By Bryan Nixon. I have not read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and I have not seen the original 2009 Swedish film by director Niels Arden Oplev, and as such I am unable to draw comparisons to David Fincher’s latest film and his source material. What […]
The Problem with Dinosaurs
By Carmel Doohan. “Social realism, what the fuck is social realism?” Paddy Considine, Director of Tyrannosaur (Little White Lies- Oct 2011) The ‘social’ came from ‘socialist’. When the soon to be directors of the British New Wave (Karel Reisz- Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, Lindsay Anderson- This Sporting Life, Tony Richardson- […]
American Translation (2011)
December 12, 2011
By Gary M. Kramer. Another penetrating examination of sex and crime, love and death, Pascal Arnold and Jean-Marc Barr’s compelling American Translation picks up thematically where their previous effort, One to Another ended. This striking new film confirms the directors’ insistence on making daring, challenging films about sexual, mental, emotional, […]
Film Scratches Blog #3
By Liza Palmer, Review Section Editor. Happy holidays 2011, all! The excitement of the season can now be translated into the new Film International call-for-reviews list! Thanks, as ever, for your support of and service to Film International. And good health and best wishes to you and yours. Film International is […]
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
By Carolyn Lake. The much anticipated adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s award-winning novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, has become one of this year’s must-see films. Director and co-writer Lynne Ramsay has created a sensory feast that leaves you feeling ill, as it should. Tilda Swinton does a truly exceptional […]
EPFF6: Sixth European Psychoanalytic Film Festival, 3-6 November 2011
By Yun-hua Chen. Organised by The Institute of Psychoanalysis under the Honorary Presidency of Bernardo Bertolucci, the Sixth European Psychoanalytic Film Festival is a miniature film festival with the specific theme of “Border-Crossing: Migration Across National and Mental States”. It is curated by Andrea Sabbadini and hosted at BAFTA, London, […]
Red Dog (2011)
By Carolyn Lake. Kriv Stenders’ Australian box-office hit of the year, Red Dog recently cleaned up at the Inside Film Awards – Australia’s “people’s choice” awards – winning in seven of the nine categories it was nominated in, including Best Director, Best Actor (Josh Lucas), Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Hall), and […]
A Dangerous Method (2011)
By Bryan Nixon. Director David Cronenberg is an auteur of flesh cinema whose films consistently examine the psychology of sex, violence, and regeneration. Having made films such as the voyeuristic Videodrome (1983), the mutating mad scientist thriller The Fly (1986), the gynecologic Dead Ringers (1988), the drug and bug infested […]
Take Shelter (2011)
By Steven Harrison Gibbs. During an interview with CinemaBlend.com, writer/director Jeff Nichols observed that, “Anxiety, no matter how free-floating it is, it’s all rooted in the idea that you have something to lose.” In Take Shelter – Nichols’ sophomore outing and second collaboration with actor Michael Shannon – this sentiment […]
J. Edgar (2011)
By Bryan Nixon. “Edgar, you will rise to be the most powerful man in this country,” Annie Hoover (Judi Dench) prophesies to her son J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) in a dark suburbia bedroom. Her vision is proven true, because he created, headed, and personified the Federal Bureau of Investigation […]