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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2014

San Sebastian Film Festival 2014

Official Selection

Programme

21 films · 15 reviews

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Autómata

Review preview for Autómata

The audience should be warned that the film boasts a cliche level that could also be hazardous to health.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
An insurance investigator finds himself on the trail of intelligent robots in a future dystopia.

(Country: Spain, US; Year: 2014; Director: Gabe Ibáñez; Writer: Gabe Ibáñez, Igor Legarreta, Javier Sánchez Donate; Stars: Antonio Banderas, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Melanie Griffith, Dylan McDermott, Robert Forster, Tim McInnerny, Andy Nyman, David Ryall, Andrew Tiernan, Christa Campbell, Christina Tam, Danny Kirrane, Philip Rosch, Javier Bardem, Harry Anichkin)

Full review

Casanova Variations

Review preview for Casanova Variations

How much of this is about Casanova? How much about Malkovich and his continuing public self-examination?

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
Two stories about the legendary seducer.

(Country: Portugal; Year: 2014; Director: Michael Sturminger; Writer: Michael Sturminger, Markus Schleinzer; Stars: John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Veronica Ferres, Maria João Bastos, Victória Guerra, Jonas Kaufmann, Lola Naymark, Maria João Luís, Miguel Monteiro, Maria João Pinho, Marina Albuquerque, Miah Persson, Topi Lehtipuu, Christopher Purves, Florian Boesch)

Full review

The Drop

Review preview for The Drop

Bob may have the beefed up body of a bouncer but Hardy continually emphasises his softer, hesitant side, his body language screaming flight even though he is built to fight.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A barman finds himself embroiled in mob trouble after a robbery and facing personal threat after finding a puppy in a dustbin.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Michaël R Roskam; Writer: Dennis Lehane; Stars: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Erin Darke, James Frecheville, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz, Jeremy Bobb, Patricia Squire, Michael Aronov, Michael Esper, James Colby, Morgan Spector, Alex Ziwak)

Full review

Eden

Review preview for Eden

Hansen-Løve's momentary excursions into animation, split screen, and possibly re-writing of world history are the most effective parts.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Paul is taking his first steps as a DJ in the world of French house music.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Mia Hansen-Løve; Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve, Sven Hansen-Løve; Stars: Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Golshifteh Farahani, Claire Tran, Arsinée Khanjian, Crystal Lonneberg, Laura Smet, Félix de Givry, Selcuk Demir, Vincent Lacoste, Pauline Etienne, Vincent Macaigne, Shirville Jarvis, Roman Kolinka, Matthias Van Khache, Reginald L. Wilson)

Full review See: Interview with Mia Hansen-Løve about Eden

The Equalizer

Review preview for The Equalizer

Now it's Denzel Washington's turn, which means this is serious and requires a smart turn out at all times and a watch that goes 'bleep'.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A former commando comes out of retirement to rescue a teenage hooker from the Russian mafia in New York.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Antoine Fuqua; Writer: Richard Wenk; Stars: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Alex Veadov, Vladimir Kulich, E. Roger Mitchell, James Wilcox, Mike O'Dea, Anastasia Sanidopoulos Mousis)

Full review

Opening night film. Out of competition

Félix And Meira (Félix et Meira)

The story of Félix, an eccentric and penniless young man whose wealthy father is dying, and Meira, a Hasidic woman married with a child. They were not meant to meet, let alone fall in love.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2014; Director: Maxime Giroux; Writer: Maxime Giroux, Alexandre Laferrière; Stars: Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron, Luzer Twersky, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Benoît Girard, Melissa Weisz, Michelle Gold)

Flowers (Loreak)

The tale of three women - three lives changed by nothing but a few bunches of flowers.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Jon Garaño, Jose Mari Goenaga )

Haemoo (Haemu)

Review preview for Haemoo

The characters feel shallow in comparison to the impressive action sequences.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
The attempt of a fishing ship’s crew to smuggle illegal migrants ends in catastrophe.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2014; Director: Shim Sung-bo; Writer: Bong Joon-ho, Shim Sung-bo; Stars: Kim Yun-seok, Park Yoo-chun, Han Ye-ri, Mun Seong-kun, Kim Sang-ho, Lee Hee-jun, Yoo Seung-mok, Jung In-gi, Jo Kyung-Sook)

Full review

Lasa And Zabala (Lasa Y Zabala)

The true story of Lasa and Zabala, two Basque refugees who were kidnapped, tortured and murdered in 1983. Twelve years later, lawyers Iñigo and Fede will struggle to identify the murderers, putting their convictions and even their own lives on the line.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Pablo Malo; Writer: Joanes Urkixo; Stars: Unax Ugalde, Román Reyes, Aitor Mazo, Ricard Sales, Pep Tosar, Oriol Vila, Francesc Orella, Pedro Morales, Iñigo Gastesi, Jon Anza, Cristian Mercha)

Out Of Competition

Magical Girl

Review preview for Magical Girl

Instead of ticking off normal narrative beats, Vermut revels in humanity's natural unpredictability, often having his characters act on impulse or a whim.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Three people become caught in a complex web of blackmail.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Carlos Vermut; Writer: Carlos Vermut; Stars: Javier Botet, Bárbara Lennie, José Sacristán, Marisol Membrillo, Elisabet Gelabert, Luis Bermejo, Teresa Soria Ruano, Roser Pujol, Miquel Insua, Israel Elejalde, Alberto Chaves, Julio Arrojo, Lucía Pollán)

Full review

Marshland (La isla mínima)

Review preview for Marshland

Heat and oppression hang in the air like an unspoken accusation.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Two mismatched murder detectives try to stop a serial killer.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Alberto Rodríguez; Writer: Rafael Cobos, Alberto Rodríguez; Stars: Antonio de la Torre, Raúl Arévalo, Jesús Castro, Javier Gutiérrez, Jesús Carroza, Nerea Barros, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina)

Full review

Murieron Por Encima De Sus Posibilidades

Social satire in which five common or garden citizens, from a country pretty much identical to Spain, see their lives ripped apart by the economic crisis.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Isaki Lacuesta; Writer: Isa Campo, Isaki Lacuesta; Stars: Luis Tosar, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Emma Suárez, José Coronado, Raúl Arévalo, Carmen Machi, Macarena Gómez, Àlex Brendemühl, Bárbara Lennie, Julián Villagrán, Imanol Arias, José Sacristán, Eduard Fernández, Jordi Vilches)

Out Of Competition

The New Girlfriend

Review preview for The New Girlfriend

Sexuality, Francois Ozon's latest film declares, can be as complex as desiring another person can be simple.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When a woman falls seriously ill her friend gets more than she bargained for after pledging to look after her baby and husband.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon; Stars: Romain Duris, Anaïs Demoustier, Raphaël Personnaz, Michèle Raingeval, Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat, Jonathan Louis, Audrey Quoturi)

Full review See: Actor on a voyage of self-discovery

Open Air (Aire Libre)

A young married couple, Lucía and Manuel, seem to have forgotten the desires and projects that brought them together.

(Country: Uruguay, Argentina; Year: 2014; Director: Anahí Berneri; Writer: Anahí Berneri, Javier van de Couter; Stars: Fabiana Cantilo, Celeste Cid, Marilu Marini, Pedro Merlo, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Máximo Silva, Lorena Vega)

Phoenix

Review preview for Phoenix

Petzold depicts a country in shock, where everyone is trying to rediscover a sense of self and where survival may be viewed less a miracle than something unbearable in the face of so many losses.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A disfigured concentration camp survivor searches Berlin for her husband.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Christian Petzold, Harun Farocki, based on Return From The Ashes by Hubert Monteilhet; Stars: Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nina Kunzendorf, Michael Maertens, Imogen Kogge, Kirsten Block, Uwe Preuss, Eva Bay, Jeff Burrell, Sofia Exss, Megan Gay, Daniela Holtz, Max Hopp, Nikola Kastner, Valerie Koch)

Full review

Samba

Review preview for Samba

The film has all the bullet points for audience approval and yet somehow falls short

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
Samba migrated to France ten years ago from Senegal, and has since been plugging away at various lowly jobs...

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano; Writer: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano, based on the novel by Delphine Coulin; Stars: Omar Sy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Tahar Rahim, Izïa Higelin, Isaka Sawadogo, Hélène Vincent, Youngar Fall, Christiane Millet, Jacqueline Jehanneuf, Liya Kebede, Sabine Pakora, Clotilde Mollet, Boubacar Ndiaye, Oumar Makalou, Roukiata Ouedraogo)

Full review See: Interviews at the New York première of Samba at The Paris Theatre

Closing night film. Out of competition

A Second Chance (En Chance Til)

Review preview for A Second Chance

Everything feels contrived, overblown and - perhaps the worst sin you can lay at the door of a psychological thriller - utterly predictable.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
How far are decent people willing to go, when tragedy blurs the line between just and unjust?

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2014; Director: Susanne Bier; Writer: Anders Thomas Jensen; Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Thomas Bo Larsen, Maria Bonnevie, Peter Haber, Molly Blixt Egelind, Ewa Fröling, Roland Møller, Charlotte Fich, Bodil Jørgensen, May Andersen, Mille Lehfeldt, Sarah Juel Werner, Frederik Meldal Nørgaard)

Full review

Silent Heart (Stille hjerte)

Review preview for Silent Heart

The furniture of Bille August's latest drama is comfily familiar - what marks it out is the craftsmanship.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A family gather together to say goodbye to their matriarch who plans to take her own life.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2014; Director: Bille August; Writer: Christian Torpe; Stars: Ghita Nørby, Morten Grunwald, Paprika Steen, Danica Curcic, Jens Albinus, Pilou Asbæk, Vigga Bro, Oskar Sælan Halskov)

Full review

Tigers

Review preview for Tigers

There is no flab in the telling of this story, nor any excess sentiment either.

Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
Devastated when he discovers the effects of the infant formula he's peddling, a young salesman takes on a multinational corporation.

(Country: India, France; Year: 2014; Director: Danis Tanovic; Writer: Darab Farooqui, Andy Paterson, Andy Paterson, Vibhu Puri, Danis Tanovic; Stars: Emraan Hashmi, Geetanjali, Khalid Abdalla, Adil Hussain, Satyadeep Misra, Maryam d'Abo, Heino Ferch, Vinod Nagpal, Supriya Pathak, Ulrike Hübschmann, Zachary Coffin, Urs Remond, Manreet Kaur, Wolfgang Krewe, Frank-Otto Schenk)

Full review See: Denis Tanovic on Tigers

La Voz En Off

The tale of Sofia who decides to take a vote of silence in reverse: no mobile phone, no TV, no Internet, no books for a year. But her peace is short-lived.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2014; Director: Cristián Jiménez; Writer: Daniel Castro, Cristián Jiménez; Stars: Ingrid Isensee, María José Siebald, Paulina García, Maite Neira, Cristián Campos, Lucas Miranda, Ignacio Agüero, Cristóbal Palma, Shenda Román, Niels Schneider)

Wild Life (Vie sauvage)

Review preview for Wild Life

If you think you can come to an easy judgement, the film seems to say, think again.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A father tries to raise his two sons away from civilisation.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2014; Director: Cédric Kahn; Stars: Mathieu Kassovitz, Céline Sallette, David Gastou, Sofiane Neveu, Tara-Jay Bangalter, Romain Depret, Jules Ritmanic)

Full review See: Cédric Kahn in conversation on Wild Life (Vie sauvage) part 2 , Cédric Kahn in conversation on Wild Life (Vie sauvage) part 1