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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2011

San Sebastian Film Festival 2011

Zabaltegi-Pearls

A selection of the cream from other festivals around the world.

Programme

12 films · 12 reviews

Jump to a film

The Artist

Review preview for The Artist

I cannot remember the last time a film made me cry and laugh out loud half a minute later, especially not in public. The Artist did that.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A silent film star fears the advent of the 'talkies' will end his career.

(Country: France, US, Belgium; Year: 2011; Director: Michel Hazanavicius; Writer: Michel Hazanavicius; Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Uggie, Malcolm McDowell, John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller)

Full review See: New York Film Festival Diary - On cinematic and fairytale influences. , New York Film Festival: Photo Gallery Five

Drive

Review preview for Drive

Drive is cool. Really cool. In fact this will probably be the coolest film you will see this year.

Owen Van Spall · 4.5 out of 5
A stuntman who moonlights as a wheelman finds he is the target of a hit.

(Year: 2011; Director: Nicolas Winding Refn; Writer: Hossein Amini, James Sallis; Stars: Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks, Tina Huang, Joe Pingue, Cesar Garcia, Tiara Parker, Sarah Adela Tirado, Jeff Wolfe, James Biberi, Christian Cage) , Official site

Full review

Le Havre

Review preview for Le Havre

Director Aki Kaurismäki's latest is a humanist hug of a fable, which concludes that while big miracles may happen, it's the everyday 'miracles' people create for one another that really count.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A middle-aged shoe-shiner helps a young migrant.

(Country: Finland, France, Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Aki Kaurismäki; Writer: Aki Kaurismäki; Stars: André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Blondin Miguel, Elina Salo, Evelyne Didi, Quoc Dung Nguyen, Laïka, François Monnié, Roberto Piazza, Pierre Étaix, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Laika)

Full review

The Invader (L'Envahisseur)

Review preview for The Invader

Sawadogo gives a potent, revealing performance which is sadly wasted in a story without impulse or direction.

Scott Macdonald · 2 out of 5
A immigrant struggling to fit into Belgian society becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2011; Director: Nicolas Provost; Writer: Giordano Gederlini, François Pirot, Nicolas Provost, Matthieu Reynaert; Stars: Isaka Sawadogo, Stefania Rocca, Serge Riaboukine, John Flanders, CinSyla Key, Carole Weyers, Tibo Vandenborre, Dieudonné Kabongo, Noureddine Farihi)

Full review

Life Without Principle (Dyut meng gam)

Review preview for Life Without Principle

Enjoyable to a point but frustratingly convoluted at times

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
To narrates the intertwining fates of three people desperate to get their hands on money fast, all set around a robbery haul.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2011; Director: Johnnie To; Writer: Ka-kit Cheung, Nai-Hoi Yau, Tin-Shing Yip; Stars: Ching Wan Lau, Ken Lo, Richie Ren, Stephanie Che, Denise Ho, Myolie Wu, Patricia Tang, Hoi-Pang Lo, Hang Shuen So)

Full review

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Review preview for Martha Marcy May Marlene

As a moody, atmospheric study of paranoia, it is hard to beat.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman is traumatised after fleeing a cult.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: T Sean Durkin; Writer: T Sean Durkin; Stars: Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes, Brady Corbet, Elizabeth Olsen, Louisa Krause, Maria Dizzia, Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, Diana Masi, Allen McCullough, Michael Chmiel)

Full review See: Keeping score: Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians talk about Last Days In The Desert, Enemy and Wolfpack , New York Film Festival: Diary piece - Fassbender, Cronenberg, Durkin, Olsen, Payne talk about clothes and authenticity , New York Film Festival: Photo Gallery Three , Sundance 2011: Martha Marcy May Marlene, Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same and Restless City

Pina

Review preview for Pina

If you see one dance film in your life, see this one with those 3D glasses.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
3D dance documentary.

(Year: 2011; Director: Wim Wenders; Writer: Wim Wenders; Stars: Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante, Pina Bausch, Rainer Behr, Andrey Berezin, Damiano Ottavio Bigi, Bénédicte Billet, Ales Cucek, Clementine Deluy, Josephine Ann Endicott, Lutz Förster, Pablo Aran Gimeno, Mechthild Grossmann, Silvia Farias Heredía) , Official site

Full review See: New York Film Festival: Photo Gallery Five

A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin, Nader And Simin: A Separation)

Review preview for A Separation

There is a sense that we are glimpsing a society in flux.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An Iranian couple's trial separation is complicated by their interactions with another troubled family.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2011; Director: Asghar Farhadi; Writer: Asghar Farhadi; Stars: Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina Farhadi)

Full review See: New York Film Festival: Diary piece - On Preparation with Fassbender, Cronenberg, Hampton, Williams, Redmayne, Farhadi, Loktev

Shame

Review preview for Shame

Fassbender and Mulligan burn white hot in the central pairing, their emotional maelstrom magnetic even when no dialogue is used.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A thirtysomething finds his life spiral out of control after his sister moves into his apartment.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Steve McQueen; Writer: Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan; Stars: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie, Hannah Ware, Elizabeth Masucci, Amy Hargreaves, Lucy Walters, Robert Montano, Jake Richard Siciliano, Anna Rose Hopkins, Alexandra Vino, Frank Harts, Briana Marin, Alex Manette)

Full review See: Article about Shame, sex addiction and psychology in films , New York Film Festival Diary - On cinematic and fairytale influences. , New York Film Festival: Diary piece - Fassbender, Cronenberg, Durkin, Olsen, Payne talk about clothes and authenticity , New York Film Festival: Photo Gallery Three

The Tree Of Life

Review preview for The Tree Of Life

A stunning film, Malick's greatest work to date.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The loss of a son and brother leads to a journey back through memory and the past in search of answers.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Terrence Malick; Writer: Terrence Malick; Stars: Jessica Chastain, Brad Pitt, Hunter McCracken, Sean Penn, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan)

Full review

Tyrannosaur

Review preview for Tyrannosaur

What really stands out in Tyrannosaur, however, are the towering performances.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A man plagued by inner rage forms an unexpected relationship with an abused woman.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Paddy Considine; Writer: Paddy Considine; Stars: Peter Mullan, Eddie Marsan, Olivia Colman, Ned Dennehy, Sian Breckin, Paul Popplewell, Julia Mallam, Sally Carman, Lee Rufford, Paul Conway, Piers Mettrick, Samuel Bottomley, Archie Lal, Fiona Carnegie, Vicki Hackett) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance 2011: Capsule reviews of Tyrannosaur, Project Nim, Submarine, Kaboom, The Music Never Stopped

Where Do We Go Now? (Et maintenant, on va où?)

Review preview for Where Do We Go Now?

Labaki manages to get across a view of life that is not predominant in cinematic stories, without making it seem like an agenda.

Lindis Kipp · 5 out of 5
A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village.

(Country: Lebanon; Year: 2011; Director: Nadine Labaki; Writer: Rodney Al Haddid, Jihad Hojeily, Nadine Labaki; Stars: Kevin Abboud, Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Julian Farhat, Ali Haidar, Leyla Hakim, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Claude Moussawbaa, Antoinette Noufaily)

Full review