Glasgow Film Festival · 2015
17 films · 15 reviews
A painstakingly deliberate neo-noir, heavy on atmosphere and taking its time to build.
(Country: China; Year: 2014; Director: Yi'nan Diao; Writer: Yi'nan Diao; Stars: Lun Mei Gwei, Fan Liao, Xuebing Wang)
What Black Souls does very well is to recapture the essential primitivism of conflicts based upon honour, fear of insult and the desire for revenge.
(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2014; Director: Francesco Munzi; Writer: Gioacchino Criaco, Francesco Munzi, Fabrizio Ruggirello, Maurizio Braucci; Stars: Barbora Bobulova, Fabrizio Ferracane, Anna Ferruzzo, Giuseppe Fumo, Marco Leonardi, Peppino Mazzotta, Aurora Quattrocchi, Pasquale Romeo, Manuela Ventura)
(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Fatih Akin; Writer: Fatih Akin, Mardik Martin; Stars: Tahar Rahim, George Georgiou, Makram Khoury, Akin Gazi, Lara Heller, Numan Acar, Alejandro Rae, Dustin MacDougall, Shubham Saraf, Joel Jackshaw, Anna Savva, Korkmaz Arslan, Sesede Terziyan, Aida Adele Golghazi, Arevik Martirosyan)
A corking action film.
(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2014; Director: Toa Fraser; Writer: Glenn Standring; Stars: James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Xavier Horan, Raukura Turei, George Henare, Pana Hema Taylor, Rena Owen)
Unflinching but uplifting, Longinotto's film shows how even one person, if they put their minds to it, can make an enormous difference.
(Country: UK, US; Year: 2015; Director: Kim Longinotto; Writer: Kim Longinotto)
With Chen brilliantly controlled in the central role, there is much that is fascinating simply in observing Ling as a character.
(Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong; Year: 2014; Director: Hsiang Chienn; Writer: Hsiang Chienn; Stars: Shiang-chyi Chen, Easton Dong)
Litja... gives his character a sincerity and clarity of purpose that keeps us with him even when situations become ridiculous.
(Country: Finland; Year: 2014; Director: Dome Karukoski; Writer: Dome Karukoski, Tuomas Kyrö, Pekko Pesonen, based on the novel by Tuomas Kyrö; Stars: Antti Litja, Petra Frey, Mari Perankoski)
Stunningly shot by cinematographer Timo Salminen, who illuminated landscapes as if they were Eckersberg paintings, the film is framed in 4:3 aspect ratio, creating the sense that there's always something just out of sight.
(Country: Argentina, Denmark, US, Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, France; Year: 2014; Director: Lisandro Alonso; Writer: Lisandro Alonso, Fabian Casas; Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Ghita Nørby)
The contrast between the characters and the actors sparky chemistry means the laughs have a head start, but there is also a considerable amount of psychological terrain being covered.
(Country: Iceland, US; Year: 2014; Director: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens; Writer: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens; Stars: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Lynn Nelson, Alice Olivia Clarke, Karrie Crouse, Elizabeth McKee, Emmsjé Gauti, Magnús Kr. Guðmundsson, Þrúður Kristjánsdóttir)
(Country: Japan; Year: 2014; Director: Mipo O)
A polished film that acknowledges its place in the canon of American mysteries and makes a worthy contribution.
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Dave Boyle; Stars: Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura)
Heat and oppression hang in the air like an unspoken accusation.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Alberto Rodríguez; Writer: Rafael Cobos, Alberto Rodríguez; Stars: Antonio de la Torre, Raúl Arévalo, Jesús Castro, Javier Gutiérrez, Jesús Carroza, Nerea Barros, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina)
Ben-Shlush is riveting in the central role.
(Country: Israel; Year: 2014; Director: Asaf Korman; Writer: Liron Ben-Shlush; Stars: Liron Ben-Shlush, Jacob Daniel, Dana Ivgy)
Flawless central performances and a cool, observational approach from director Yoshida imbue it with a quiet power.
(Country: Japan; Year: 2014; Director: Daihachi Yoshida; Writer: Mitsuyo Kakuta, Kaeko Hayafune; Stars: Rie Miyazawa, Sōsuke Ikematsu, Satomi Kobayashi)
Petzold depicts a country in shock, where everyone is trying to rediscover a sense of self and where survival may be viewed less a miracle than something unbearable in the face of so many losses.
(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Christian Petzold, Harun Farocki, based on Return From The Ashes by Hubert Monteilhet; Stars: Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nina Kunzendorf, Michael Maertens, Imogen Kogge, Kirsten Block, Uwe Preuss, Eva Bay, Jeff Burrell, Sofia Exss, Megan Gay, Daniela Holtz, Max Hopp, Nikola Kastner, Valerie Koch)
Wang's China is a place where nothing is quite as it seems, or as habit and tradition say it should be.
(Country: China; Year: 2014; Director: Wang Xiaoshuai; Writer: Lei Fang, Xiaoshuai Wang; Stars: Zhong Lü, Yuanzheng Feng, Hao Qin)
What marks out Uzumasa Limelight... is its willingness to combine withering criticism of the laziness and corruption in much modern filmmaking with graciousness in the face of change.
(Country: Japan; Year: 2014; Director: Ken Ochiai; Stars: Seizô Fukumoto, Chihiro Yamamoto, Masashi Goda)
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
Search Eye For Film with Google
