Festival Review: Letters From War (2016)
★★★★☆
A black and white correspondence between an army medic and his new wife, Ivo Ferreira’s Letters Of War is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of war.
★★★★☆
A black and white correspondence between an army medic and his new wife, Ivo Ferreira’s Letters Of War is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of war.
★★★☆☆
With fake marriage markets and illegal babies, Sophia Luvara’s intimate documentary Inside The Chinese Closet reveals gay men and women shouldering their parents’ burden.
★★★☆☆
Another French loser comedy about love, men, wine and heritage, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s Saint Amour finds a gentle, fruity sparkle.
★★★☆☆
A portrait of four pained women on the cusp of freedom, Tomasz Wasilewski’s United States Of Love takes its passion removed, rejected and unrequited.
★★☆☆☆
After Lemming and The Monk, Dominik Moll’s News From Planet Mars is a desperate comedy of male empowerment and family harmony.
★★★★☆
A deliciously simple story of one night of romance, Ducastel and Martineau’s Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau uncovers the ins and outs of gay love.
★★★★☆
Documenting the relationship between Thomas Wolfe and his editor, Michael Grandage’s Genius reveals the irreconcilable nature of creation and analysis.
★★☆☆☆
An evocative period drama of forbidden love, Pernilla August’s em>A Serious Game is disappointingly short on characterisation and emotion.
★★☆☆☆
Adapting Hans Fallada’s German resistance novel for the silver screen, Vincent Perez’ Alone In Berlin recreates the plot but none of the drama.
★★☆☆☆
Set in the multilayered world of a hotel, Danis Tanovic’s Death In Sarajevo begs the question whether we really need a metaphor for the Balkans.
★★★☆☆
Exploring themes of identity, masculinity and desire, André Techiné’s Being 17 is a delicate portrait of adolescent confusion and first love.
★★★☆☆
Adapted from Kristian Lundberg’s autobiographical novel, Måns Månsson’s Yarden is a parable of entitlement that turns welcomingly political.
★★★★☆
Set in Austria’s musical circles, Klaus Händl’s sensuous and delicate Kater sees an idyll of gay love torn asunder by a moment of violence.
★★★★☆
Half-documentary, half-fiction, Gianfranco Rosi’s Fuocoammare paints a portrait of life on Lampedusa with its fishing traditions and new waves of migrants.