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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2007

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2007

Directors' Showcase

The section of the festival features, say the organisers, "wide-ranging work from the best established international names."

Programme

19 films · 19 reviews

Jump to a film

Beaufort

Review preview for Beaufort

The cast put in an excellent performance and manage to be distinct in a film where uniforms, dirt and camouflage face paint make it difficult to tell men apart.

Susanna Krawczyk · 3 out of 5
A look at the lives of Israeli soldiers serving in Lebanon at the end of the 20th century.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2007; Director: Joseph Cedar; Writer: Joseph Cedar, based on the novel by Ron Leshem; Stars: Alon Abutbul, Eli Altonio, Daniel Brook, Oshri Cohen, Gal Friedman, Nevo Kimchi)

Full review

Beauty In Trouble (Kráska V Nesnázích)

Review preview for Beauty In Trouble

It is the depth of the characters coupled with the breadth of the acting talent that make this film so watchable.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A woman falls for an older man after her husband is locked up for stealing.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2006; Director: Jan Hrebejk; Writer: Petr Jarchovský; Stars: Anna Geislerová, Josef Abrhám, Roman Luknár, Jirí Schmitzer, Jana Brejchová, Adam Misík, Michaela Mrvíková, Emília Vásáryová, Martin Huba, Jirí Machácek, Jaromíra Mílová,)

Full review

Breach

Review preview for Breach

Congratulations are in order to Shattered Glass helmer Billy Ray for playing it straight and subtle, resisting the temptation to jazz up the action quota and indulge in Hollywood speechifying.

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
A young, ambitious FBI agent is ordered to spy on his boss, who the organisation believe has been betraying his country for 20 years.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Billy Ray; Writer: Adam Mazer, William Rotko, Billy Ray; Stars: Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Caroline Dhavernas, Kathleen Quinlan, Gary Cole, Bruce Davison)

Full review

Breath

Review preview for Breath

Breath is an icy, chilling love story. It looks at a bond that goes beyond the simplicities of life and death.

Chris · 4 out of 5
A neglected wife falls in love with an inmate on death row.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2007; Director: Kim Ki-duk; Writer: Kim Ki-duk; Stars: Chang Chen, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Ki-duk, Park Ji-a)

Full review

Les Chansons D'Amour

Review preview for Les Chansons D'Amour

Love, life, poetry, passion, sensitivity, all magnificently exalted in song – quite a lot of songs actually – for your cross-Channel delectation and savouring.

Chris · 4 out of 5
An exceedingly French musical about a menage a trois in Paris.

(Country: France; Year: 2007; Director: Christophe Honoré; Writer: Christophe Honoré, Gaël Morel; Stars: Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni, Clothilde Hesme, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet)

Full review

The Home Song Stories

Review preview for The Home Song Stories

Like girls who rely on their beauty to get what they want, Rose has faith in her ability to charm men into bed and, if required, move in with her and pay the bills.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Chinese children grow up in Australia with their beautiful mother who was a nightclub singer in Hong Kong.

(Country: Australia/Singapore; Year: 2007; Director: Tony Ayres; Writer: Tony Ayres; Stars: Joan Chen, Qi Yuwu, Joel Lok, Irene Chen, Steven Vidler, Kerry Walker) , Official site

Full review

It's Gonna Get Worse (A Bude Hur)

Review preview for It's Gonna Get Worse

Wipe your mucky paws on your jeans and feast your face on this debauched, late-night, scumbag of a brilliant movie.

Chris · 4 out of 5
A cult film about young men living in Czechoslovakia 15 years before the velvet revolution.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2007; Director: Petr Nikolaev; Writer: Petr Nikolaev, based on the novel by Jan Pelc; Stars: Karel Zídek, Filip Kankovský, Vladimír Skultéty, Tereza Hofová, Radomil Uhlir, David Strnad, Michal Gulyás, Michal Soucek, Perla Kotmelová, Eva Cerná, Pavel Zajicek)

Full review

I Served The King Of England (Obsluhoval Jsem Anglického Krále)

Review preview for I Served The King Of England

Menzel has crafted a visual extravaganza.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
The history of Prague recounted through one man's story, full of glamour and danger.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia; Year: 2006; Director: Jirí Menzel; Writer: Jirí Menzel, based on the novel by Bohumil Hrabal; Stars: Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, Julia Jentsch, Martin Huba, Mari Labuda, Milan Lasica) , Trailer

Full review

I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK (Saibogujiman Kwenchana, I'm A Cyborg)

Review preview for I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK

Chan-wook Park has crafted perhaps the most original film of the year and one of the most moving.

Chris · 5 out of 5
A young woman convinced she is a killer cyborg is hospitalised and falls in love with a young man who believes he can steal people's souls.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2006; Director: Park Chan-wook; Writer: Jeong Seo-Gyeong, Park Chan-wook; Stars: Lim Su-jeong, Rain, Choi Hie-jin, Kim Byeong-ok, Lee Yong-nyeo) , Official site

Full review

In Search Of A Midnight Kiss

Review preview for In Search Of A Midnight Kiss

This is a dark, perverted, gritty, romantic comedy that, like a new relationship, comes with big indie warts-and-all.

Chris · 3.5 out of 5
Lonely in the run-up to New Year, a young man decides to post a personal ad to find someone with whom to spend that special midnight moment.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Alex Holdridge; Writer: Alex Holdridge; Stars: Scoot McNairy, Twink Caplan, Ann Chatterton, Cindy Drummond, Nic Harcourt, Justin Huen) , Official site

Full review

Legacy (L'Héritage)

Review preview for Legacy

Legacy is a brave and curious film, taking a popular premise and turning it on its head.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Three French friends traveling in Georgia are horrified and intrigued when they encounter a man who is scheduled to be killed in an attempt to end an ancient blood feud.

(Country: Georgia, France; Year: 2006; Director: Géla Babluani, Temur Babluani; Writer: Géla Babluani, Temur Babluani; Stars: Pascal Bongard, Sylvie Testud, Stanislas Merhar, Olga Legrand, George Babluani, Leo Gaparidze, Augustin Legrand) , Official site

Full review

The Man From London (A Londoni férfi)

Review preview for The Man From London

The forlorn beauty of The Man From London might inspire you to question the assumptions we make about cinema.

Chris · 5 out of 5
After witnessing a murder, a railway switchman makes a discovery which will change his life forever.

(Country: France, Germany, Hungary, UK; Year: 2007; Director: Béla Tarr; Writer: Béla Tarr and László Krasznahorkai, based on the novel by Georges Simenon.; Stars: Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton , Volker Spengler, Ági Szirtes, János Derzsi, Erika Bók, Gyula Pauer, István Lénárt, Kati Lázár)

Full review

The Old Garden (Orae-doen Jeongwon)

Review preview for The Old Garden

The sentimental nature of the film lets it down somewhat.

Susanna Krawczyk · 3 out of 5
Drama about a former political radical trying to come to terms with his new life.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2006; Director: Im Sang-soo; Writer: Im Sang-soo; Stars: Ji Jin-hee , Yum Jung-ah, Kim Yu-ri, Yun Hee-seok, Yun Yeo-Jong)

Full review

Once

Review preview for Once

Like the best works of art, John Carney’s Once is both melancholy and beautiful, a fragile poem that seems almost too delicate for the big screen.

The Exile · 5 out of 5
Guy meets Girl and makes beautiful - and Oscar-winning - music with her.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2006; Director: John Carney; Writer: John Carney, with music by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová; Stars: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Gerry Hendrick, Alastair Foley, Geoff Minogue, Bill Hodnett, Danuse Ktrestova) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 9

Paranoid Park

Review preview for Paranoid Park

There are many remarkable things about this unusual movie.

Chris · 4.5 out of 5
A young skateboarder finds himself in trouble following the death of a security guard.

(Country: France, USA; Year: 2007; Director: Gus Van Sant; Writer: Gus Van Sant, based on the novel by Blake Nelson.; Stars: Gabe Nevins, Daniel Liu, Taylor Momsen, Jake Miller, Lauren McKinney, Winfield Jackson, Joe Schweitzer)

Full review

The Serpent (Le Serpent)

Review preview for The Serpent

The Serpent is a thriller of infinite cunning and surprise. It is unlikely that you will be more frightened in a cinema this year.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
A blackmailer with a personal agenda resorts to murder.

(Country: France; Year: 2006; Director: Eric Barbier; Writer: Eric Barbier, Trân-Minh Nam, based on the novel by Ted Lewis; Stars: Yvan Attal, Clovis Cornillac, Pierre Richard, Simon Abkarian, Minna Haapkylä, Olga Kurylenko, Gérald Laroche, Jean-Claude Bouillon, Veronika Varga, Pierre Marzin, Katia Lewkowicz)

Full review

Twisted Sister (Schwesterherz )

Review preview for Twisted Sister

Radical feminist cry of pain it might be, but Twisted Sister can still feel like being locked up with the stereotype for an hour and a half.

Chris · 3 out of 5
Taking her younger sister on holiday leads a confident career woman's life to fall apart.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2007; Director: Ed Herzog; Writer: Heike Makatsch, Johanna Adorjan; Stars: Heike Makatsch, Anna Maria Mahe, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Ludwig Trepte, Marc Hosemann)

Full review

The Witnesses (Les Témoins)

Review preview for The Witnesses

The film rejects the stereotypes that frequently dog gay characters, allowing them to flourish, although the female protagonists feel less fleshed out

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Exploration of how the advent of AIDS affects a group of friends in Eighties France.

(Country: France; Year: 2007; Director: Andre Techine; Writer: Andre Techine, ; Stars: Johan Libereau, Michel Blanc, Emmanuelle Beart, Sami Boualjila, Julie Depardieu, Constance Dolle, Lorenzo Balducci)

Full review

Yella

Review preview for Yella

This is, in places, a deeply disturbing film... yet the touching scenes, when they come, have a surprisingly emotional depth.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Metaphysical thriller about a woman trying to escape her past and build a future.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2007; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Simone Baer, Christian Petzold; Stars: Nina Hoss, Devid Striesow, Hinnerk Schönemann, Burghart Klaußner, Barbara Auer, Christian Redl, Selin Bademsoy, Wanja Mues, Michael Wittenborn, Martin Brambach, Joachim Nimtz)

Full review