Glasgow Film Festival — A–Z of films

A rollicking, humorous rollercoaster ride with stunning set pieces.

Scott wrings out every last drop of suspense from the film.

All Creatures Here Below is remarkable not just in the way that it makes us root for characters who would be treated like monsters in most films, but in the way that it carries us along despite all the bumps in the road.

Truth is found in detail and gesture.

Although strong in its documentary feel and scathing in its message, it otherwise runs through the Alpha to Omega of predictable thriller elements.

Measured but naturally emotional recollections dovetail with the more impressionistic animated segments to scrutinise the psyche of war.

Joe Penna's thriller is as lean and spare as life up in the Arctic wilderness.

Although it's not comprehensive it packs a lot into its 95 minute running time.

For those who know and love Van Gogh's work, the effect is hypnotic, a translation of his vision into a new medium.

It's a treat, a banger if you will.

The subject is important and relevant and Peter Hedges avoids the obvious pitfalls with a skilful, honest approach.

The sheer warm-heartedness of this film means that it is always a delight to watch.

Although the film is nowhere near as terrifying as it's made out to be, its shunning of shock tactics in favour of distant sound effects and creepy environments creates a psychological terror which is far more disturbing.

The veneer of technical excellence never quite takes your mind off the lack of substance beneath.

An original and highly ambitious premise that maintains its grip your attention and imagination.

The meat of A Bread Factory lies in the details.

The meat of A Bread Factory lies in the details.

The pairing of the silent, brooding tiger-like masculinity embodied by Sundance with the quick wit of Cassidy is a classic formula.

Chained For Life finds a rich vein of comedy in the awfulness of many people's reactions to disability.

Delicate and patient in its approach, very traditional in its structure right up until the end, Complicity is rich in poetic representations of Japanese food culture and rural life.

There are things that ring very true in Connect - the way in which a family, particularly father and son, don't talk.

Whilst this may superficially seem like just another horror film about possession or a zombie, it has a lot more going on both narratively and thematically.

The process of saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy and director Rehana Rose has secured impressive access to three families who let her observe it all.

Place, who appears in almost every scene, has never been better.

Ever cursed to wear a half-sealed translucent franju-esque mask that makes her scars even more visible, Jade is a single mother and an acid attack survivor.

Long, slow and at times painful.

The movie hangs loose on your bones.

Doillon is wonderfully adept and natural, and it's really her performance that makes the film compelling.

Although in places it feels a bit scattershot, the quantity of detail that it packs in is impressive.

The nature of erasure and memory rubs up against ideas of collective guilt in Ghassan Halwani's measured and moving documentary.

While Farhadi certainly knows how to spin a web of intrigue, deceit and suspicion, the narrative has a tendency to leap from strand to strand, often leaving the audience stumbling in its wake.

Garrel knows his film is a confection rather than a banquet, so keeps things moving along at a serious clip

This is Boundaoui's second film and her style is straightforward and undecorative but, if anything, this adds weight to what she has to say.

What comes across more than anything is how the American way dominates.

At a time when safety is the key to Hollywood's washroom, David Fincher places a bomb under the plumbing. Expect to be shocked, freaked, thrilled and gutted.

Hamish MacInnes is one of the last of the great adventurers. His story is wild, thrilling, poignant and true.

On a whole different level from most films of its ilk.

Arebi's patiently observational film is full of small moments that encapsulate horrific prejudice or warm, resilient humour.

Smoczynska remains one to watch. She has a signature style and an ability to generate a sense of odd estrangement from virtually nothing.

A ridiculous idea spun into a film that skilfully mixes genuine laughs with genuine frights and chills.

A must-see warning for all would-be filmmakers.

If the concept appeals to you, you're likely to find it one of the most entertaining films of the year.

Directed with admirable understatement and restraint.

At heart (and it has a big one) there's a lot going for Gloria Bell.

Newcomer Tardiolo is splendid in the lead.

Perhaps the most entertaining cinematic romp of the year so far.

It captures the in-your-face style of hoarding programmes perfectly but it's 96 minutes long with no advert breaks, and watching it quickly becomes exhausting.

Patel and Kher are worth the price of admission on their own.

This is a story of building a thing against impossible odds.

Patrick Orth's cinematography gives this a beguiling warmth but it's really Löw's performance that makes it work.

I commend this film to you, entreat you to see it.

The film works on almost every level, particularly its central relationship.

The viewer has to be keyed into Akerman's cinematic language, how she portrays boredom, claustrophobia, isolation.

Although the story is slight, Cheng treats the subject matter with care, allowing a slow but certain heat to build between José and Luis.

Pal is magnetic in the central role.

There's a lot of silliness here altogether but it works surprisingly well, Tezuka somehow managing to coordinate all the moving parts.

The more science fiction you have watched (or read), the more chills you will feel running down your spine as the carefully structured story plays out.

It's accessible for beginners yet provides a good deal for those with experience of such work to get their teeth into.

It takes real directorial skill to deliver something so shallow across two and a half hours and keep the audience gripped.

Bohrer has a sharp eye and the film benefits from great production design and costuming that help to flesh out the supporting characters.

Alex Holmes' documentary is brilliant.

If this isn't the funniest film with an open fracture you see this year then you're very lucky indeed.

All the more powerful because of its deep roots in myth.

Often you see the truth in her face, not in her words.

Visually it is astonishing, not only because of its effects and techno trickery, but cinematically the Wachowskis are so audacious.

Herzog's film does not follow the documentary conventions - would you expect anything different from him?

With a good measure of comedy to balance out the drama, Metal Heart is a sweet film that might perhaps be a little too forgiving at the end but is true to its characters throughout.

This is astonishing stuff.

There are still very few films that make room for male characters to be emotionally honest to this degree.

Instead of dialogue, the insects speak in kazoo and beeps, making this easy to follow for even the youngest of audiences but there's no dumbing down in terms of storytelling.

In terms of the emotive arc offered to the viewer, this film does things that are completely unexpected, and in doing so it moves far beyond the usual scope of narratives about recovery or revenge.

While it's great to see female voices being put centre-stage, something more from the websites in the firing line, such as Google, Twitter or Facebook would be a welcome addition.

Whilst Heathcote's film doesn't always flatter, it does succeed in capturing a disappearing lifestyle at a critical point in history.

A seriously intelligent script.

If you see one portrayal of a screwed up female detective with a drink problem this year, make it this one.

Beautifully written and sensitively directed.

Fyrogeni is brittle and intense in the central role, carrying herself in the slightly bent, over-cautious manner of someone continually expecting blame.

Beiraghi shoots her in small spaces, hems her in with people or objects, emphasises the claustrophobia of her situation.

This is a film bursting with character and characters.

Paul has a way of finding angles that bring out different aspects of the process and the developing work.

The sprawling house provides insight into Mia and Eugenia's personalities before we get to know them directly.

Billingham's consideration calls for empathy rather than condemnation.

Of the two halves, the first is by far the most successful.

The writer/director casts his net wide, taking inspiration from auteurs like John Boorman and Sam Peckinpah through to freeze-frame moments that could slot straight into TV detective dramas of the time.

It's heartwarming, well constructed, affirming and inspiring.

The real difficulty that de Young and Wellink face lies in getting beyond the public persona to show us the private man.

It's told from Adam's point of view, largely because he's younger and in better shape to tell a coherent story at the end of it all, but it's really Mr Satan's film.

What emerges is a closely collaborative effort eschewing linear narrative in favour of an attempt to capture the soul of the man.

Scotch may be a talking heads production but it is made with a genuine feeling for the subject and a sense of responsibility that never settles comfortably into the safely of cliche.

With a haunting choral score by the Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble, The Siren trades heavily on the beauty of its setting and the willingness of its audience to suspend disbelief when lulled by a very traditional approach to storytelling.

Phoenix gives his character more depth than such men are usually afforded but deliberately takes a back seat, allowing Reilly the dramatic lead role he has long deserved.

This is certainly not the first musical to treat its songs as set pieces and it delivers in terms of action elsewhere, with some thrilling horseback manoeuvres and solid fight scenes.

There's a strong sense of isolation from the start in Fisher's film.

A great film in every way, never smug, somehow managing to juggle comedy and political purpose without one becoming more important than the other.

A Town Called Panic is a truly postmodern concoction, where, along with the village's properties, narrative norms are deconstructed brick by brick, as free associations and visual gags come thick and fast, offering a surreal jaunt through toy town.

Worthy of its nine Oscar nominations.

Mayfair treats her scenes of sex and desire with restraint, using juxtaposition to evoke mood.

Offering the comfort and reassurance of a Seventies children's TV programme, it takes us into the heat of darkness in a bumbling, offbeat way.

For all his character's vacillations, this is a masterclass in filmmaking control.

Time and place hold both no and every meaning in Christian Petzold's latest film.

Where most films of this ilk are driven by aggression, Marx instead pushes hers forward with a mix of melancholy, quiet desperation and futility.

This is a film about America's difficult relationship with race and the way that unresolved issues result in ongoing damage.

There are just too many movie references and homage to the likes of David Lynch in this noirish thriller to make it anything other than an over-derivative exercise in style over substance.

The film takes time to gather pace and discover its true direction. Once there, the story takes hold and won’t let go.

In one shot, in absolute silence, we watch a single leaf fall down from high above; it is a moment so compelling that you will hesitate to interrupt it with a breath.

Even its vapidity fails to contribute anything new to the subject matter it's dealing with.

Michael Winterbottom’s atmospheric thriller is packed full of twists and turns but to focus on trying to anticipate and resolve them is to miss the point.

You don't have to look far for allegory in Panek's film.

Hare finds contrast between Nureyev's physical grace and his considerably more abrasive personality.

A revolutionary film, in every sense of the word.

Nicole Taylor's quickfire script provides great material for the actors to work with .

Though seasoned viewers will see these twists coming, Kim deftly shifts the tone if her performance along with them to keep us guessing.

This is joyful, beautiful, up-lifting - and bleak too, a clarion call to direct climate action at the personal and the political levels.

It's in dance that the film's strength lies, illustrating, through choreography, Acosta's more abstract - and more negative - emotions, including fear, loneliness and lust.

Everything about Zombieland works, from the expositional flashbacks, to Columbus’ voice-over narration, to the well-judged but sudden changes in tone.