find himself in a sanatorium and the news that the European Union has collapsed.

(Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Croatia, Bulgaria; Year: 2019; Director: Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth; Writer: Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth; Stars: Peter Van den Begin, Lucie Debay, Udo Kier, Geraldine Chaplin, Bruno Georis, Titus De Voogdt, Maya Storm Brosens, Sinisa Labrovic, Darko Stazic, Pieter van der Houwen, Peter Van den Begin, Lucie Debay, Udo Kier, Geraldine Chaplin, Bruno Georis)

Cherry Blossoms And Demons

Supernatural drama.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Doris Dörrie; Writer: Doris Dörrie; Stars: Golo Euler, Aya Irizuki, Hannelore Elsner, Elmar Wepper, Felix Eitner, Floriane Daniel, Maximilian Ehrenreich, Birgit Minichmayr, Sophie Rogall, Kirin Kiki, Carlotta Rupp, Lotanna Ogbughalu, Chloé Marie Mischek, Corinna Binzer, Katja Bürkle)

Corpus Christi

Review preview for Corpus Christi

There are themes around punishment and forgiveness running throughout this film but they're rarely simple.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Daniel who experiences a spiritual transformation in a Youth Detention Centre. The crime he commits prevents him from applying to the seminary... but Daniel has no intention of giving up his dream.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2019; Director: Jan Komasa; Writer: Mateusz Pacewicz; Stars: Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Zietek, Barbara Kurzaj, Leszek Lichota, Zdzislaw Wardejn, Lukasz Simlat, Anna Biernacik, Lidia Bogacz, Malwina Brych, Bogdan Brzyski, Juliusz Chrzastowski, Radoslaw Ciucias, Mateusz Czwartosz)

Full review See: Jan Komasa in conversation on Andrey Zvyagintsev and the composers for Corpus Christi (Boże Ciało), Bartosz Bielenia and Christopher Walken

Despite The Fog (Nonostante la nebbia)

A restrauteur finds a child huddled in the cold at a bus stop and decides to take him home.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2019; Director: Goran Paskaljevic; Writer: Marco Alessi, Filip David, Giuseppe Eusepi, Giuseppe Eusepi, Goran Paskaljevic; Stars: Francesco Acquaroli, Tamara Aleksic, Pino Calabrese, Francesca Cutolo, Luigi Diberti, Donatella Finocchiaro, Anna Galiena, Engy Riead, Giorgio Tirabassi, Francesco Acquaroli, Tamara Aleksic, Pino Calabrese, Francesca Cutolo, Luigi Diberti, Donatella Finocchiaro)

Devil Between The Legs

Story of a couple who have been together for decades and are intimate enemies.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2019; Director: Arturo Ripstein; Writer: Paz Alicia Garciadiego; Stars: Silvia Pasquel, Alejandro Suárez, Greta Cervantes, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Silvia Pasquel, Alejandro Suárez, Greta Cervantes, Daniel Giménez Cacho)

Echo

Review preview for Echo

The disparate vignettes of Echo are held together by strange rhymes and resonances.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
A portrait of modern Icelandic society.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2019; Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson; Writer: Rúnar Rúnarsson; Stars: Sigurmar Albertsson, Bent Kingo Andersen, Sif Arnarsdóttir, Ari Arnarson, Finnur Arnar Arnarson, Árni Arnarson, Gísli Már Arnarsson, Jon Magnus Arnarsson, Pétur Arnarsson, Bragi Arnason, Fannar Freyr Atlason, Sigurjón Þór Atlason, Ólíver Tumi Auðunsson, Álfgrímur Aðalsteinsson, Aron Bragi Baldursson)

Full review

Ema

Review preview for Ema

Di Girolamo has a compelling intensity in the role but it's still hard to believe that everyone would fall quite so hard and fast for Ema's devil may care charms and unpredictability, especially with so much on the line.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A dancer and her choreographer husband find themselves trying to stop their lives falling apart after an adoption goes awry.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2019; Director: Pablo Larraín; Writer: Guillermo Calderón, Alejandro Moreno; Stars: Santiago Cabrera, Gael García Bernal, Giannina Fruttero, Mariana Di Girolamo, Mariana Loyola, Antonia Giesen, Eduardo Paxeco, Catalina Saavedra, Paola Giannini, Josefina Fiebelkorn, Paula Hofmann, Susana Hidalgo, Paula Luchsinger, Santiago Cabrera, Gael García Bernal)

Full review

A Hidden Life

Review preview for A Hidden Life

One of the flaws of Malick’s film is that the main character goes into introspective mode, thereby depriving us of any real insight in to his thoughts.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
The Austrian Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Terrence Malick; Writer: Terrence Malick; Stars: August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Michael Nyqvist, Matthias Shoenaerts, Jürgen Prochnow, Bruno Ganz)

Full review

Il Signor Diavalo

A boy kills one of his contemporaries saying he believes he was the devil.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2019; Director: Pupi Avati; Writer: Antonio Avati, Pupi Avati, Pupi Avati, Tommaso Avati; Stars: Gabriel Lo Giudice, Filippo Franchini, Cesare Cremonini, Massimo Bonetti, Lino Capolicchio, Chiara Caselli, Gianni Cavina, Alessandro Haber, Andrea Roncato, Eva Antonia Grimaldi, Ludovica Pedetta, Enrico Salimbeni, Fabio Ferrari, Chiara Sani, Iskra Menarini)

Jojo Rabbit

Review preview for Jojo Rabbit

As Jojo, Davis delivers one of the finest performances of the year.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Satire following a lonely boy and his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler, whose nationalistic views are challenged when he discovers his mum is hiding a young Jewish girl.

(Country: Germany, US; Year: 2019; Director: Taika Waititi; Writer: Taika Waititi, based on the novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; Stars: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Sitara Attaie, Luke Brandon Field, Victoria Hogan, Brian Caspe, James McVan, Judith Georgi, Bethany Adams)

Full review

Mindanao

Saima takes care of her sick child while her husband Malang is away in a conflict zone working as a medic. In between all this we see an animation about two brave brothers fighting a dragon - a bedtime story Saima tells her child.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2019; Director: Brillante Mendoza; Stars: Judy Ann Santos, Allen Dizon)

Rounds

Sofia, November 9th, 2019. Night. As the country prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the regime change in Bulgaria, three police patrol cars roam the streets of the sleeping city.

(Country: Bulgaria, Serbia; Year: 2019; Director: Stephan Komandarev; Writer: Stephan Komandarev, Simeon Ventsislavov; Stars: Aleksandar Aleksiev, Ivan Barnev, Assen Blatechki, Stefan Denolyubov, Stoyan Doychev, Gerasim Georgiev, Anastasia Ingilizova, Irini Jambonas, Pavel Popandov, Nikolai Urumov, Vasil Vasilev-Zueka, Aleksandar Aleksiev, Ivan Barnev, Assen Blatechki, Stefan Denolyubov)

So Long, My Son

Family saga set against the period that followed the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

(Country: China; Year: 2019; Director: Xiaoshuai Wang; Writer: Mei Ah, Xiaoshuai Wang; Stars: Liya Ai, Jiang Du, Zhao-Yan Guo-Zhang, Jingjing Li, Xi Qi, Jingchun Wang, Roy Wang, Cheng Xu, Mei Yong, Liya Ai, Jiang Du, Zhao-Yan Guo-Zhang, Jingjing Li, Xi Qi, Jingchun Wang)

The Truth (La Verite)

Review preview for The Truth

In less sensitive hands than Kore-eda's, it could have come across as cloyingly introverted but instead there is wit and warmth in the observed relationship between the two women.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A reunion between a French cinema star and her daughter descends into confrontation.

(Country: France, Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Léa Le Dimna; Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke, Clémentine Grenier, Manon Clavel, Jackie Berroyer, Ludivigne Sagnier.)

Full review See: Juliette Binoche on working with Catherine Deneuve on The Truth , Venice Film Festival report - The Truth, Only The Animals, Joker and more

Wilcox

A man drifts away from society.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Denis Côté; Writer: Denis Côté; Stars: Guillaume Tremblay, Guillaume Tremblay)

Willow (Vrba)

Three stories about the struggle of three women.

(Country: Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Milcho Manchevski; Writer: Milcho Manchevski; Stars: Sara Klimoska, Natalija Teodosieva, Kamka Tocinovski, Nenad Nacev, Nikola Risteski, Petar Caranovikj, Ratka Radmanovic, Petar Mircevski, Ana Kostovska, Laze Manaskov, Blagoja Corevski, Sonja Oshavkova, Kire Gorevski, Adem Karaga, Ivan Gosevski)

Wonderful Woman

A masseuse who is diagnosed with cancer spends the money for hospital expenses on her daughter's wedding.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2019; Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan; Writer: Jeon Kyu-hwan; Stars: An Minyong, Cho Eunju, Eun Hasoo, Jeong Euiuk)