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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2016

San Sebastian Film Festival 2016

Official Selection

Programme

27 films · 14 reviews

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150 Milligrams (La Fille De Brest)

Review preview for 150 Milligrams

Knudsen is magnetic as the film's relentlessly pounding heart and its easy to fall into step with her beat.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A lung specialist discovers a direct link between suspicious deaths and state-approved medicine. She fights single-handedly for the truth to come out.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Emmanuelle Bercot; Writer: Emmanuelle Bercot, Séverine Bosschem, Romain Compingt, Irène Frachon; Stars: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Benoît Magimel)

Full review

Opening Night film.

American Pastoral

Review preview for American Pastoral

McGregor's character paradoxically gets too much and not enough. Swede feels clogged with sentiment for his daughter, with little room for other emotions.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
Seymour “Swede” Levov, a once legendary high school athlete, is now a successful businessman married to Dawn, a former beauty queen. But turmoil brews beneath the polished veneer of Swede’s life.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Ewan McGregor; Writer: John Romano, based on the novel by Philip Roth; Stars: Ewan McGregor, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Connelly, Uzo Aduba, David Strathairn, Rupert Evans, Valorie Curry, Peter Riegert, Hannah Nordberg, Mark Hildreth, Emily Peachey, Ocean James, Julia Silverman, David Whalen)

Full review

As You Are

The telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte; Writer: Madison Harrison, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte; Stars: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andrew Polk, Annemarie Lawless, John Romeo, Billy Thomas Myott)

Bigas X Bigas

Director's video diary.

(Year: 2016; Director: Bigas Lunas, Santiago Garrida Rua)

Special screening.

Colossal

Review preview for Colossal

Vigalondo's film is very funny in places but the characters are undercooked.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A going-nowhere party girl discovers a mysterious connection between herself and a giant monster wreaking havoc on the other side of the globe.

(Country: Canada, Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Nacho Vigalondo; Writer: Nacho Vigalondo; Stars: Anne Hathaway, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson, Agam Darshi, Hannah Cheramy, Rukiya Bernard, Sarah Surh, Miho Suzuki, Christine Lee)

Full review

Out of Competition.

The Giant (Jätten)

Review preview for The Giant

The film moves deftly between humour and poignancy, generating a strong emotional response in its quieter moments.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Rikard is a 30-year-old man, severely deformed and suffering from autism, haunted by the loss of his mother. From time to time, he escapes from reality into an imaginary world where he is a 50m tall giant.

(Country: Sweden, Denmark; Year: 2016; Director: Johannes Nyholm; Writer: Johannes Nyholm; Stars: Christian Andrén, Johan Kylén, Anna Bjelkerud, Linda Faith, Moa Malan, Niclas Fransson, Gun Larsson, Bengt Carlsson, Stina Rangmar, Stina Elinderson, Pia Edlund, Leif Edlund, Bo Melin, Martin McFaul, Martin Högdahl)

Full review

I am Not Madame Bovary

After being swindled by her ex-husband, a woman takes on the Chinese legal system.

(Country: China; Year: 2016; Director: Xiaogang Feng; Stars: Bingbing Fan)

Jesus

Jesús, 18, lives alone with his father Hector in a flat where the TV covers up their inability to communicate. One night, his thrill-seeking goes too far.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2016; Director: Fernando Guzzoni; Writer: Fernando Guzzoni; Stars: Nicolás Durán, Alejandro Goic)

Living And Other Fictions (Vivir y otras ficciones)

The desire to have a full sex life becomes a vital, political option when Antonio, a tetraplegic writer, decides to set up a space offering sexual assistance in his own home.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Jo Sol)

Special screening.

Lady Macbeth

Review preview for Lady Macbeth

Just when you think you know this story, Oldroyd and Birch begin to show you that you don't.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman sold into a loveless marriage develops a mind for murder after starting an affair.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: William Oldroyd; Writer: Alice Birch, based on the novel by Nikolai Leskov; Stars: Florence Pugh, Christopher Fairbank, Cosmo Jarvis, Naomi Ackie, Paul Hilton, Golda Rosheuvel, Anton Palmer)

Full review See: William Oldroyd interview about austerity and colour-blind casting in Lady Macbeth

Manda Huevos

Documentary follow-up to Barefoot In The Kitchen, exploring how Spanish films have portrayed masculinity down the years.

(Year: 2016; Director: Diego Galán)

Special screening.

May God Save Us (Que Dios nos perdone)

The hunt for a serial killer plays out against the backdrop of Madrid, summer 2011 and the economic crisis.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Writer: Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Stars: María Ballesteros, Josean Bengoetxea, Jesús Caba, Antonio de la Torre, Luis del Valle, Ester Expósito, Andrés Gertrúdix, Teresa Lozano, Mónica López, Ciro Miró, Rocío Muñoz-Cobo, María de Nati, Angelo Olivier, Raúl Prieto, Raquel Pérez)

The Magnificent Seven

Review preview for The Magnificent Seven

The John Ford cliches clang against the Sergio Leone sloppy seconds with the hollow ring of a church bell.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
Seven gunmen team up to help save a village from an evil mining boss.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Antoine Fuqua; Writer: Richard Wenk, Nic Pizzolatto; Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Peter Sarsgaard, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, Luke Grimes, Matt Bomer, Jonathan Joss, Cam Gigandet, Emil Beheshti, Mark Ashworth)

Full review

Donostia screening. Out of Competition.

A Monster Calls

Review preview for A Monster Calls

Bayona knows how to turn the screw of sentiment, not so much jerking tears as gradually filling a well of sadness until it can't help but spill out.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mum's terminal illness.

(Country: US, Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Juan Antonio Bayona; Writer: Patrick Ness; Stars: Felicity Jones, Liam Neeson, Toby Kebbell, Sigourney Weaver, Geraldine Chaplin, Lewis MacDougall, Jennifer Lim, Frida Palsson, Lily-Rose Aslandogdu, James Melville, Ben Moor, Lee Bolton, Joe Curtis, Garry Marriott, Max Gabbay)

Full review See: Sigourney Weaver on A Monster Calls, Alien sequel, US election and women in film

Donostia screening. Out of Competition

Nocturama

Review preview for Nocturama

It is in the second half of Nocturama - which takes place in a department store by night - that Bertrand Bonello's prowess at showing us worlds closing in on themselves comes to full force.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
One morning in Paris. A fistful of adolescents, from different backgrounds. Individually, they begin a strange dance through the labyrinth of the metro and the streets of the capital. They seem to be following a plan.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Bertrand Bonello; Writer: Bertrand Bonello; Stars: Finnegan Oldfield, Vincent Rottiers, Hamza Meziani, Manal Issa, Martin Petit-Guyot, Jamil McCraven, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laure Valentinelli, Ilias Le Doré, Robin Goldbronn, Luis Rego, Hermine Karagheuz, Adèle Haenel)

Full review See: Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Bertrand Bonello in conversation on Nocturama

The Oath (Eiðurinn)

Finnur is a successful heart surgeon and father of two. His family's life begins to unravel when his daugther, Anna gets mixed up with a manipulative drug-dealing boyfriend.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2016; Director: Baltasar Kormákur; Writer: Ólafur Egilsson, Baltasar Kormákur; Stars: Hera Hilmar, Baltasar Kormákur, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Joi Johannsson, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Þorsteinn Gunnarsson, Sigrún Edda Björnsdóttir, Ágúst Bjarnason, Bjarki Þór Jónsson, María Heba Þorkelsdóttir, Jón Páll Eyjólfsson, Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Björn Ingi Hilmarsson, Jakob Þór Einarsson)

The Odyssey (L'odyssée)

Review preview for The Odyssey

The tension between Philippe and his dad ultimately drives the film in ways that lead Salle to cut corners with other characters and leave it caught in the doldrums when Niney is absent.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
Biopic of the underwater pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Jérôme Salle; Writer: Jean-Michel Cousteau, Albert Falco, Jérôme Salle, Laurent Turner; Stars: Lambert Wilson, Audrey Tautou, Pierre Niney, Benjamin Lavernhe, Laurent Lucas)

Full review See: Jérôme Salle in conversation on Lambert Wilson's performance as Jacques-Yves Cousteau in The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) , Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Jérôme Salle in conversation on The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) , Director Jerôme Salle interview about diving into the life of Jacques Cousteau

Out of Competition. Closing Night film.

Orphan (Orpheline)

Review preview for Orphan

This film, like it's central character is wilfully complex and surprisingly fluid, wrong-footing us as we try to fill in the spaces between each vignette at the same time as drawing us to its thriller component.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Four incarnations of a character who is a mistress of reinvention.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Arnaud des Pallières; Writer: Christelle Berthevas, Arnaud des Pallières; Stars: Adèle Haenel, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Solène Rigot, Vega Cuzytek, Jalil Lespert, Gemma Arterton, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Sergi López, Karim Leklou, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Edéa Darcque, Laurent Delbecque, Rayan Rabia, Emilie Gavois-Kahn, Alexis Manenti)

Full review

Playground

Two ordinary boys seek entertainment on a dull, summer afternoon... and alas they find it.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2016; Director: Bartosz M Kowalski)

Rage (Ikari)

A murder case erodes trust in a small fishing village.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Lee Sang-il ; Writer: Shûichi Yoshida, Lee Sang-il , Shûichi Yoshida; Stars: Ken Watanabe, Hikari Mitsushima, Mirai Moriyama, Aoi Miyazaki, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Gô Ayano, Suzu Hirose, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Kirin Kiki, Masaki Okada, Eri Fukatsu, Takahiro Miura, Pierre Taki, Chizuru Ikewaki, Akira Emoto)

The Reunion (La Reconquista)

Manuela and Olmo meet in a future as they had promised 15 years earlier as teenagers, in the flush of first love.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Jonás Trueba; Writer: Jonás Trueba; Stars: Itsaso Arana, Francesco Carril, Aura Garrido, Pablo Hoyos, Candela Recio)

Smoke And Mirrors (El hombre de las mil caras)

Review preview for Smoke And Mirrors

Too much smoke and not enough mirrors.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
The story of spy Francisco Paesa, a man who fooled an entire country.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Alberto Rodríguez; Writer: Manuel Cerdán, Rafael Cobos, Alberto Rodríguez; Stars: Marta Etura, José Coronado, Luis Callejo, Jimmy Shaw, Eduard Fernández, Craig Stevenson, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Carlos Santos, Christian Stamm, Pedro Casablanc, Philippe Rebbot, Verónica Goya, Alba Galocha, José Manuel Poga, Tomás del Estal)

Full review

Snowden

Review preview for Snowden

Oliver Stone takes the story and gives it slick mainstream polish, bringing the issue home in a way that is understandable and urgent, even if his hero ends up seeming almost too good to be true.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Biopic of the whistleblower.

(Country: US, Germany, France; Year: 2016; Director: Oliver Stone; Writer: Kieran Fitzgerald, Oliver Stone; Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans, Zachary Quinto, Nicolas Cage, Timothy Olyphant, Logan Marshall-Green, Joely Richardson, Keith Stanfield, Melissa Leo, Ben Schnetzer, Tom Wilkinson, Parker Sawyers, Christy Meyer)

Full review See: Oliver Stone, Shailene Woodley and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in conversation about Snowden

Out of Competition

Toni Erdmann

Review preview for Toni Erdmann

The film really shouldn’t work, but it does.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A father drops in on his daughter and poses as a stranger to her friends.

(Country: Germany, Austria; Year: 2016; Director: Maren Ade; Writer: Maren Ade; Stars: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller, Lucy Russell, Trystan Pütter, Hadewych Minis, Vlad Ivanov, Ingrid Bisu, John Keogh, Ingo Wimmer, Cosmin Padureanu, Anna Maria Bergold, Radu Banzaru, Alexandru Papadopol, Sava Lolov, Jürg Löw)

Full review See: Maren Ade and Sandra Hüller in conversation on Oscar nominee Toni Erdmann , Maren Ade and Sandra Hüller in conversation on Toni Erdmann

FIPRESCI Grand Prix. Out of Competition.

The Winter (El Invierno)

The old foreman of a Patagonian ranch is fired from his job. A younger ranch hand takes his place. The change won’t be easy for either of them. Each, in his own way, must survive the coming winter.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2016; Director: Emiliano Torres; Writer: Emiliano Torres, Marcelo Chaparro; Stars: Alejandro Sieveking, Cristian Salguero, Adrián Fondari, Pablo Cedrón, Mara Bestelli, Violeta Vidal, Eva Jarriau, Raphaël Turrents, Fernando Javier Desmonts, Antoine Desmonts Pelis, Julio Argentino Bahamonde, Rodrigo Iturralde, Pedro Pablo Burgos, Juan Carlos Cáceres Benítez, Matías Fernando Calabrese)

Yourself And Yours (Dangsinjasingwa Dangsinui Geot)

Painter Youngsoo hears that his girlfriend Minjung drank with a man and fought with him. They argue that night, and Minjung goes out, saying they shouldn't see each other for some time. The next day, Youngsoo looks for her, but can't find her. Meanwhile, in Yeonnam where he lives, Minjung or some women who look identical to her go around meeting different men. Youngsoo wanders and fights with himself, which is the same as fighting with the world.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2016; Director: Hong Sang-Soo; Writer: Hong Sang-Soo)

Your Name (Kimi No Na Wa)

Review preview for Your Name

This is a lovely, joyful film from writer/director Makoto Shinkai that will, alternately, make you smile and have you perched anxiously on the edge of your seat.

Jane Fae · 4.5 out of 5
Two high school kids who've never met - city boy Taki and country girl Mitsuha - are united through their dreams.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Makoto Shinkai; Writer: Makoto Shinkai; Stars: Etsuko Ichihara, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Masami Nagasawa, Ryô Narita, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kanon Tani, Aoi Yuki)

Full review

Special screening.