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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2016

San Sebastian Film Festival 2016

Pearls

Programme

16 films · 13 reviews

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Arrival

Review preview for Arrival

Denis Villeneuve's latest film may be about aliens visiting Earth but it's the people who hold his interest.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A linguist is given the task of helping to communicate with extra-terrestrial beings when they touch down around the globe.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Denis Villeneuve; Writer: Eric Heisserer, based on the short story by Ted Chiang; Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nathaly Thibault, Mark O'Brien, Tzi Ma, Leisa Reid, Abigail Pniowsky, Julia Scarlett Dan, Ruth Chiang, Frank Fiola, Julian Casey, Russell Yuen, Max Walker)

Full review

Closing Night film.

After Love (L'économie Du Couple)

Review preview for After Love

The script takes an adult approach to emotions, even as it shows how childish a situation can become.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
After they split, a couple continue to share a house because of financial constraints.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Joachim Lafosse; Writer: Fanny Burdino, Joachim Lafosse, Mazarine Pingeot, Thomas van Zuylen; Stars: Bérénice Bejo, Marthe Keller, Cédric Kahn, Catherine Salée, Tibo Vandenborre, Margaux Soentjens, Jade Soentjens, Francesco Italiano, Annick Johnson, Philippe Jeusette, Ariane Rousseau, Pascal Rogard)

Full review

After The Storm (Umi yori mo mada fukaku)

A writer tries to reconnect with his family.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Kirin Kiki, Hiroshi Abe, Rirî Furankî, Yôko Maki, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Satomi Kobayashi, Isao Hashizume, Taiyô Yoshizawa)

Elle

Review preview for Elle

Huppert's outstanding performance embraces with unswerving delicacy the controversial decisions she faces.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
A successful video game boss aims to track down her attacker after a home invasion.

(Country: France, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Paul Verhoeven; Writer: David Birke, based on the book by Philippe Djian; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Alice Isaaz, Christian Berkel, Virginie Efira, Anne Consigny, Laurent Lafitte, Jonas Bloquet, Charles Berling, Vimala Pons, Raphaël Lenglet, Olivia Gotanègre, Lucas Prisor, Judith Magre, Arthur Mazet, Stéphane Bak)

Full review See: Isabelle Huppert - Elle star on working with Verhoeven, awards and the gift of confidence

Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare)

Review preview for Fire At Sea

The symbolism in Fire At Sea is so organic that it might dawn on you hours or days after seeing the film.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A documentary looking at the inhabitants of Lampedusa and the desperate attempts made by refugees to reach the island.

(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2015; Director: Gianfranco Rosi; Writer: Gianfranco Rosi, Carla Cattani; Stars: Samuele Pucillo, Mattias Cucina, Samuele Caruana, Pietro Bartolo, Giuseppe Fragapane)

Full review

Florence Foster Jenkins

Review preview for Florence Foster Jenkins

The embarrassment levels are high

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2.5 out of 5
The story of a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite being unable to carry a tune in a bucket.

(Country: UK, France; Year: 2016; Director: Stephen Frears; Writer: Nicholas Martin; Stars: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson, David Haig, Neve Gachev, John Kavanagh, Josh O'Connor, Nina Arianda, Elliot Levey, Mark Arnold, John Sessions, Dilyana Bouklieva, Christian McKay, David Menkin)

Full review

Frantz

Review preview for Frantz

Frequently and not at all randomly, the film switches to colour, posing a charming riddle that reflects states of happiness or other kinds of intensity.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious French man who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon, Philippe Piazzo; Stars: Pierre Niney, Paula Beer, Ernst Stötzner, Marie Gruber, Johann von Bülow, Anton von Lucke, Cyrielle Clair, Alice de Lencquesaing, Axel Wandtke, Rainer Egger, Rainer Silberschneider, Merlin Rose, Ralf Dittrich, Michael Witte, Lutz Blochberger)

Full review See: Interview with François Ozon about Frantz

I, Daniel Blake

Review preview for I, Daniel Blake

The film preserves a sense of immediacy and is achingly relevant for our times much in the same way Cathy Come Home was for the Sixties.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A carpenter suffering from ill health and a young single mum find themselves facing a wall of welfare bureacracy.

(Country: UK, France; Year: 2016; Director: Ken Loach; Writer: Paul Laverty; Stars: Hayley Squires, Natalie Ann Jamieson, Dave Johns, Micky McGregor, Colin Coombs, Bryn Jones, Mick Laffey, Dylan McKiernan, John Sumner, Briana Shann, Rob Kirtley)

Full review See: Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Dave Johns and Hayley Squires talk I, Daniel Blake in Cannes

Little Men

Review preview for Little Men

The film could be called "old fashioned" but that is rarely a bad thing.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Caught up in a family feud over rent, two boys respond with a vow of silence.

(Country: US, Greece; Year: 2016; Director: Ira Sachs; Writer: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias; Stars: Greg Kinnear, Paulina García, Jennifer Ehle, Theo Taplitz, Michael Barbieri, Talia Balsam, David Krumholtz, Alfred Molina, Clare Foley, Andy Karl, Yolonda Ross, Stella Schnabel, Arthur J. Nascarella, Elia Monte-Brown, Johnny Serret)

Full review

My Life As A Courgette (Ma Vie De Courgette)

Review preview for My Life As A Courgette

The script has a heartfelt carefulness but it is never preachy, with 'naughty' conversations about the home's teacher's willy exploding likely to have pre-adolescents (and adults who well remember these sorts of conversations) hooting with laughter.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Stop-motion story of a boy, who is sent to a group home for orphans after the death of his mum.

(Country: Switzerland, France; Year: 2016; Director: Claude Barras; Writer: Gilles Paris, Morgan Navarro, Céline Sciamma, Germano Zullo; Stars: Voices of: Michel Vuillermoz, Natacha Koutchoumov, Paulin Jaccoud, Brigitte Rosset, Adrien Barazzone, Véronique Montel, Monica Budde, Anne-Laure Brasey, Estelle Hennard, Jean-Claude Issenmann, Sixtine Murat, Raul Ribera, Elliot Sanchez, Gaspard Schlatter, Lou Wick)

Full review See: Interview with Claude Barras about My Life As A Courgette

Neruda

Review preview for Neruda

A triumphant piece of filmmaking.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Story of the Nobel prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his homeland.

(Country: France, Spain, Argentina, Chile; Year: 2016; Director: Pablo Larraín; Writer: Guillermo Calderón; Stars: Gael García Bernal, Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro, Luis Gnecco, Pablo Derqui, Mercedes Morán, Marcelo Alonso, Alejandro Goic, Jaime Vadell, Francisco Reyes, Diego Muñoz, Michael Silva)

Full review

On The Milky Road (Na Mlecnom Putu)

Story of a milkman's blossoming love against the backdrop of war.

(Country: Serbia, Mexico, US, UK; Year: 2016; Director: Emir Kusturica; Writer: Emir Kusturica; Stars: Monica Bellucci, Emir Kusturica, Sergej Trifunovic, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Maria Darkina, Bajram Severdzan, Davor Janjic, Zoran Cvijanovic, Sloboda Micalovic, Petar Mircevski, Ratka Radmanovic, Branislav Fistric, Darko Kurtovic)

The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge)

Review preview for The Red Turtle

Some of the art is truly breathtaking, especially the star-filled skies, and the movement of the various animals we meet is beautifully observed.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The life of a castaway on a desert island.

(Country: France, Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Michael Dudok de Wit; Writer: Michael Dudok de Wit, Pascale Ferran; Stars: Emmanuel Garijo, Tom Hudson, Baptiste Goy)

Full review See: Michaël Dudok de Wit in conversation on The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge) and Studio Ghibli

Sieranevada

Drama set at a family reunion to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the family patriarch.

(Country: Romania, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia; Year: 2016; Director: Cristi Puiu; Writer: Cristi Puiu; Stars: Mimi Branescu, Bogdan Dumitrache)

Things To Come (L'Avenir)

Review preview for Things To Come

Huppert is perfect - no trace of self-pity waters down the complicated emotions at work.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A philosophy teacher soldiers through her life being turned upside down on all fronts.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: Mia Hansen-Løve; Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, André Marcon, Roman Kolinka, Edith Scob)

Full review

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