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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2012

San Sebastian Film Festival 2012

Official Selection

Films in competition for the Golden Shell.

Programme

17 films · 8 reviews

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Arbitrage

Review preview for Arbitrage

Richard Gere is getting better with age. The lived-in look suits him and he holds this film tight.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A hedge-fund magnate is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire before the depths of his fraud are revealed. An unexpected, bloody error forces him to turn to the most unlikely corner for help.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Nicholas Jarecki; Writer: Nicholas Jarecki; Stars: Richard Gere, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Susan Sarandon, Monica Raymund, William Friedkin, Laetitia Casta, Josh Pais, Stuart Margolin, Evelina Oboza, Bruce Altman, Chris Eigeman, Nate Parker, Paula Devicq, Angel Picard-Ami) , Trailer

Full review See: Nicholas Jarecki interview about Arbitrage , San Sebastian Film Festival Diary - Day 1

All Apologies

After his son died in an accident, Cheng approaches the wife of the driver responsible and asks to be given another child.

(Director: Emily Tang)

Argo

Review preview for Argo

Affleck knows how to keep a tight grip on a story, gets better at ratcheting tension with every film, and displays a fearlessness when it comes to mixing genre.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A CIA agent attempts to rescue six trapped Americans during the 1979 Iranian revolution.

(Country: US, Turkey; Year: 2012; Director: Ben Affleck; Writer: Joshuah Bearman, Chris Terrio; Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina, Zeljko Ivanek, Titus Welliver)

Full review See: National Board of Review Awards Gala red carpet with Ben Affleck, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redrgrave, Emmanuelle Riva and more , San Sebastian Film Festival Diary: Episode 2

The Artist And The Model (El artista y la modelo)

Review preview for The Artist And The Model

More sedate than scintillating, it is nevertheless impressively shot by newcomer Daniel Vilar - a name to look out for - and beautifully acted.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
An elderly sculptor, tired of life and mankind’s folly, rediscovers the desire to work again, thanks to the arrival of a young Spanish woman who has escaped from a refugee camp.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2012; Director: Fernando Trueba; Writer: Jean-Claude Carrière, Fernando Trueba; Stars: Claudia Cardinale, Götz Otto, Jean Rochefort, Chus Lampreave, Aida Folch, Christian Sinniger, Martin Gamet, Mateo Deluz)

Full review See: Fernando Trueba and Aida Folch in conversation about The Artist And The Model

Atraco!

Agents for Eva Peron plan a robbery after she pawns her jewellery.

(Country: Spain, Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Eduard Cortés; Writer: Eduard Cortés, Pedro Costa, Piti Español, Marcelo Figueras; Stars: Óscar Jaenada, Amaia Salamanca, Guillermo Francella, Francesc Albiol, Daniel Fanego, Nicolás Cabré, Bárbara de Lema, Félix Cubero, Felipe Vélez, Jorge Suquet, Jordi Martínez, Juan Codina, Simona Ferrar, Chechu Moltó)

The Attack

An Arab surgeon is faced with his wife's dark secret in the aftermath of a suicide bombing.

(Country: Lebanon, France, Qatar, Belgium; Year: 2012; Director: Ziad Doueiri; Writer: Ziad Doueiri, Joelle Touma, based on the novel by Yasmina Khadra.; Stars: Ali Suliman, Evgenia Dodena, Reymond Amsalem, Dvir Benedek, Uri Gavriel, Ruba Salameh, Karim Saleh, Ramzi Makdessi, Ezra Dagan, Michael Warshaviak, Eli Gorenstein, Vladimir Friedman, Mohammed Nabulsi, Hassan Yassine, Nisrine Seksek)

Blancanieves (Snow White)

Review preview for Blancanieves

Although much of the action is played for dark comedy, Berger undercuts his pastiche with unexpected poignancy at key moments.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
1920s re-imagining of Snow White.

(Country: Spain, Belgium, France; Year: 2012; Director: Pablo Berger; Writer: Pablo Berger; Stars: Maribel Verdú, Ángela Molina, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Inma Cuesta, Macarena García, Josep Maria Pou, Pere Ponce, Ramón Barea, Ignacio Mateos, Emilio Gavira, Carmen Belloch, Sofía Oria, Pere Vall, Sergio Dorado)

Full review See: Pablo Berger interview about Blancanieves , San Sebastian Film Festival Diary: Episode 3

Capital (Le Capital)

Story of a European banking head facing a takeover from American investors.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Costa-Gavras; Writer: Karim Boukercha, Costa-Gavras, Jean-Claude Grumberg, Stéphane Osmont; Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Gad Elmaleh, Liya Kebede, Jordana DePaula, Céline Sallette, Hippolyte Girardot, Natacha Régnier, Paul Barrett, Bernard Le Coq, Daniel Mesguich, Vincent Nemeth, Jean-Marie Frin, Eric Naggar, Nick Raio, Hugo Malpeyre)

The Dead And The Living

A film about self-discovery and identity, set against the backdrop of the Second World War.

(Country: Austria, Poland, Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Barbara Albert; Writer: Barbara Albert; Stars: Anna Fischer, Daniela Sea, Itay Tiran, August Zirner, Emily Cox, Winfried Glatzeder, Almut Zilcher)

The Dead Man And Being Happy (El muerto y ser feliz)

Review preview for The Dead Man And Being Happy

Rebollo, reinvents the Road Movie, just as Leos Carax does in Holy Motors.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
An ageing hitman goes on a darkly comic journey to nowhere.

(Country: Spain, France, Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Javier Rebollo; Writer: Lola Mayo, Javier Rebollo, Salvador Roselli; Stars: José Sacristán, Valeria Alonso, Vicky Peña, Fermí Reixach, Roxana Blanco, Jorge Jellinek, Lisa Caligaris, Carlos Lecuona)

Full review See: Javier Rebollo interview about The Dead Man And Being Happy

Fishing Days

A 50-year-old ex-alcoholic is advised to find a hobby to dry out. He chooses fishing in a small village in Patagonia, which just happens to be where his daughter lives, whom he hasn’t seen in years.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Carlos Sorin; Writer: Carlos Sorin)

Foxfire

Members of a girl gang set out on a trip of vengeance.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Laurent Cantet; Writer: Laurent Cantet, Joyce Carol Oates; Stars: Michelle Nolden, Tamara Hope, Ali Liebert, Joris Jarsky, Kent Nolan, Briony Glassco, Madeleine Bisson, David Patrick Green, Matthew Deslippe, Raven Adamson, John Stead, Ian Matthews, Victoria DiGiovanni, Christian Lloyd, Joey Iachetta)

The Hypnotist

Review preview for The Hypnotist

Everything is wreathed in snow and the crisp air seems to make the stark absence of clues even crueller,.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A detective pairs up with a hypnotist to try to solve a brutal murder.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2012; Director: Lasse Hallström; Writer: Alexander Ahndoril, Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, Paolo Vacirca, based on the novel by Lars Kepler; Stars: Tobias Zilliacus, Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Olin, Helena af Sandeberg, Jonatan Bökman, Oscar Pettersson, Eva Melander, Anna Azcarate, Johan Hallström, Göran Thorell, Jan Waldekranz, Emma Mehonic, Tomas Magnusson, Nadja Josephson)

Full review

In The House

Review preview for In The House

Ozon loves to let his audience's perceptions clash.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Fiction and reality become blurred between a teacher and student.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon, based on the play by Juan Mayorga; Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Denis Ménochet, Fabrice Luchini, Jean-François Balmer, Ernst Umhauer, Diana Stewart, Fabrice Colson, Stéphanie Campion, Bastien Ughetto)

Full review See: François Ozon interview about In The House

The Impossible

Review preview for The Impossible

Director Juan Antonio Bayona spins the focus in on a single family caught up in the disaster, personalising the horror and bringing it home in unashamedly melodramatic fashion on its very own tidal wave of emotion.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A family's quiet Thailand holiday turns into a nightmare when a huge tsunami engulfs the grounds of their hotel.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2012; Director: Juan Antonio Bayona; Writer: Sergio G Sánchez; Stars: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Holland, Marta Etura, Olivia Jackson, Oaklee Pendergast, Samuel Joslin, Dominic Power, Sönke Möhring, Nicola Harrison, Gitte Witt, Bruce Blain, Teo Quintavalle, Natalie Lorence)

Full review

Rhino Season

The tale of Sahel, an Iranian-Kurdish poet newly released from a 30-year prison sentence who thinks of nothing but finding his wife.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Bahman Ghobadi; Stars: Behrouz Vossoughi, Monica Bellucci, Yilmaz Erdogan, Caner Cindoruk, Belçim Bilgin, Arash Labaf, Ali Pourtash, Beren Saat)

Twice Born (Venuto al mondo)

A single mum takes her son to Sarajevo, where his father died in the Bosnian War.

(Country: Italy, Spain, Croatia; Year: 2012; Director: Sergio Castellitto; Writer: Sergio Castellitto, Margaret Mazzantini, Margaret Mazzantini; Stars: Penélope Cruz, Emile Hirsch, Mira Furlan, Jane Birkin, Sergio Castellitto, Saadet Aksoy, Branko Djuric, Isabelle Adriani, Sanja Vejnovic, Juan Carlos Vellido, Luna Mijovic, Milan Pavlovic, Adnan Haskovic, Moamer Kasumovic, Emina Muftic)