Film Reviews

“Zoology” is a film that starts off bleak but ends up becoming enchanting as it move towards its conclusion. Written and directed by Ivan I. Tverdovskiy and starring, Natalya Pavlenkova as the principal character, the story focuses on a middle-aged woman who grows a tail. This may seem like a hardship too far for many but in fact it appears to be both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to Natasha. The story is told in intimate...

“Killing Ground” is a horror film by Tasmanian born writer-director Damien Power. It is a film that takes its cues from other Australian horror cinema such as Wolf Creek and the film has tones of the low budget British horror, Eden Lake. The film focuses on Sam (Harriet Dyer) and Ian (Ian Meadows) who are on a camping trip to a remote part of the Australian outback that holds fond memories of Ian’s youth. It’s New Years Eve and the...

By Jim Mackney The Road to Mandalay is a bewitching, social-realist drama from Taiwanese film director, Midi Z. The drama focuses on Lianqing (Wu Ke-xi) and her pursuit of a better life in Bangkok. The film’s opening ten minutes portrays the first steps on her journey, including her being smuggled over the Burma/Thailand border. Initially she has only paid enough to gain a place in the boot of the truck but Guo (Kai Ko), a boy from the same Burmese district...

Filmmakers have always enjoyed bringing us unlikely love stories. Whether it is Annie Hall, Harold and Maude, Her, or even Beauty and the Beast there are plenty of films that have shown how love can blossom in the most challenging of environments and circumstances. With On Body and Soul, the latest feature from Ildikó Enyedi, we see a re-imagination of this old formulae. Set in a Budapest abattoir, On Body and Soul follows Endre (Géza Morcsányi) the financial director and...

By Michael McNulty There is little doubt that Maysaloun Hamoud’s film, In Between, is an important and ambitious debut feature. A feminist film, centring on a trio of Palestinian-Israeli women as they struggle to find a balance between the liberal lives they aspire to and the traditional culture that surrounds them. Selma (Sana Jammelieh) and Leila (Mouna Hawa) live in an apartment together in the Jaffa district of Tel-Aviv. Selma is an aspiring DJ who works a series of pick...

On July 5th 1980, Björn Borg, the “Ice Man” of Sweden and the world’s highest ranked tennis player at the time, walked out onto the Centre Court of Wimbledon, hoping to win his fifth consecutive title at the All England Club. An edgy excitement arose from the crowd, yet somehow the Swede remained calm & collected as he strode onto the grass, his mind focused solely on the task at hand. The only obstacle standing is his way was John...

By Wyndham Hacket Pain  Such are the difficulties faced by young people in China jobs can be very hard to find and there has been a trend for them to seek employment within funeral homes. This strange happening was spotted by director Carol Salter and is the subject matter of her debut feature Almost Heaven. It is at one of these homes that we meet Ying Ling, a 17 year old girl who is training to be a mortician. It is...

Set in the latter years of Queen Victoria’s (Judi Dench) reign, Victoria & Abdul tells the story of her unexpected friendship with an Indian servant. Originally only meant to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, Abdul (Ali Fazal) quickly becomes a devoted servant and friend of the monarch. The extended Royal Family and government are reluctant to accept the relationship, believing that it sends out the wrong message to the Empire, and do all they can to send Abdul back...

By Jim Mackney Like all good folk songs, there is darkness at the heart of Rolando Colla's new film" Seven Days" (Sette Giorni). It is set on an idyllic Sicilian island and a pair of middle-aged dreamers act like a couple of horny teenagers, with predictable complications. Throughout the film the lead characters, Ivan (Bruno Todeschini) and Chiara (Alessia Barela), attempt to figure out their feelings with a quiet determinism that remains throughout the film. Although only 97 minutes long,...