Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2003
106 films · 106 reviews
Richard Jobson's debut is full of abiding images that linger long after the final credits.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Richard Jobson; Writer: Richard Jobson; Stars: Kevin McKidd, Laura Fraser, Ewen Bremner, Susan Lynch, Iain de Caestecker)
A thoroughly enjoyable exploration of family life, without mum, and neatly encapsulates an era.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: David Andrew Ward; Writer: James Havlin; Stars: Iain de Caestecker, Frank Gallagher, Gemma Morrison, Pete MacKenzie)
Without wanting to sound like the marketing director for Cliché City, the film is heartwarming, life enhancing and full of love.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Alison Peebles; Writer: Andrea Gibb; Stars: Lindsay Duncan, Kevin McKidd, Paula Sage, James Laurenson, Shirley Henderson, Fiona Bell, Anthony Strachan, Emma D'Inverno, Eddie Marsan, Isla Blair, Stuart Davids)
There is an air of worthiness hanging over this film, like a fug.
(Country: China; Year: 2003; Director: Yu Lik Wai; Writer: Yu Lik Wai; Stars: Cho Yong Won, DiO Yi Nan, Zhao Wei Wei, Na Ren)
The performances are finely nuanced, capturing the complexities of real life individuals and avoiding caricature.
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini; Writer: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini, Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner; Stars: Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, James Urbaniak, Judah Friedlander, Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Toby Radlof)
The animation is inspired, the script hilarious.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Edward Foster)
Hugely imaginative.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Cameron Duguid; Writer: Cameron Duguid)
Robert Kechichian manages to build a keen sense of this darkness and tension.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Robert Kechichian; Stars: Simon Abkarian, Lubna Azabal, Serge Avedikian, Alain Mottet, Mathieu Demy)
Everything about this film is a surprise.
(Country: France/Canada/Belgium; Year: 2002; Director: Sylvain Chomet; Writer: Sylvain Chomet; Stars: voices of Michele Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Ronda, Monica Viegas)
A confident, assured and mature handling of the coming of age story.
(Country: France; Year: 2003; Director: Christophe Blanc; Writer: Christophe Blanc; Stars: Mercedes Cecchetto, Laura Locatelli, Sarah Zidhane, Jean-Yves Dubois, Nathalie Krebs)
the subject matter is powerful, although the relationship between the young daughter of a Kurdish rebel and her army officer captor/husband/torturer could have been explored in more depth.
(Country: Iran; Year: 2002; Director: Fariborz Kamkari; Writer: Fariborz Kamkari; Stars: Parviz Moasesi, Shilan Rahmani, Shokan Ghafari, Farzin Saboni)
This is a simple tale, carrying simple messages.
(Country: Hong Kong/Germany; Year: 2003; Director: Li Yang; Writer: Li Yang; Stars: Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang, An Jing, Bao Zhenjiang, Zhao Junzhi)
(Country: Slovenia; Year: 2002; Director: Hanna A W Slak; Writer: Hanna A W Slak; Stars: Manca Dorrer, Kolja Saksida, Lotos V Sparovec, Silva Cusin, Jozica Avbelj, Uros Furst)
If it weren't for the fact that A Boy's Life is set in the bedrock of white trash Mississippi, this would be no more than an extended social services report.
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Rory Kennedy, Liz Garbus, Nick Doob)
Graff has created a unique piece of work that will, eventually, receive its standing ovation.
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Todd Graff; Writer: Todd Graff; Stars: Daniel Letterie, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus, Alana Allen, Anna Kendrick, Tiffany Taylor, Don Dixon, Sasha Allen, Steven Cutts, Vince Rimoldi)
A horrifying, endearing, contradictory, moving masterpiece.
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Andrew Jarecki; Writer: Andrew Jarecki; Stars: Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman, Seth Friedman, Jesse Friedman, Howard Friedman, John McDermott, Frances Galasso, Joseph Onorato, Judd Maltin, Abbey Boklan, Ron Georgalis, Scott Banks, Debbie Nathan, Jerry Bernstein, Peter)
Though none of the young leads play a particularly personable character, it is a testament to the overall quality of the piece - writing, direction and performances alike - that one nevertheless feels for them.
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Eli Roth; Writer: Eli Roth, Randy Pearlstein; Stars: Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen, Giuseppe Andrews)
By erasing the difficult stuff and concentrating on the triumphs, Schickel lets his audience down.
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Richard Schickel; Writer: Richard Schickel)
Twentysomething French director Jerome Bonnell displays incredible maturity beyond his years.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Jerome Bonnell; Stars: Hubert Benhamdine, Nathalie Boutefeu, Serge Riaboukine, Florence Loiret Caille, Delphine Rollin)
Shot entirely digitally, King manages to use the medium perfectly, adding to the feeling of suburban seediness and heightening a sense of alienation.
(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2003; Director: Gregory King; Writer: Gregory King; Stars: Darien Takle, David Hornblow, Helen Pearse Otene, Matthew Sunderland, Tony Waerea)
As it would have probably taken another 30 hours to prise out more substantial detail from the man, you have to give Stone credit where it is due.
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Oliver Stone; Stars: Fidel Castro)
The Cremaster films are works of art in the sense that the critical faculties you use whilst watching them are ones you might more normally use in, say, the Tate Modern, than in an art house cinema.
(Country: USA; Year: 2002; Director: Matthew Barney; Writer: Matthew Barney; Stars: Ursula Andress, Matthew Barney, Marti Domination, Norman Mailer, Jim Tooey)
Unobtrusive direction, naturalistic performances and humanist sentiment are de rigeur, along with sequences of guys driving around, as well as, more often than not, impenetrable night-for-night visuals.
(Country: Iran; Year: 2003; Director: Jafar Panahi; Writer: Jafar Panahi; Stars: Hussein Emadeddin, Kamya Sheissi, Azita Rayeji, Shahram Vaziri, Ehsan Amani, Pourang Nakhayi)
Chris Shepherd... reflects history's distorted mirror particularly well.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Chris Shepherd; Writer: Chris Shepherd; Stars: Ian Hart)
Demme and LaGravenese have done a decent job in documenting what is undoubtedly the most important era in modern US cinema.
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Richard LaGravenese, Ted Demme; Writer: Richard LaGravenese)
The most successful part of the film is its simplicity.
(Country: Iran; Year: 2002; Director: Alireza Raisian; Writer: Kambozia Partovi; Stars: Leila Hatami, Nezam Manouchehri, Mehran Rajabi, Mahmoud Pak Neeyat)
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Steve Smith; Stars: The voice of Timothy Spall)
There is barely five minutes worth of things to say in this seemingly never-ending twaddle.
(Country: France; Year: 2003; Director: David Korn-Brzoza; Writer: David Korn-Brzoza)
That the director has a talent for producing an unsettling mood is apparent from the outset.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Siegrid Alnoy; Writer: Siegrid Alnoy, Jerome Beaujour; Stars: Sasha Andres, Carlo Brandt, Catherine Mouchet, Eric Caravaca, Pierre-Félix Gravière, Jacques Spiesser, Mireille Roussel, Daniel Ceccaldi)
The decision to concentrate on the music is both a blessing and a curse.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Simon Cellan Jones; Stars: Ian Hart, Tim Piggot Smith, Frank Finlay, Clare Skinner, Anton Lesser, Robert Glenister, Jack Davenport, Fenelia Woolgar, Leo Bill, Peter Hanson )
The script remains true to itself and does not fall back on sentimentality, although there is no running plot, rather a series of incidents.
(Country: USA; Year: 2002; Director: Joseph Pierson; Writer: Mike Jones; Stars: Bill Sage, Bill Dawes, Lawrence Stringer, Io Tillet Wright, Ruth Osuna, Irene Peña, Hector Garcia, Kelley Saunders, Eduardo Cavazos Garza, Greg Bransom)
Fraught and anxious, yet enigmatic, Turturro's performance is beautifully understated.
(Country: Denmark/UK; Year: 2002; Director: Nicolas Winding Refn; Writer: Nicolas Winding Refn, Hubert Selby Jr; Stars: John Turturro, Deborah Unger, James Remar, Stephen McIntyre, William Allen Young, Gene Davis, Mark Houghton, Jacqueline Ramel, Liv Corfixen, Nadia Litz )
Even the high quality of acting fails to inject any sense into the proceedings.
(Country: Belguim; Year: 2003; Director: Thomas de Thier; Writer: Thomas de Thier; Stars: Sophie Museur, Francis Renaud, Ulysse de Swaef, Alexis Den Doncker)
Sadly, there are no barfights, bank robberies or jailbreaks in this 'un.
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Eric Martz)
A great film made on a minuscule budget.
(Country: Scotland; Year: 2003; Director: Duncan Finnigan; Writer: Duncan Finnigan; Stars: Gordon Grant, John Smith, Wilma Smith, Duncan Finnigan, Mark O'Hare, Douglas Irvine, John Marshall, Jean Lowe, Iain Webb, Janice Dornan )
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Douglas Neilson)
Vital, if unpleasant, viewing.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2003; Director: Jaime Rosales; Writer: Jaime Rosales; Stars: Alex Brendemulh, Agata Roca, Maria Antonia Martinez, Pape Monsoriu, Vincente Romero)
Owen is fine when looking moody, but not so good when given dialogue - it seems too staged, too deliberate.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Mike Hodges; Writer: Trevor Preston; Stars: Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malcolm McDowell, Ken Stott, Jamie Foreman, Sylvia Syms, Alexander Morton, Damian Dibben, Geoff Bell)
(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2002; Director: Keung Lau, Siu Fai Mak; Writer: Felix Chong, Siu Fai Mak; Stars: Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Kelly Chen, Sammi Cheng, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Elva Hsiao)
The treatment of the subject matter is deeply irresponsible.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Marina De Van; Writer: Marina De Van; Stars: Marina De Van, Larent Lucas, Lea Drucker, Thibauly de Montalembert, Dominique Reymond, Bernard Alane, Marc Rioufol, Francois Lamotte)
The story is sillier than any animation since Jem & The Holograms, but is perfectly crafted to mix with Daft Punk's music.
(Country: Japan/France; Year: 2003; Director: Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Leiji Matsumoto; Writer: Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, Cédric Hervet; Stars: Romanthony)
(Country: Ireland/UK; Year: 2002; Director: Jim Sheridan; Writer: Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan; Stars: Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Sarah Bolger, Emma Bolger, Djimon Hounsou, Ciaran Cronin, Juan Hernandez, Jason Salkey, Rene Millan, Merrina Millsapp)
Pineyro uses careful signposting and symbolism as part of a greater statement of this turbulent time in Argentina's history.
(Country: Argentina and Spain; Year: 2002; Director: Marcelo Piñeyro; Writer: Marcelo Figueras, Marcelo Piñeyro; Stars: Cecilia Roth, Ricardo Darin, Hector Alteiro, Tomás Fonzi, Matias del Pozo, Fernanda Mistral, Mónica Scapparone, Milton De La Canal, Matías Del Pozo, Evelyn Domínguez )
A disturbing, exquisitely constructed short animated film.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Neil Coslett)
Despite a strong performance from Larisa Kalpokaite, all sad eyes and glossy brown hair, it is difficult to become emotionally involved in the plot.
(Country: Lithuania; Year: 2002; Director: Kristijonas Vildziunas; Writer: Kristijonas Vildziunas; Stars: Larisa Kalpokaite, Dalia Micheleviciute, Tomas Tamosaitis, Gintaras Liutkevicius, Laisvunas Raudonis, Asta Baukuté, Laisvunas Raudonis, Eglé Mikulionyté)
There is something about the purity and simplicity of a film like Ali Reza-Amni's Letters on the Wind that overwhelms me.
(Country: Iran; Year: 2002; Director: Ali-Reza Amini; Writer: Bayram Fazli; Stars: Mohammad Taqi Hashemi, Faramarz Hashemzadeh)
Writer/director Lisa Cholodenko dispenses with cliche in favour of genuine characterisation and her script is a paragon of understatement.
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Lisa Cholodenko; Writer: Lisa Cholodenko; Stars: Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, Alessandro Nivola, Louis Knox Barlow, Russell Pollard, Imaad Wasif, Mickey Petralia, Melissa De Sousa)
The story is tragic, the writing wonderful and the narration sensitively read.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: B Brodskis)
Each scene seems to be played out a bit too much: not languid, but interminable.
(Country: Sri Lanka; Year: 2002; Director: Lester James Peries; Writer: Lester James Peries; Stars: Malini Fonseka, Vasanthi Chaturani, Sanath Gunatileke, Paboda Sandeepani, Ravindra Randeniya, Iranganie Serasinghe, Senaka Wijesinghe, Asoka Rodrigo, Nuwangi Liyanage, Ranjit Rubasinghe )
The killings are too abundant, with no emotion or drama attached.
(Country: Brazil; Year: 2002; Director: José Enrique Fonseca; Writer: Rubem Fonseca, based on the novel by Patrícia Melo; Stars: Murilo Benício, Cláudia Abreu, Natália Lage, Jorge Dória, José Wilker, Agildo Ribeiro, Paulo César Pervio, André Barros, Wagner Moura, Mariana Ximenes)
Penn is powerful; Bacon is sharp; Robbins is troubled; Fishburne is alert. Having them here is a privilege and a pleasure
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Clint Eastwood; Writer: Brian Helgeland based on the novel by Dennis Lehane; Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Emmy Rossum, Tom Guiry, Kevin Chapman, Adam Nelson, Spencer Treat Clark, Cameron Bowen, Eli Wallach)
What makes My Architect different from art docs that rely on talking heads, gallery discourses and dodgy memories is the personal touch.
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Nathaniel Kahn; Writer: Nathaniel Kahn; Stars: Nathaniel Kahn, Louis Kahn, Philip Johnson, Sue Anne Kahn, Harriet Pattison, Anne Tyng, Moshe Safdie, B V Doshi, I M Pei, Alexandra Tyng, Shamsul Wares, Richard Katz, Edmund Bacon, Edwina Pattison Daniels, Robert Stern, Frank O Gehry, Priscilla Pattison)
Drab and strangely unfocused.
(Country: Australia/UK; Year: 2003; Director: Gregor Jordan; Writer: John Michael McDonagh, based on Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe; Stars: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths, Joel Edgerton, Laurence Kinlan, Philip Barantini , Kerry Condon , Kris McQuade)
The less said about this dishevelled misogynistic piece of detritus the better.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Philippe Grandrieux; Writer: Philippe Grandrieux, Eric Vuillard; Stars: Anna Mouglalis, Zack Knighton, Marc Barbé, Zsolt Nagy, Vladimir Lutov, Gueorgui Kadourine, Raoul Dentec, Simona Hülsemann, Diana Guerova)
Another assured debut from a small country of fine rebellious filmmakers.
(Country: Iceland; Year: 2003; Director: Dagur Kari; Writer: Dagur Kari; Stars: Tomas Lemarquis, Throstur Leo Gunnarsson, Elin Hansdottir, Anna Fridriksdottit, Hjalti Rognvaldsson)
The only real surprise is that the story follows such a predictable pattern. Some might call this tragedy; I call it lazy.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2002; Director: Eduard Cortés; Writer: Eduard Cortés, Piti Español; Stars: José Coronado, Adriana Ozores, Marta Etura, Roberto Álvarez, Adrián Portugal)
Smart, time-compressing cuts, with long close-ups and severe editing, produce a fast-moving film.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Chris Cooke; Writer: Chris Cooke; Stars: Rupert Procter, Greg Chisholm, Mark Devenport, Hywel Bennett, Julie Legrand, Micaiah Dring, Jonny Phillips, Johann Myers, Penny Linfield, Tony Classen)
Kramer has made an imaginative, entertaining, personal and wonderfully positive film.
(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2003; Director: Johan Kramer; Writer: Johan Kramer)
As a portrait of Babylon, before Aids and the Nineties doused its fire, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's film captures the mood of decadence unchained
(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato; Writer: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato; Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloë Sevigny, Marilyn Manson, Natasha Lyonne, Wilmer Valderrama, Wilson Cruz, Diana Scarwid, Dylan McDermott)
The camera is an inquisitive eye and the actors respond to this mime show with admirable seriousness.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Duncan Nicoll)
It's stylish stuff, professionally put together in a post-Taggart way, with a brooding score by Mike Hewer. Man-on-the-edge Stephen Moyer does intensity well and looks lovely naked.
(Country: UK; Year: 2002; Director: Anya Camilleri; Writer: Jonathan Goodfellow; Stars: Stephen Moyer, Roy Simpson, Yvonne O'Brien, Mark Cox, Nicola Burnett Smith, Ford Kiernan)
The Plot has the authentic looking website, but it's authenticity of the most banal kind, a tie-in that both fails to illuminate the parent film, or provide entertainment of its own.
(Country: UK; Year: 2002; Director: Matt Hulse; Writer: Matt Hulse)
A distinctive, yet enigmatic, film.
(Country: Portugal/Spain/France/Brazil; Year: 2003; Director: Joaquim Sapinho; Writer: Joaquim Sapinho; Stars: Amélia Corôa, Ludovic Videira, Maria Silva, Miguel Romeira, Norbeto Barroca, João Manata, Joaquim Santos, José Pinto, Vítor Norte, Jorge Fernandes)
This is one to watch and enjoy.
(Country: UK; Year: 2002; Director: David Paton; Writer: Ricky Callan; Stars: Anna Hepburn, Malcolm Shields, Anne Downie, Ricky Callan)
The combination of subtlety and indeterminacy makes for an uncanny treat.
(Country: Japan; Year: 2001; Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Stars: Haruhiko Kato, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki, Karume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Shinji Takeda, Jun Fubuki, Shun Sugata, Sho Akaiwa, Koji Yakusho, Kenji Mizuhashi)
It's hard to know exactly where the humour is heading, which is refreshing, but when it hits the high notes, it's both quirky and delivered with razor precision.
(Country: Australia; Year: 2003; Director: Tony McNamara; Writer: Tony McNamara; Stars: Ben Lee, Rose Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Garry McDonald, Nicholas Hammond, Saskia Smith, Christopher Stollery, Francis McMahon)
Jancso's masterful direction keeps you enthralled.
(Country: Hungary/USSR; Year: 1967; Director: Miklos Jancso; Writer: Gyulam Hernadi, Heorgi Mdivani, Miklos Jansco; Stars: Joszef Madaras, Andras Kozak, Tibor Molnar, Jacint Juhasz, Anatoli Yabbarov)
The biggest problem with Returner is that no amount of visual pyrotechnics... can conceal the filmmakers utter lack of imagination.
(Country: Japan; Year: 2002; Director: Takashi Yamazaki; Writer: Takashi Yamazaki; Stars: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Anne Suzuki, Kirin Kiki, Goro Kishitani, Yukiko Okamoto, Mitsuru Murata, Motohiro Iida, Kazuya Shimizu, Chiharu Kawai, Dean Harrington)
As we progress, it becomes apparent how skilfully director/co-writer Mama Keita has juxtaposed flashbacks to Alfa's life in France with his ongoing African journey of self-discovery.
(Country: Guinea/France; Year: 2002; Director: Mama Keita; Writer: David Achkar, Mama Keita; Stars: Stormy Bugsy, Aurelie Coulibaly, Vincent Byrd Lesage, Karim Seghair, Georges Kritchmar, Ramatoulaye Diallo, Doc Gyneco)
Vincent Hunter's film is as unrelenting and tough as the true meaning of loneliness.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Vincent Hunter)
Uninvolving unless one has a interest in and knowledge of Haitian history and culture.
(Country: Canada/Haiti; Year: 2002; Director: Charles Najman; Writer: Charles Najman; Stars: Dominique Batraville, Verlus Delorme, Amboise Thomson, Erol Josué)
Like the singers, this film has bags of energy.
(Country: Finland/Denmark; Year: 2003; Director: Mika Ronkainen)
A terrifying tale.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Robert Morgan)
(Country: UK; Year: 2004; Director: Dustin Demri-Burns, Matt Pinder; Writer: Matt Pinder; Stars: Ben Lord, Scott MacDougall, Tina Baird, Jordana Hall, Marina Melville, Andy Broadfoot)
This is a fine film, well acted and the ever-changing complex relationship between the characters is cleverly played out.
(Country: Poland; Year: 2001; Director: Michal Rosa; Writer: Krzysztof Piesiewicz; Stars: Kinga Preis, Bartosz Opania, Irena Burawska, Grazyna Walasek, Magdalena Walasek)
The film is full of fine performances, but 90-year-old Esther Gorintin, as Eka, is quite outstanding.
(Country: France/Belgium; Year: 2003; Director: Julie Bertuccelli; Writer: Julie Bertuccelli, Bernard Renucci, Roger Bohbot; Stars: Esther Gorintin, Nino Khomassouridze, Dinara Droukarova, Temour Kalandadze, Roussoudan Bolkvadze)
The film ambles along in unconnected segments towards an ending which is already inevitable 15 minutes in.
(Country: Russia; Year: 2002; Director: Vera Storozheva; Writer: Renata Litivinova, Edvard Radzinsky; Stars: Renata Litivinova, Dmitri Orlov, Inga Strelkova-Oboldina, Mikhail Yefremov, Konstantin Murzenko )
This is a deftly packaged film, with a deeply satisfying pay off.
(Country: UK; Year: 2002; Director: May Miles Thomas; Writer: May Miles Thomas; Stars: Maurice Roëves, Brian McCardie, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Gary Lewis, James Martin, Laura Harvey, Neil McCormack, Ian Hanmore, Anne Downie, Matthew Bill Boyd, Laurie Ventry)
Aisling Walsh's film is a cry from the wilderness, which in the past would have fallen on deaf ears.
(Country: Ireland; Year: 2003; Director: Aisling Walsh; Writer: Patrick Galvin, Kevin Byron Murphy, Aisling Walsh; Stars: Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen, Marc Warren, Dudley Sutton, Claus Bue, Alan Devlin, Stuart Graham, John Travers, Chris Newman, Simone Bendix)
This documentary is an unsentimental portrayal of a time experienced and cherished by a community at odds with a senseless vision of the world.
(Country: Ireland/UK/South Africa; Year: 2003; Director: Pascale Lamche; Writer: Pascale Lamche; Stars: Hugh Masekela, Nelson Mandela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Jurgen Schadeiberg, Jonas Gwaglia, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuka )
It's a bold move, but it doesn't gel properly.
(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2002; Director: Corey Yuen; Writer: Jeff Lau; Stars: Shu Qi, Zhao Wei, Seung-Heon Song, Karen Mok, Michael Wei, Yasuaki Kurata, Wan Siu Lun, Ben Lam, Lam Ki Yan, Josephine Ho)
Slovenian punk rocker director, Damjan Kozole has opted for gritty realism at a time when issues of immigration are tight on everyone's lips.
(Country: Slovenia; Year: 2002; Director: Damjan Kozole; Writer: Damjan Kozole; Stars: Peter Musevski, Alijosa Kovcic, Aleksandra Balmazovic, Primoz Petkovsek, Valter Dragan)
The power of this film rests on perfect performances... no sentimentalism is allowed to enter into them, yet both demonstrate a complexity which goes far beyond what their few lines can express.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Angela M Murray; Writer: Angela M Murray, based on the short story by Saki; Stars: Fergus Nimmo, Sian Thomas)
If looks could kill, the audience would be dead.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon, Emmanuèle Bernheim; Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Marc Fayolle, Jean-Marie Lamour, Mireille Mossé, Michel Fau, Jean-Claude Lecas, Emilie Gavois Kahn, Erarde Forestali)
An exceptional performance from Venu.
(Country: India; Year: 2003; Director: Murali Nair; Writer: Murali Nair, Madhu Apsara; Stars: Nedumudi Venu, Sona Nair, Master Bhagyanath, Rajan Sithara, Kochu Preman, Bharathan Njarakkal, Chandrakala)
The soundtrack fits the energy and imagination of the visuals perfectly.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Oblong)
It's hard to watch the dated hairdos and ugly early Eighties fashion and side with these kids.
(Country: US; Year: 1983; Director: Tony Silver)
The message is clear enough: the class barrier breaks down when everyone is on their knees in a flower bed.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Samantha Moore; Writer: Samantha Moore)
For all the care and attention, Hernandez has lavished on his creation there is one inescapable problem: the film is not that interesting, nor involving.
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2003; Director: Julián Hernández; Writer: Julián Hernández; Stars: Juan Carlos Ortuño, Juan Carlos Torres, Perla de la Rosa, Salvador Álvarez, Rosa María Gómez, Mario Oliver, Clarisa Rendón, Salvador Hernández, Pablo Molina, Manuel Grapain Zaquelarez)
Just another poncy art movie with a zillion pointless scenes and an editor who doesn't understand that his job is to cut out the empty bits.
(Country: Morocco; Year: 2003; Director: Faouzi Bensaidi; Writer: Emmanuelle Sardou, Faouzi Bensaidi; Stars: Fouad Labied, Nezha Rahil, Mohammed Majd, Mohammed Afifi, Mohamed Bastaoui, Abdelati Lambarki, Brahim Khai, Abdellah Chicha, Mohamed Choubi, Hajar Masdouki )
Defined by an excellent performance from Antonella Costa, as the headstrong Paula.
(Country: Argentina; Year: 2003; Director: Alejandro Chomski; Writer: Alejandro Chomski; Stars: Antonella Costa, Manuel Navarro, Romina Ricci, Carlos Duranona, Ricardo Merkin, Horacio Acosta, Ricardo Holser, Daniel Toppino, Abian Vainstein, Luciana Godoy)
The narrative is difficult to follow at times.
(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2002; Director: Mabel Cheung)
Though competently made and performed, this Taiwanese film fails to establish a coherent identity and tone of its own
(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2002; Director: Alex Yang; Writer: Weibang Ma-Xu; Stars: Ming Ran Ni, Kelly Ko, Xing Hong Cai, Hui Ni Xu, Chuan Zheng Tao, Qi Yang, Ya Xuan Li, Sima san san, Qi Dong You, May Yun You)
In the neo-realistic style of handheld cameras and grainy colour, the film is more honest than entertaining.
(Country: Belgium/France; Year: 2002; Director: Lucas Belvaux; Writer: Lucas Belvaux; Stars: Lucas Belvaux, Catherine Frot, Ornella Muti, François Morel, Dominique Blanc, Gilbert Melki)
While the films of The Trilogy can certainly be enjoyed on their own, the viewer's overall appreciation of them - and scale of Belvaux's vision - grows exponentionally when they are viewed in their totality.
(Country: Belgium/France; Year: 2002; Director: Lucas Belvaux; Writer: Lucas Belvaux; Stars: Ornella Muti, François Morel, Dominique Blanc, Gilbert Melki, Lucas Belvaux, Catherine Frot)
Suffers from its dark obsessions.
(Country: Belgium/France; Year: 2002; Director: Lucas Belvaux; Writer: Lucas Belvaux; Stars: Dominique Blanc, Gilbert Melki, Ornella Muti, Francois Morel, Lucas Belvaux, Catherine Frot)
It treads a fine line between the serious and the comic.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2003; Director: Pablo Berge; Writer: Pablo Berge; Stars: Javier Camara, Candela Pena, Juan Diego, Fernando Tejero, Mads Mikkelsen, Malena Alterio, Ramon Barea, Nuria Gonzalez, Tina Sainz, Tom Jacobsen)
An acceptable popcorn-munching no-brainer.
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2002; Director: Baek Woon-Hak; Writer: Baek Woon-Hak; Stars: Kim Seok-hun, Kim Seok-hun (II), Park Sang-min, Bae Du-na, Kwon Oh-jung)
A self-important, prosaic and ill-defined artistic tableau.
(Country: Spain, UK, Italy and Hungary; Year: 2003; Director: Peter Greenaway; Writer: Peter Greenaway; Stars: JJ Field, Valentina Cervi, Drew Mulligan, Isabella Rossellini, Deborah Harry , Yorick van Wageningen, Kevin Tighe, Scot Williams, Tom Bower, Steven Mackintosh)
A beautiful, sensual film that offers a new take on that oldest of clichés, the one-night stand.
(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Claire Denis; Writer: Claire Denis, Emmanuelle Bernheim, based on the novel by Emmanuelle Bernheim; Stars: Valerie Lemercier, Vincent Lindon, Helene de Saint-Pere, Helene Fillieres, Florence Loiret Caille, Gregoire Colin)
A beautifully realised memoir of a remarkable man.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Alice Nelson; Writer: Alice Nelson)
A slight, but enjoyable tale.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Adrian McDowall; Writer: Simon Stephenson; Stars: Anthony Martin, Jonathon Carlin, James McAnerney, Lorraine McIntosh, Jamie Quinn)
Paul Morrison's film recreates the subversive undercurrents of suspicion within a white working-class community extremely well, in addition to celebrating the dignity and perseverance of the new immigrants.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Paul Morrisson; Writer: Paul Morrisson; Stars: Delroy Lindo, Emily Woof, Stanley Townsend, Sam Smith, Angela Wynter, Leonie Elliott, Leagh Conwell, Dominic Barklem, Yasmin Paige, Petra Letang )
Reality takes a back seat in this oddball comedy.
(Country: Denmark/UK/Sweden/France; Year: 2002; Director: Lone Scherfig; Writer: Lone Scherfig, Anders Thomas Jensen; Stars: Jamie Sives, Shirley Henderson, Adrian Rawlins, Lisa McKinlay, Mads Mikkelsen, Julia Davis, Susan Vidler, Coral Preston, Gordon Brown, Lorraine McIntosh)
There are hints of a plot line, but everything is racing along at such a pace - only lit by the flash of muzzles - that it is difficult to spot it.
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2002; Director: Jeong Yun-su; Writer: Jeong Yun-su; Stars: Kim Seung-woo, Kim Yun-jin Kim, Choi Min-su Choi, Kim Seon-a, Jeong So-yeong)
Emotion stains the walls of this period film like gutter waste.
(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: David Mackenzie; Writer: David Mackenzie, based on the book by Alexander Trocchi; Stars: Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer, Jack McElhone, Therese Bradley, Ewan Stewart, Stuart McQuarrie, Pauline Turner, Alan Cooke)
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Festival showcasing international and Baltic films
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
French Film Festival
The UK's longest running celebration of Francophone cinema
Search Movie Database
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