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Glasgow Film Festival · 2017

Glasgow Film Festival 2017

Window On The World

Programme

18 films · 9 reviews

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Dark Night

The lives of six strangers intersect at a suburban Cineplex where a massacre occurs.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Tim Sutton; Writer: Tim Sutton; Stars: Anna Rose Hopkins, Robert Jumper, Karina Macias, Aaron Purvis, Rosie Rodriguez)

Dawn Of The Deaf

Review preview for Dawn Of The Deaf

The final moments of this film, as bodies shamble out of the shadows, capture the real darkness of the zombie genre in a way that recalls the best of George Romero's work.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a sonic pulse turns the hearing population into zombies, what effect will it have on the lives of the deaf people who survive?

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Rob Savage; Writer: Rob Savage, Jed Shepherd; Stars: Caroline Ward, Stephen Collins)

Full review

The Eremites (Die Einsiedler)

A man who has grown up with only his parents for company gradually learns how to connect with the world through his romance with a cook.

(Country: Germany, Austria; Year: 2016; Director: Ronny Trocker; Stars: Andreas Lust, Ingrid Burkhard, Orsi Toth)

Harmonium

Review preview for Harmonium

A beautifully crafted film.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a man who runs a workshop hires an old friend, trouble brews for his family.

(Country: Japan, France; Year: 2016; Director: Kôji Fukada; Writer: Kôji Fukada; Stars: Mariko Tsutsui, Tadanobu Asano, Kanji Furutachi)

Full review

Heal The Living (Réparer les vivants)

Review preview for Heal The Living

Anna Dorval as the transplant's recipient, Dominique Blanc's surgeon, and Emmanuelle Seigner's turn as the mother of the donor are all note-perfect.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Drama about lives connected by an organ transplant.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Katell Quillévéré; Writer: Katell Quillévéré and Gilles Taurand, based on the book by Maylis De Kerangal; Stars: Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners, Kool Shen, Monia Chokri, Alice Taglioni, Karim Leklou, Finnegan Oldfield, Théo Cholbi, Alice de Lencquesaing, Gabin Verdet, Galatéa Bellugi, Titouan Alda, Andranic Manet)

Full review See: Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Katell Quillévéré in conversation on Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants)

Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait

Masked campers go wild in the jungle at a gathering which only happens once every dozen years.

(Country: Bhutan, Hong Kong; Year: 2016; Director: Khyentse Norbu; Writer: Khyentse Norbu; Stars: Tshering Dorji, Sadon Lhamo, Thinley Dorji, Tony Chiu Wai Leung, Xun Zhou, Tshewang Dendup, Tenzin Dolma, Jamyang Dorji, Jigme Drukpa, Xin Liang, Rinchen Namgayel, Pema Namtruel, Gomchen Pema, Tandin Sonam, Kelsang Tobgay)

Illegitimate

Review preview for Illegitimate

Shooting in small rooms, in busy domestic spaces and a crowded nightclub, Sitaru creates a sense of being always in a crowd, so that collisions, whether sexual or violent, seem almost inevitable.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A sexual relationship between siblings is complicated by a pregnancy.

(Country: Romania, Poland, France; Year: 2016; Director: Adrian Sitaru; Writer: Alina Grigore, Adrian Sitaru; Stars: Adrian Titieni, Alina Grigore, Robi Urs, Bogdan Albulescu, Cristina Olteanu)

Full review

A Kid (Le Fils De Jean)

After being informed of the death of the father he never knew, a man travels from Paris to Montreal to meet his two half brothers, becoming a reluctant witness to sibling conflict and guilty secrets.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Philippe Lioret; Stars: Pierre Deladonchamps, Gabriel Arcand, Pierre-Yves Cardinal)

Louise By The Shore (Louise en hiver)

On the last day of summer, an old woman realises that the last train has departed without her, leaving her abandoned in a seaside town.

(Country: France, Canada; Year: 2016; Director: Jean-François Laguionie; Writer: Jean-François Laguionie; Stars: Diane Dassigny, Dominique Frot, Antony Hickling, Jean-François Laguionie)

Original Bliss (Gleißendes Glück)

Review preview for Original Bliss

Complex, sometimes conflicting emotions are beautifully played by Gedeck.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A woman tortured by her loss of religious faith falls for a charismatic psychologist.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2016; Director: Sven Taddicken; Writer: Sven Taddicken, Stefanie Veith, Hendrik Hölzemann, based on the novella by AL Kennedy; Stars: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Tukur, Johannes Krisch, Hans-Michael Rehberg, Dietrich Brüggemann, Imke Büchel, Romina Küper, Sebastian Rudolph)

Full review

The Ornithologist (O Ornitólogo)

Review preview for The Ornithologist

In keeping with the hagiographic tradition, Hamy keeps his performance rather flat, but this is problematic for The Ornothologist as a film; its success as a piece of art is somewhat at odds with audience appeal.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An ornithologist searching for black storks is swept away by rapids and awakens in a mysterious, dark forest.

(Country: Portugal, France, Brazil; Year: 2016; Director: João Pedro Rodrigues; Writer: João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata; Stars: Paul Hamy, Xelo Cagiao, João Pedro Rodrigues, Han Wen, Chan Suan, Juliane Elting )

Full review

Pawno

Review preview for Pawno

An entertaining, bold little film with a clear voice of its own.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A day in the life of 12 residents of a Melbourne suburb.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2015; Director: Paul Ireland; Writer: Damian Hill; Stars: John Brumpton, Maeve Dermody, Damian Hill, Malcolm Kennard)

Full review

The Road To Mandalay

Review preview for The Road To Mandalay

Z effectively shows us the daily grind and takes us through one disappointment after another without ever ceasing to be engaging.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Two Burmese people flee their country's civil war in search of a new life in Thailand.

(Country: Myanmar; Year: 2016; Director: Midi Z; Writer: Midi Z; Stars: Kai Ko, Ke-Xi Wu)

Full review See: Interview with Ke-xi Wu about Poor Folk, Silent Asylum, Ice Poison, Road To Mandalay and Nina Wu

The Teacher (Ucitelka)

Review preview for The Teacher

Hrebejk and Jarchovsý deftly employ humour as a way of mocking and undercutting their anti-heroine while preventing their overall point about power and corruption from becoming preachy.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A teacher creates a climate of fear in the classroom.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia; Year: 2016; Director: Jan Hrebejk; Writer: Petr Jarchovský; Stars: Zuzana Mauréry, Ondrej Malý, Éva Bandor, Martin Havelka, Ina Gogálová, Peter Bebjak, Tamara Fischer, Richard Labuda, Monika Certezni, Csongor Kassai, Lukas Pelc, Oliver Oswald, Attila Mokos, Zuzana Konecná)

Full review

Tonio

After 21-year-old student Tonio dies in a traffic accident, his novelist parents face sorrow and regret as they suffer the agony of losing their only child.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2016; Director: Paula van der Oest; Writer: Hugo Heinen; Stars: Pierre Bokma, Rifka Lodeizen, Chris Peters, Stefanie van Leersum)

Two Worlds

A 12-year-old acts as a guide for her hearing impaired parents.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2016; Director: Maciej Adamek,)

The Untamed (La región salvaje)

A mysterious young woman is convinced that something otherworldly could be the answer to all of her family's problems.

(Country: Mexico, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland; Year: 2016; Director: Amat Escalante; Writer: Amat Escalante, Gibrán Portela; Stars: Kenny Johnston)

A Woman's Life

The harsh realities of a woman's life in 19th century France.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Stéphane Brizé; Writer: Stéphane Brizé, Guy de Maupassant, Florence Vignon; Stars: Judith Chemla, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Yolande Moreau, Swann Arlaud, Nina Meurisse, Olivier Perrier, Clotilde Hesme, Alain Beigel, Finnegan Oldfield, Lucette Beudin, Jérôme Lanne, Mélie Deneuve, Père François-Xavier Ledoux, Lise Lamétrie, Marc Olry)