IndieLisboa — A–Z of films

As a kind of call to arms against nostalgia on the one hand but forgetfulness on the other, Uruguayan-born Michael Wahrmann charts ambitious terrain.

There’s something quietly enthralling about this ambitious road movie.

Ulrich Seidl’s unique, stylised documentary depicts in trademark, single-take set-ups a number of Viennese residents and their relationships to their beloved pets.

The title of Niall McGann’s documentary is a joke, elevating the work to a level of self-importance that the mischief therein consistently and amusingly undercuts.

A fairytale for old romantics everywhere, who believe that the weapons of friendship and commitment are as vital in the fight for a relationship, as love.

Bleak, stripped down and haunting.

You can enter through the objects, like an Eames chair or three pairs of Ray Bans, bought online. Or through the religious conflict inherent in a bacon bagel.

The actor appears in Rezwin’s film to be as shy as he is sensitive.

In the film’s second half, soundmen are visible setting up for scenes as the actors play out semi-improvised scenarios that carry a weight that is by turns funny and intense.

Gabriel Mascaro tasked seven children across five different Brazilian cities with filming their live-in housekeepers for a week, and consequently edited their footage into a slim but coherent volume.

Seidl seems interested in these people precisely because they’re all too easily judged by others, even though their needs and desires are relatably ordinary.

An awe-inspiring experience.

Jazmin López’s debut feature is in narrative terms a bit too foggy to sustain one’s emotional engagement.

All four actresses are excellent; forever chewing gum, Bartsch in particular is superb.

This goes on for more than two hours and will bore some viewers to death. Others, though, will find this quiet, complex film a fascinating piece of art in itself.

Pablo Larraín's No is a resounding yes!

Seidl draws absurdity and hilarity from a narrative arrangement that is predictably and increasingly caustic.

Seidl manages to make this ordeal excruciating to watch without ever being graphic, visually or even narratively.

As the film progresses, Seidl allows scenes to play out longer than expected, as they enter that uncomfortable territory (for protagonists, audiences and censor boards alike) of total unpredictability.

Pincus treads that tricky terrain of having a protagonist who is deeply sceptical of the self-serious outsiders he meets while at the same time allowing for the possibility that it is he who may be in the wrong.

There’s no reassurance to be found in this cold world but Campos’s talent for getting mood whistling abominably through your ears is worthy of admiration.

If Malick's lands were bad, then Wheatley's are sad, as small injustices, petty jealousies and perceived slights lead to cold blooded murder and childish revenge.

While there is much to admire about Spring Breakers in terms of visual aesthetic and directorial style, those aspects are undermined by a run of the mill narrative not nearly as subversive as it appears to want to be.

Riding along on the strength of its central mystery, They Will Return just about gets away with its unevenly paced story and variable acting.

Valle’s deadpan comedy demonstrates a master image-maker at work.