Reviews by Anne-Katrin Titze

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Alex Wheatle (2020)

  Review preview for Alex Wheatle

  Cinematographer Shabier Kirchner miraculously positions us in the middle of the chaotic and dangerous atmosphere during the protest and is equally good at capturing intimate moments of anguish.

  The true story of the award-winning writer, from childhood in a mostly white institutional care home to his early adult years.
• 
  The Meaning Of Hitler (2020)

  Review preview for The Meaning Of Hitler

  Epperlein and Tucker’s kaleidoscopic investigation into the past and our future takes us on the road of history to the state of the world at this moment in time.

  Historians and writers explore what Hitler means in the current waves of white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and the weaponisation of history and weigh in on the lasting impact of his virulent ideology.
• 
  Calendar Girl (2020)

  Review preview for Calendar Girl

  Most interestingly, the documentary takes us back in time to when Ruth Finley was hired as a girl Friday by the number-one fashion publicist, Eleonor Lambert, who was pivotal in getting American designers the recognition they deserved in the 1940s.

  Ruth Finley has been the queen of the fashion industry since the 1930s. As a young mother, Ruth created the iconic pink Fashion Calendar, a publication that continues to organise and marshal American fashion today.
• 
  French Exit (2020)

  Review preview for French Exit

  Pfeiffer’s delivery is fantastically inscrutable.

  A Manhattan socialite whose inheritance is running out moves to a borrowed apartment in Paris with her son and cat.
• 
  Beginning (2020)

  Review preview for Beginning

  The lengths of time the shots last and the camera angles that hide more context than they reveal are what formally is most striking about Beginning. But it is the story that sticks with you.

  In a sleepy provincial town, a Jehovah Witness community is attacked by an extremist group. In the midst of this conflict, the familiar world of Yana, the wife of the community leader, slowly crumbles.
• 
  Undine (2020)

  Review preview for Undine

  When Petzold shows the broken mending again, the magic of cinema becomes the subject

  Undine is a city historian on urban development in a Berlin museum, the 'place by the swamp'. When her boyfriend leaves her, she vows to kill the faithless man but soon meets another.
• 
  Nomadland (2020)

  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.

  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.
• 
  Red, White And Blue (2020)

  Review preview for Red, White And Blue

  Each scene builds on the next to illuminate the specifics as well as the universal quality of experiences.

  A drama set in London's West Indian community.
• 
  Notturno (2020)

  Review preview for Notturno

  Rosi’s camera lets the light and the landscapes, the shattered houses and the fractured humanity speak for themselves.

  Documentary about the everyday life in the Middle East that lies behind the continuing tragedy of civil wars, ferocious dictatorships, foreign invasions and interference, up to the murderous apocalypse of ISIS.
• 
  The Human Voice (2020)

  Review preview for The Human Voice

  When Almodóvar has the protagonist talk about kitchen knives and their temptation, all I could think of was the brand of knife he might choose to showcase.

  Drama about a woman traumatised by the end of a relationship.
• 
  Muhammad Ali, The Greatest (1974)

  Review preview for Muhammad Ali, The Greatest

  William Klein’s incomparable documentary is much more than a boxing film.

  Portrait of the boxer.
• 
  Mangrove (2020)

  Review preview for Mangrove

  The ease with which McQueen shifts the tone from very serious argument to light-hearted banter is sterling.

  The true story of the Mangrove Nine, the group of black activists who clashed with London police during a protest march in 1970 and their highly publicised trial that followed.
• 
  There Are Not Thirty-Six Ways Of Showing A Man Getting On A Horse (2020)

  Review preview for There Are Not Thirty-Six Ways Of Showing A Man Getting On A Horse

  We start with men getting on horses. More than 36 of them.

  A tribute to Raoul Walsh and an essayistic consideration of cinema.
• 
  The Calming (2020)

  Review preview for The Calming

  The real-life clumsiness, the awkward pauses in human interactions are captured attentively; these are the most precise moments of the film.

  A young film director makes her way around Japan, China, and Hong Kong after a relationship breakup.
• 
  Malmkrog (2020)

  Review preview for Malmkrog

  There is more substance of thought in one minute of this film than most movies are able to produce in an hour.

  Guests at the mansion of man of the world Nikolai discuss death, the Antichrist, history and rule, progress and morality.
• 
  Lovers Rock (2020)

  Review preview for Lovers Rock

  The choreography by Coral Messam showcases the garments and limbs in movement.

  A story set in London's West Indian community in the early 1980s.
• 
  Gunda (2020)

  Review preview for Gunda

  The language captured here speaks volumes. The animals’ faces, their reactions and movements, remind doubters of their sentient nature in every shot.

  Pigs, cows and chickens. Intimate portraits of living beings who wind up dead on a plate every day.
• 
  Smooth Talk (1985)

  Review preview for Smooth Talk

  It is comforting to keep in mind that the devil cannot cross your threshold without an invitation.

  A free-spirited teenager has an encounter with a dangerous man.
• 
  The Disciple (2020)

  Review preview for The Disciple

  We are given time, which is wonderful, to count and study the painted ceiling fans and observe the hand-movements of the attentive music listeners.

  Chaitanya Tamhane's masterfully composed second feature examines a lifetime journey devoted to the art of Indian classical music.
• 
  Bacurau (2019)

  Review preview for Bacurau

  Creates a unique and eerily grounded suspense that transcends genre.

  Villagers sold as human prey defend themselves from hunters using a psychotropic drug.
• 
  Wendy (2020)

  Review preview for Wendy

  Wendy makes an important point about children’s connection to nature.

  Lost on a mysterious island where ageing and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up. The classic story of Peter Pan is wildly reimagined in this ragtag epic.
• 
  The Moneychanger (2019)

  Review preview for The Moneychanger

  Looking at the colours, the entire film could be taking place inside a mushroom. Cigarette smoke penetrates almost every scene.

  A money launderer sees the Uruguayan dictatorship as an opportunity to make a killing.
• 
  The Two Popes (2019)

  Review preview for The Two Popes

  The Two Popes is totally captivating when Pryce and Hopkins simply talk and react to each other.

  A struggle, behind Vatican walls, between a cardinal and a Pope.
• 
  A Girl Missing (2019)

  Review preview for A Girl Missing

  Fukada, who trusts in our ability to figure things out eventually...sprinkles clues and riddles throughout his account of the human condition in the 21st century.

  Ichiko works as a private nurse for a family she has almost become a part of. But when the youngest member of the family disappears, the kidnapper's identity causes trouble.
• 
  A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)

  Review preview for A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

  You cannot have too much Mister Rogers, the film shows.

  A dramatisation of the real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.
• 
  Little Women (2019)

  Review preview for Little Women

  The garments are liberating, positioning the wearer as subject, not object of a gaze that evaluates the body.

  Adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic.
• 
  By The Grace Of God (2019)

  Review preview for By The Grace Of God

  Ozon does not smooth over the rough edges and the icy roads stay icy.

  When Alexandre learns that the priest who abused him as a boy is still working with children, he and other victims take action against the perpetrator.
• 
  Oh Mercy! (2019)

  Review preview for Oh Mercy!

  Based on Mosco Boucault’s documentary Roubaix, Commissariat Central, and using the actual interrogation transcripts, Desplechin shoots for a different tone.

  A police chief in northern France tries to solve a case where an old woman was brutally murdered.
• 
  The Irishman (2019)

  Review preview for The Irishman

  Scorsese shoots at what is truly important in life and does so, miraculously, by putting the spotlight on organised crime

  Story of the union official with mob ties, Frank Sheeran, and the part he claims to have played in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.
• 
  Donkey Skin (1970)

  Review preview for Donkey Skin

  Donkey Skin is right there at the crossroads, capturing a moment of change as well as the timeless nature of storytelling.

  A fairy plots to rescue a princess who would otherwise have to marry her father.
• 
  The Mountain (2018)

  Review preview for The Mountain

  Kier, Goldblum, and Lavant are never less than fantastic in their portrayal of modes of crazed, unreliably self-assured masculinity.

  A young man who was raised by his emotional stunted father goes to work with his mentor, a doctor who performs lobotomies and shock therapy.
• 
  Halston (2019)

  Review preview for Halston

  The film works wonderfully as an introduction to this important fashion designer for those who never heard of him or connected his name to Seventies minimalist style.

  From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America's first superstar designer uncovers the cautionary tale of an artist who sold his name to Wall Street.
• 
  The Souvenir (2019)

  Review preview for The Souvenir

  The costumes in The Souvenir speak volumes about female and male desire and the search for identity that garments can encompass.

  A quiet film student begins finding her voice as an artist while navigating a turbulent courtship with a charismatic but untrustworthy man.
• 
  Raising Colors (2018)

  Review preview for Raising Colors

  Raising Colors treads on unfashionable grounds and emerges victorious.

  Drama about a young woman who decides to join the French Navy.
• 
  Sunset (2018)

  Review preview for Sunset

  Sunset while resisting the digital, flings us into a dreamworld where nostalgia for the past is twin to premonition of our future.

  A young wannabe milliner in Budapest meets a man connected to her past and begins to uncover family secrets.
• 
  Amanda (2018)

  Review preview for Amanda

  We cry with Amanda and David and when the sun comes through again, their smiles are like a gift.

  A man assumes a new responsibility for his niece as a potential guardian.
• 
  Braguino (2017)

  Review preview for Braguino

  With indelible images born from an unflinching gaze, Clément Cogitore's Braguino lets us feel enraptured in an impossible community - cradled by archaic myth and awed by a sublime nature.

  Documentary about a remote Siberian town and a feud between two families who live there.
• 
  To Dust (2018)

  Review preview for To Dust

  To its great distinction, To Dust is concerned with the spirit in physical things.

  Trying to come to terms with the death of his wife, a Hasidic cantor seeks answers on how her body will decay.
• 
  Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

  Review preview for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

  McCarthy plays this unlikable character deftly and with aplomb. And yet the story is stuck in the mud so deep that you can almost smell the decay.

  The true story of Lee Israel who became a literary forger.
• 
  Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

  Review preview for Mary Poppins Returns

  The stakes are high and the fears tangible in this return, which invites discussion and doesn't protect parents from uncomfortable questions. This is the power of the film. Mary Poppins herself wouldn't want it any other way.

  In Depression-era London, a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, along with Michael's three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins at a difficult time.
• 
  Capernaum (2018)

  Review preview for Capernaum

  You might notice the elegance of composition while knowing that the place contains so much human suffering.

  A child rebels against the life imposed upon him.
• 
  Colette (2018)

  Review preview for Colette

  This evocation of Colette in 2018 knows that its heroine will always be larger than what is on screen.

  The story of author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette's rise to fame.
• 
  Roma (2018)

  Review preview for Roma

  We are at a point where the wonders of earth and an awe in regards to nature cannot be shown often enough.

  Chronicle of a middle-class family in the 1970s.
• 
  The Favourite (2018)

  Review preview for The Favourite

  The dialogue is irreverent and sharp like a raven's claw.

  Two of Queen Anne's acolytes jockey for position.
• 
  They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)

  Review preview for They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

  The documentary lifts the various stones around the movie's creation and lets us have a good look at the monsters hiding underneath Welles's barely watchable, misogynistic hate parade.

  Documentary about Orson Welles unfinished film, The Other Side Of The Wind.
• 
  Non-Fiction (2018)

  Review preview for Non-Fiction

  In Assayas's smashingly sad comedy of manners, shoes drop left and right.

  A drama about the hopelessly intertwined world of publishing.
• 
  Wildlife (2018)

  Review preview for Wildlife

  Landscape and music and everyday objects are used to splendid effect.

  A portrait of a family in crisis.
• 
  Maria By Callas (2017)

  Review preview for Maria By Callas

  Often you see the truth in her face, not in her words.

  The most famous soprano in the world, a true diva, recounts her life 40 years after her death.
• 
  The Captain (2017)

  Review preview for The Captain

  There is nothing charming left in this all-is-lost and boys-will-be-boys scenario when violence perpetuates itself and decency is nowhere to be found.

  At the end of the Second World War, a young German soldier steals a captain's uniform. Impersonating an officer he gathers a group of deserters and proceeds to kill is way through a beaten Nazi Germany.
• 
  Damsel (2018)

  Review preview for Damsel

  The Zellner brothers...enter into a fascinating structural dialogue with the history of the genre.

  Several suitors pursue a young woman in the Wild West.