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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2020

San Sebastian Film Festival 2020

Pearls

Programme

11 films · 7 reviews

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DNA (ADN)

A woman who regularly visits her elderly grandfather at a care home finds a family storm unleashed after his death.

(Country: France, Algeria; Year: 2020; Director: Maïwenn; Writer: Mathieu Demy, Maïwenn; Stars: Maïwenn, Louis Garrel, Marine Vacth, Fanny Ardant, Dylan Robert, Henri-Noël Tabary, Caroline Chaniolleau, Florent Lacger, Omar Marwan, Alain Françon, Maïwenn, Louis Garrel, Marine Vacth, Fanny Ardant, Dylan Robert)

The Father

Review preview for The Father

Zeller elegantly and scarily fuses dream logic with markers of past trauma.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Anthony is 80 years old. He lives alone in London and refuses the caregivers that his daughter tries to impose upon him. Yet his need for help is becoming more pressing.

(Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Florian Zeller; Writer: Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller; Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams)

Full review

Herself

Review preview for Herself

Yes, Herself is first and foremost a film about a woman's journey. It is also, in a smaller way, about another journey, from selfishness to community spirit.

Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
A domestic abuse survivor tries to build a new life - and home - for her kids.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2020; Director: Phyllida Lloyd; Writer: Clare Dunne, Malcolm Campbell; Stars: Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill, Ian Lloyd Anderson, Molly McCanne, Ruby Rose O'Hara)

Full review

Miss Marx

Biopic about Karl Marx’s youngest daughter Eleanor.

(Country: Italy, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Susanna Nicchiarelli; Writer: Susanna Nicchiarelli; Stars: Romola Garai, Patrick Kennedy, John Gordon Sinclair, Felicity Montagu, Karina Fernandez, Emma Cunniffe, Philip Gröning, George Arrendell, Célestin Ryelandt, Oliver Chris, Alexandra Lewis, Georgina Sadler, Miel Van Hasselt, Freddy Drabble, Katie McGovern)

The Mole Agent

Review preview for The Mole Agent

Alberdi keeps the tone light and profound simultaneously.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
When a family becomes concerned about their mother’s well-being in a retirement home, private investigator Romulo hires Sergio, an 83-year-old man who becomes a new resident – and a mole inside the home, who struggles to balance his assignment with becoming increasingly involved in the lives of several residents.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2020; Director: Maite Alberdi; Stars: Sergio Chamy, Rómulo Aitken, Rubira Olivares, Marta Olivares, Berta Ureta, Zoila Gonzalez, Petronila Abarca)

Full review

Moving On

Review preview for Moving On

A beautifully observed portrait of a family in crisis.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Okju and Dongju move into their grandpa's house during their summer vacation after their father goes broke... but problems begin with their grandad falls ill.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2019; Director: Yoon Dan-bi; Writer: Yoon Dan-bi; Stars: Yang Heung-ju)

Full review

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Review preview for Never Rarely Sometimes Always

It is a portrait of loneliness and alienation, yes, but also of resourcefulness, resilience and unity.

Jeremy Mathews · 4.5 out of 5
Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn and her cousin Skylar embark on a brave, fraught journey across state lines to New York City.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Eliza Hittman; Writer: Eliza Hittman; Stars: Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, Sharon Van Etten, Drew Seltzer)

Full review See: Interview with Eliza Hittman and Sidney Flanigan about Never Rarely Sometimes Always

New Order (Nuevo Orden)

A lavish upper-class wedding goes awry in an unexpected uprising of class warfare that gives way to a violent coup d’etat.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Michel Franco; Writer: Michel Franco; Stars: Diego Boneta, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Naian González Norvind, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Lisa Owen, Javier Sepulveda, Mónica Del Carmen, Sebastian Silveti, Patricia Bernal, Roberto Medina, Eligio Meléndez, Analy Castro, Enrique Singer, Fernando Cuautle, Diego Boneta)

Nomadland

Review preview for Nomadland

What worked so well in The Rider, namely that people were playing versions of themselves, falls flat because of the casting of McDormand in the lead.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 2.5 out of 5
A woman in her sixties who, after losing everything following the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, lives as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Chloé Zhao; Writer: Chloé Zhao, based on the book by Jessica Bruder; Stars: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Charlene Swankie, Bob Wells, Patricia Grier, Cat Clifford, Tay Strathairn, Peter Spears)

Full review See: Interview with Chloé Zhao about Cat Clifford and the music of Ludovico Einaudi

Wife Of A Spy

A couple struggle to overcome distrust and stay faithful in each other as war comes into their lives.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Writer: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Tadashi Nohara; Stars: Yû Aoi, Masahiro Higashide, Issey Takahashi, Hyunri, Yuri Tsunematsu, Ryôta Bandô, Chuck Johnson, Takashi Sasano, Minosuke, Yû Aoi, Masahiro Higashide, Issey Takahashi, Hyunri, Yuri Tsunematsu, Ryôta Bandô)

Out of competition. Section opening gala

The World To Come

Review preview for The World To Come

Overall, the story is a familiar one, with a predictably, one could even say, cliched tragic sweep - a well-trodden pioneer trail that while watchable for the fine performances, still feels overly stuck in a rut.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
In upstate New York in the 1850s, Abigail begins a new year on the rural farm where she lives with her husband Dyer. But a friendship with the wife of a new neighbour leads to trouble.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Mona Fastvold; Writer: Ron Hansen, Jim Shepard; Stars: Vanessa Kirby, Katherine Waterston, Casey Affleck, Christopher Abbott, Andreea Vasile, Ioachim Ciobanu, Karina Ziana Gherasim, James Longshore, Sandra Personnic-House)

Full review

Out of competition. Section closing gala