Cheltenham International Film Festival — A–Z of films

The audience is charmed and enthralled from the very first scene.

As Blue Moon progresses it becomes clear that the one thing Hart really wants is to be wanted.

The hand-drawn beauty of the images always connects to ideas, something grander that we have yet to find out about.

A visually innovative film... Godard has done a masterful job, and his witty script never struggles to hold audience attention.

The power of The Choral is that it evokes smiles and laughter in opposition to the oppressive reality of these war years.

A stunningly realised piece of magical realism quite different from anything that writer/director Alberto Sciamma has created before.

There’s a fairy-tale element to this – and once the famous names start to be introduced, including Sarah Bernhardt, it becomes obvious it’s no history lesson – but that suits the crowdpleasing material well.

Ramsay's style takes no prisoners.

The artifice takes over, making the desired authenticity completely fake.

The situations highlight a sense of existential loneliness in the modern world that might come with specifically Japanese trappings but which many elsewhere will recognise the emotional truth of.

Taymor has succeeded in recreating an extraordinary time for an exceptional woman. She does so with love and imagination.

The plot may be straightforward but the characters are offbeat.

Even after many viewings it is difficult to fully grasp the film's historical significance, storytelling innovations and stylistic brilliance.

The takes are usually long and static, but every cut and move is justified for the purpose of dramaturgy.

Guillaume Marbeck as Godard is pitch perfect, trademark dark glasses and tobacco smoke his indispensable props with even the voice uncannily resonant of the man himself.

Offers food for thought in the realm of a slightly ungainly and sprawling all-you-can-eat buffet rather than a satisfying sit-down feast.

Feels like a bite-sized companion piece to The Invasion

Jacir's film might look back to the 1930s but it's a film that is in conversation with the present-day.

A masterpiece of accomplishment.

Wishaw is an absolute wonder, delivering the conversational, sometimes stream-of-consciousness dialogue with a constantly engaging, almost hypnotic cadence.

It’s not a showy performance, but it’s a standout.

What marks Trier out is his ability to take on intellectual ideas like this but make them play out in ways that don’t feel forced or overly constructed.

The film looks amazing, but it sounds even more incredible.