Reviews by Anne-Katrin Titze

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Modernism, Inc. : The Eliot Noyes Design Story (2023)

  Review preview for Modernism, Inc. : The Eliot Noyes Design Story

  Filled with information and inspiration that elegantly carries over from the last century into this one.

  A documentary exploring the life and work of influential mid-century architect and designer, Eliot Noyes, who is best remembered as the man behind IBM's landmark design program in the 1950s and 1960s.
• 
  The Mole Agent (2020)

  Review preview for The Mole Agent

  Alberdi keeps the tone light and profound simultaneously.

  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

  Review preview for Moonrise Kingdom

  The perfect summer movie for the eternally 12 who like to travel in style.

  Two children make a pact and run off, prompting the local community to go on the hunt for them.
• 
  The Most Beautiful Boy In The World (2021)

  Review preview for The Most Beautiful Boy In The World

  Well chosen archival footage shows his supremely uncomfortable screen test in Stockholm.

  Swedish actor/musician Björn Andresen's life was forever changed at the age of 15, when he played Tadzio, the object of Dirk Bogarde's obsession in Death in Venice – a role which led Italian maestro Luchino Visconti to dub him "the world's most beautiful boy".
• 
  Mothering Sunday (2021)

  Review preview for Mothering Sunday

  The façade of a happy picnic shows all the cracks, despite the lovely geese flying overhead.

  A maid living in post-World War I England secretly plans to meet with the man she loves before he leaves to marry another woman.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  My Little Sister (2020)

  Review preview for My Little Sister

  Chuat and Reymond’s début feature is grounded in a deep reality.

  Lisa has bid goodbye to her ambitions as a playwright and the Berlin arts scene and now lives in Switzerland with her husband, who runs an international school. When her twin brother – star of the Schaubühne theatre’s ensemble – falls ill, she returns to Berlin.
• 
  My Week With Marilyn (2011)

  Review preview for My Week With Marilyn

  You could wash your hair, play scrabble and still not miss the point.

  Biopic exploration of the tension that developed between Monroe and Laurence Olivier on the set of The Prince And The Showgirl.
• 
  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.
• 
  Mr. Holmes (2015)

  Review preview for Mr. Holmes

  The trouble is that the film takes great effort to counter everything that makes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation stimulating.

  A retired Sherlock looks back on his life and an unsolved case.
• 
  Métamorphoses (2014)

  Review preview for Métamorphoses

  Honoré is not afraid of magic and he has fun with grand gestures. Metamorphoses at heart is a defense of myths in all their offensive allure.

  Modern-day version of the Ovid tales of transformation.
• 
  My Golden Days (2015)

  Review preview for My Golden Days

  Desplechin, like no other, startles with his enigmatic perceptions on the gender divide.

  Part prequel to My Sex Life. Paul remembers his youth and the consequences of true love.
• 
  My King (2015)

  Review preview for My King

  If you ever threw safety to the wind and sailed deeply into the love that could be your undoing, you will be able to identify with what Maïwenn and her brilliant actors are exploring.

  An injured woman in a rehabilitation centre recalls an all encompassing love.
• 
  My Mother (2015)

  Review preview for My Mother

  Nobody sneaks up on you, light-footed, perplexing, hilarious, quite the way Nanni Moretti does with his scenes.

  Tragicomedy, a filmmaker tries to cope with crises.
• 
  Neither Heaven Nor Earth (2015)

  Review preview for Neither Heaven Nor Earth

  It is when Neither Heaven Nor Earth ventures into the unexplainable that it brings us closest to the concrete battlefield.

  French soldiers in Afghanistan are faced with unexpected circumstances.
• 
  Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart (2014)

  Review preview for Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart

  Canet is fantastic in opening up more and more of the secret chambers in this frightening man's heart.

  A notorious serial killer is also a cop tasked with his own apprehension.
• 
  The Nice Guys (2016)

  Review preview for The Nice Guys

  Gosling and Crowe are wondrous sparring partners.

  An unlikely duo of detectives searches for a missing girl in 1977 Los Angeles.
• 
  No (2012)

  Review preview for No

  Pablo Larraín's No is a resounding yes!

  Gael Garcia Bernal stars as a Chilean adman trying to organize a campaign to unseat Pinochet in Pablo Larraín’s smart, engrossing political thriller.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Nocturama (2016)

  Review preview for Nocturama

  It is in the second half of Nocturama - which takes place in a department store by night - that Bertrand Bonello's prowess at showing us worlds closing in on themselves comes to full force.

  One morning in Paris. A fistful of adolescents, from different backgrounds. Individually, they begin a strange dance through the labyrinth of the metro and the streets of the capital. They seem to be following a plan.
• 
  Norman: The Moderate Rise And Tragic Fall Of A New York Fixer (2016)

  Review preview for Norman: The Moderate Rise And Tragic Fall Of A New York Fixer

  Cedar aims for emotional truth through visceral recognition and he succeeds in feeding our desire to understand what makes humans do the things we do.

  A fixer falls in with a rising Israeli politician and is soon trying to bluff his way into the big time.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (2011)

  Review preview for Once Upon A Time In Anatolia

  Once Upon A Time In Anatolia produces the most exciting boredom.

  A group of men set out to investigate murder in the steppe.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Passion (2012)

  Review preview for Passion

  Lacks all charm.

  A thriller about vengeance and competition between women.
• 
  Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015)

  Review preview for Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

  Clips from Man Ray's L'étoile de mer with Kiki de Montparnasse and the famous Salvador Dali dream sequence from Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound illuminate her passion.

  Portrait of the art collector.
• 
  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.
• 
  The Pervert's Guide To Ideology (2012)

  Review preview for The Pervert's Guide To Ideology

  From Coca Cola as the perfect commodity, full of metaphysical reality ("The real thing!"), to the Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs with the toy inside... Fiennes and Zizek do their best to make theoretical concepts understandable.

  A documentary exploring the film criticism and philosophy of Slavoj Žižek.
• 
  Phantom Thread (2017)

  Review preview for Phantom Thread

  Phantom Thread is a film about fabric, craft, beauty, but at heart asks all the crucial, complicated questions about love.

  In Fifties London, the fastidious life of a renowned dressmaker is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman who becomes his muse and lover.
• 
  Polisse (2011)

  Review preview for Polisse

  The camera is always very close to the actors, in their faces, capturing what can only be done in fiction.

  Drama delves into the lives and work of a child protection unit.
• 
  Portrait Of The Artist (2014)

  Review preview for Portrait Of The Artist

  [A] thorny, intangible and episodic cinematic dream.

  A filmmaker becomes obsessed with the film of his next movie.
• 
  Pacifiction (2022)

  Review preview for Pacifiction

  The languid mood contrasts with the most dangerous topics.

  On the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government navigates the high end "establishment" as well as shady venues as a rumour abounds about the sighting of a submarine whose presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
• 
  The Paperboy (2012)

  Review preview for The Paperboy

  The references are messy, the gestures grand.

  A reporter heads back to his Florida hometown to investigate a possible miscarriage of justice.
• 
  Perfect Days (2023)

  Review preview for Perfect Days

  The 4:3 format, preferred by Yasujirō Ozu, is the perfect frame for paying attention to the small mysteries that are often overlooked.

  The story of an urban renewal project which involves the creation of 17 public toilets in key locations in the Japanese capital.
• 
  Peter Von Kant (2022)

  Review preview for Peter Von Kant

  Martyrdom and bad wishing, casual cruelty and sweet despair reign in this realm.

  The life of famous film director Peter von Kant is turned upside down when he meets the handsome young Amir.
• 
  Pictures Of Ghosts (2023)

  Review preview for Pictures Of Ghosts

  These are the nooks and crannies where the ghosts still hang out, whistling in the dark, eager to haunt anew a crowd.

  A portrait of the city of Recife, re-envisioned in its 20th Century glory through the remains of the cinema palaces which were central to its busy social milieu.
• 
  Pina (2011)

  Review preview for Pina

  If you see one dance film in your life, see this one with those 3D glasses.

  3D dance documentary.
• 
  The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)

  Review preview for The Place Beyond The Pines

  Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines, tells stories of fatherhood with a fine-tuned generosity, as haunted men cycle through patterns spinning out of control.

  On discovering that he has a baby son, a circus motorcycle stunt rider approaches responsibility by robbing banks, but runs afoul of a corrupt politician.
• 
  Pope Francis: A Man Of His Word (2018)

  Review preview for Pope Francis: A Man Of His Word

  The insightful and intimate interviews Wenders conducted with the Pope are interspersed with footage of his extensive travels that show the meaning of his words.

  A documentary about Pope Francis, his work of reform and his answers to today's global questions.
• 
  Priscilla (2023)

  Review preview for Priscilla

  Coppola paints pictures of mid-century Americana and the codes and moral shortcomings that go with it.

  A Priscilla Presley biopic based on her memoir Elvis And Me.
• 
  Pretty Butterflies (2012)

  Review preview for Pretty Butterflies

  Mereu's movie somersaults through genre and creates its own.

  Two 12-year-old girls set out to spend the day at the beach.
• 
  Quartet (2012)

  Review preview for Quartet

  Dustin Hoffman's condescending direction turns old people into horrible giggling puppets.

  Four ageing opera singers are reunited in a retirement home.
• 
  The Quiet Girl (2022)

  Review preview for The Quiet Girl

  The shift in silences between two people in various scenes and the stark contrast in emotion is thrilling.

  A neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer.