By Bill Fech. David Lowery’s quiet western drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints came and went from theaters like a passing tumbleweed. The film grossed fewer than $400,000 domestically and fared little better overseas. Perhaps audiences expected an old-fashioned shoot ‘em up from what, at its core, is a love story […]
One-Location Films and How They Achieve Their Success
January 5, 2014
By Victoria Tickle. One-location (or one-room) films are films that do exactly what they say on their metaphorical tins: their narratives take place within the confines of one location or one room. In order to compensate for their lack of locations, settings and (potentially) character interactions, one-location films have to […]
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
January 3, 2014
By Jacob Mertens. “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge […]
Following (1998)
January 1, 2014
By Andrew J. Douglas. Anticipating an early effort by a respected filmmaker—let alone one known for work that is at once thoughtful, entertaining, acclaimed, and popular like Christopher Nolan—can be conflicting. There is the tantalizing allure of raw, unbridled talent on display, accompanied by the reticence ignited by the possibility […]
Call for Reviews – Winter 2013
December 29, 2013
By Jacob Mertens, Review Editor for Film International. Here we are at the cusp of a new year, and the long-awaited Film International call for reviews is finally here! It is my pleasure to announce that we are actively seeking reviews for the titles listed blow. If you are interested in receiving […]
All is Lost: Great Forces at Sea
December 29, 2013
By Matthew Sorrento. The choice of writer-director JC Chandor to cast Robert Redford in All is Lost was astute, if not fortunate. By offering Redford the sole role in this survivalist-at-sea pic – essentially, a leaner Cast Away (2000; with no landing) for the 77-year-old performer, and a chance to […]
12 Years a Slave: Commendable and Interesting
December 27, 2013
By Axel Andersson. At first it looks like an ornate latticework, but there is no way to separate the scars from the man. Most of us are familiar with the image, although few know the name of the most iconic whipped black man whose tortured skin has been reproduced so […]
The Invisible Woman (2013)
December 22, 2013
By Danny King. For his first two stabs at directing, Ralph Fiennes has selected subject matter that seems typical of an actor-turned-director almost to the point of parody. His 2011 debut, Coriolanus, took an oft-disregarded but palpably intense Shakespeare text as its starting point, and the resulting film is jam-packed […]
Our Children, or the Importance of Medea
December 21, 2013
By Christopher Sharrett. Joachim Lafosse’s Our Children (Á perdre la raison, a.k.a. Loving without Reason, a much more sensible title) put me in mind of Catherine Corsini’s Leaving (Partir, 2009), in part because both films represent the continued promise of the international cinema during the US cinema’s ongoing willed bankruptcy […]
A Conversation with In Fear’s Jeremy Lovering
December 20, 2013
One of the boldest creative choices of the year came courtesy of director Jeremy Lovering, who took a bite out of the unconventional when he shot his unscripted feature debut, the psychological horror film In Fear (2013). Lovering discussed with Film International‘s Paul Risker his intent to create a portrait […]