Search: Starring August Diehl

Bonhoeffer struggles with his faith, but less in the manner of a great thinker and more in that of someone who writes quotes for inspirational posters.

The tension and sense of death is like a physical barrier to sanity’s guiding hand.

The way Zischler and Hüller play their relationship is so wonderfully real and subtle and appropriately opaque for all us non-Mann family members, that it at times brought tears to my eyes.

One of the flaws of Malick’s film is that the main character goes into introspective mode, thereby depriving us of any real insight in to his thoughts.

Elegantly photographed, with beautifully constructed sets, this is a film that exudes quality from beginning to end.

Cotillard is at her very best as a character we see only from the sidelines – earthy and opinionated in flashes, yet frozen by her art.

While the tension of the build up to the initial disaster on the submarine is well-handled, Vinterberg struggles to dovetail that with his other plot lines.

The acting is terrific throughout and many of the characters will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has inhabited drug-using circles.

A fine, well-made and thought-provoking film... Nonetheless, something seems lacking, preventing it from being as powerful and overwhelming a piece of cinema as you think it ought.

With such complex moral issues at its heart and such a weight of emotion, it isn’t difficult for the film to maker an impression, but the nuance established by the actors is what really sells it.

If it weren’t so po-faced it might pass as a bit of good, guilty fun.

On the strength of this film, writer/director Robert Schwentke is a talent to watch.