Reviews by Anne-Katrin Titze

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Still Alice (2014)

  Review preview for Still Alice

  Moore runs away with the film.

  A woman and her family struggle to cope after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
• 
  Timbuktu (2014)

  Review preview for Timbuktu

  The way Sissako exposes the double standard makes the Jihadists' behavior no less threatening, on the contrary.

  After a herdsman accidentally kills someone, he finds himself a victim of Sharia law fundamentalists.
• 
  Paddington (2014)

  Review preview for Paddington

  Paddington is irresistible, funny and smartly constructed with a disarmingly big heart.

  A small bear from darkest Peru tries to adjust to life in London.
• 
  Into The Woods (2014)

  Review preview for Into The Woods

  In the woods, we are firmly placed in the shoes of the children and slowly start to understand the adults through their songs.

  The musical story of a childless couple persuaded by a witch to steal special items from classic fairy tales.
• 
  Big Eyes (2014)

  Review preview for Big Eyes

  Burton does not think he needs to make up his mind about the tone of the movie. It is like a child ordering an ice cream with five kinds of toppings.

  A man makes his wife's art a massive success - while claiming he created it himself.
• 
  A Most Violent Year (2014)

  Review preview for A Most Violent Year

  2014's best film of the year.

  An ambitious immigrant tries to survive and protect his family and business in New York City.
• 
  The Salt Of The Earth (2014)

  Review preview for The Salt Of The Earth

  Wenders as a curious, excited filmmaker stretches out his hands to show us all the treasures he has found.

  Documentary about photographer Sebastião Salgado.
• 
  The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness (2013)

  Review preview for The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness

  The mood is that of an office in which at any moment, anything is possible, a little bit like in the films created here.

  Documentary about famed animation Studio Ghibli.
• 
  The Last Impresario (2013)

  Review preview for The Last Impresario

  Otto's sensitively structured portrait of an engaging Peter Pan draws us irresistibly into his world.

  The story of producer and social butterfly Michael White.
• 
  Pelican Dreams (2014)

  Review preview for Pelican Dreams

  Judy Irving's insightful Pelican Dreams should not be missed.

  A pelican is arrested on Golden Gate Bridge and taken into rehab.
• 
  Pasolini (2014)

  Review preview for Pasolini

  Pasolini's unfinished life remains painfully unresolved, as it should be.

  A look at the final day of Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini.
• 
  Gone Girl (2014)

  Review preview for Gone Girl

  Rosamund Pike is a revelation as the woman who can be everything you want her to be - and, especially, what you definitely don't want her to be.

  A man finds himself in the media spotlight after his wife disappears.
• 
  Eden (2014)

  Review preview for Eden

  Hansen-Løve's momentary excursions into animation, split screen, and possibly re-writing of world history are the most effective parts.

  Paul is taking his first steps as a DJ in the world of French house music.
• 
  Two Days, One Night (2014)

  Review preview for Two Days, One Night

  Marion Cotillard tenderly lets us in on every nuance of dread, every vital decision.

  Sandra, a young woman assisted by her husband, has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job.
• 
  Beloved Sisters (2014)

  Review preview for Beloved Sisters

  This sympathetic and thoughtful portrayal of the many faces of marriage avoids clichés about the good old days as well as the bad ones.

  Two sisters both fall for the same man - poet Friedrich Schiller.
• 
  Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

  Review preview for Hiroshima Mon Amour

  Even after many viewings it is difficult to fully grasp the film's historical significance, storytelling innovations and stylistic brilliance.

  A French actress making an anti-war film embarks on an affair with a married man.
• 
  The Blue Room (2014)

  Review preview for The Blue Room

  François Gédigier's inspired editing trusts that mismatched sounds and images form an emotional whole.

  Psychological thriller about a couple's torrid affair.
• 
  20,000 Days On Earth (2014)

  Review preview for 20,000 Days On Earth

  Pollard and Forsyth, who have previously worked with Cave on Bad Seeds videos, turn inner states into inhabitable rooms. What is real and what is unreal is not for the audience to guess.

  An intimate portrait of Nick Cave.
• 
  Tracks (2013)

  Review preview for Tracks

  Mandy Walker's cinematography is the window into the heroine's emotions.

  Based on the true story of Robyn Davidson who in 1977 undertook an extraordinary solo trek across the harsh Australian outback.
• 
  The Trip To Italy (2014)

  Review preview for The Trip To Italy

  When the freshest food is eaten by rotting mortals and family is little more than a fragile crutch above the abyss, funny jokes can no longer hide the tragedy.

  Two men take a humorous journey through Italy in search of understanding and delicious food.
• 
  Magic In The Moonlight (2014)

  Review preview for Magic In The Moonlight

  One of the most elegant films of the year.

  When an Englishman is persuaded to investigate a fraud he discovers something unexpected.
• 
  Finsterworld (2013)

  Review preview for Finsterworld

  Finsterwalder gets remarkable performances out of her first-rate ensemble.

  Generations of the Sandberg family are revealed through loosely connected strands.
• 
  Yves Saint Laurent (2014)

  Review preview for Yves Saint Laurent

  The actors have great chemistry and potently communicate things about human behavior in relationships, universal and specific, self-destructive and kind.

  Biopic of the French fashion designer.
• 
  Those Happy Years (2013)

  Review preview for Those Happy Years

  Glistens with the best kind of nostalgia.

  Romantic comedy about the ups and downs of a struggling experimental artist in 1970s Italy and his relationship with his wife and two children.
• 
  Long Live Freedom (2013)

  Review preview for Long Live Freedom

  Part farce, part political commentary, part soul-searching device.

  After an under-pressure politician disappears, his look-alike brother fills the gap... and starts to win popular support.
• 
  Sacro GRA (2013)

  Review preview for Sacro GRA

  Rosi's panorama manages to circle back, making you love humanity.

  A documentary journey into the lives of people who inhabit the outskirts of Rome.
• 
  Cold In July (2014)

  Review preview for Cold In July

  Be prepared for scenes you finish in your own head to haunt you.

  After killing a home intruder, a small town Texas man's life unravels into a dark underworld of corruption and violence.
• 
  Fed Up (2014)

  Review preview for Fed Up

  Fed Up asks the questions the food industry "at the heart of the problem" does not want looked into.

  A documentary about food industry advertising in America.
• 
  Love Steaks (2013)

  Review preview for Love Steaks

  The comedy shifts and jumps with ease from the wintry beach to the pool and into our hearts due to the acute timing of the performances.

  Luxury hotel. Luxury clientele. Irritable staff. A couple who might fall in love, or they might leave their relationship in its raw state – like the titular steaks.
• 
  Every Secret Thing (2014)

  Review preview for Every Secret Thing

  What makes this film so much more than a thriller is the very terrible human emotional territory it dares to venture in.

  Two young women with a dark past come under suspicion when a child goes missing.
• 
  Human Capital (2013)

  Review preview for Human Capital

  Paolo Virzì's study of capitalism in crisis gives the audience all it covets.

  The lives of two generations overlap as they tumble toward an ill-fated event that inextricably links them.
• 
  Venus In Fur (2013)

  Review preview for Venus In Fur

  Seigner is wonderfully playful and her bold risk taking shows how much she trusts Polanski.

  An actress endeavours to convince a director of her talents so she can win a part in the play based on Sacher-Masoch's novel.
• 
  Lucky Them (2013)

  Review preview for Lucky Them

  Griffiths enjoys showing us the particulars of Ellie's life and it doesn't feel like exposition though it might look a little ersatz.

  A music journalist goes on a troubling journey into her own past.
• 
  Dior And I (2014)

  Review preview for Dior And I

  Frédéric Tcheng's documentary about a house and its ghosts in past and present is all you could desire from a fashion film.

  A look inside the House of Dior as Raf Simons prepares his collection.
• 
  The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq (2014)

  Review preview for The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq

  The rules of the funny games of fiction and documentary do not apply here - as long as the addictions are taken care of, anything goes.

  The story of what might have happened when author Michel Houellebecq disappeared during a promotional tour.
• 
  Noah (2014)

  Review preview for Noah

  Noah 2014 seems terrified of anything not spelled out.

  A man believes that he was chosen to build an ark to save the world's animals and end human cruelty.
• 
  The Double (2013)

  Review preview for The Double

  I wished for Billy Wilder's spirit from The Apartment to take over the tone just a little bit.

  Jesse Eisenberg finds his world turned upside down by the arrival of a confident and ambitious doppelganger.
• 
  The Unknown Known (2013)

  Review preview for The Unknown Known

  Ultimately, the Unknown Known is what you don't know you know. This film is a reminder.

  Documentary about Donald Rumsfeld.
• 
  Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)

  Review preview for Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?

  You should be puzzled.

  Hand drawn animation illustrating a series of interviews with philosopher Noam Chomsky.
• 
  The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

  Review preview for The Wolf of Wall Street

  This is how you destroy people's dignity and make them yours, Scorsese seems to say.

  Based on the true story of the rise and fall of a financial high roller.
• 
  The Last Of The Unjust (2013)

  Review preview for The Last Of The Unjust

  The film with all its large time leaps gives the impression not of something alien, long dead, but very pertinent to the now.

  Benjamin Murmelstein addresses his unique relationship to Adolf Eichmann and his role as the last Jewish elder of Theresienstadt.
• 
  American Hustle (2013)

  Review preview for American Hustle

  Bradley Cooper as Richie gives the finest madcap performance of his career.

  A con man is forced to work for a rogue FBI agent.
• 
  Her (2013)

  Review preview for Her

  It is in these details, the small objects Jonze provides us with in his film of disembodied desires, that essences become distilled.

  A lonely writer falls in love with his new all-purpose operating system, leading to romantic and existential complications.
• 
  August: Osage County (2013)

  Review preview for August: Osage County

  We witness the best ensemble acting in a film with actresses in leading roles that Hollywood has produced this year.

  A dysfunctional family comes together to deal with a crisis.
• 
  White Gold (2013)

  Review preview for White Gold

  An exemplary wake-up call from collective consumerist slumber.

  Documentary about the organised poaching of elephant tusks.
• 
  Weekend Of A Champion (2013)

  Review preview for Weekend Of A Champion

  This film shows better than any documentary on the development of safety gear for drivers, cars and roads could ever do why the changes in the sport were necessary.

  Portrait of Jackie Stewart on the weekend of his victory at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix.
• 
  Bastards (2013)

  Review preview for Bastards

  The precision of Claire Denis' perplexities, the ardent blows that fire at the heart and the head, are unequaled in her film Bastards (Les Salauds).

  A vengeful man sets out to find out about the businessman who caused his family's ruin.
• 
  Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

  Review preview for Only Lovers Left Alive

  What is so disarming about Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a scarce sense of appreciation - of the vampire couple for each other and the appreciation by both of them for what is great in the world.

  A vampire couple contemplate a changing world.
• 
  Captain Phillips (2013)

  Review preview for Captain Phillips

  The premise questions our storytelling conventions.

  Thriller based on the true story of the seizure of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship in 2009 by four Somali pirates.
• 
  Jealousy (2013)

  Review preview for Jealousy

  Jealousy is a carefully constructed film with plenty of family ties for the director.

  Autobiographical cinema from director Philippe Garrel, in which his son Louis and Anna Mouglalis star as actors and lovers trying to reconcile their professional and personal lives.