Transit (2018)
★★★★★
Transit is a disorienting Casablanca for our times by the renowned German director of Barbara and Phoenix, Christian Petzold.
Germany
Happy End (2017)
★★★★☆
Michael Haneke’s Happy End deconstructs the internal dynamics of a wealthy bourgeois family living a life oblivious to the human beings around them, with chilling results.
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BFI LFF: I Am Not a Witch (2017)
★★★★☆
Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch is a surreal deadpan satire.
BFI LFF: Happy End (2017)
★★★★☆
Michael Haneke’s Happy End deconstructs a wealthy bourgeois family living a life oblivious to the human beings around them with chilling results.
Alone in Berlin (2016)
★★☆☆☆
Adapting Hans Fallada’s German resistance novel for the silver screen, Vincent Perez’ Alone In Berlin recreates the plot but none of the drama.
Sodom (2017)
★★★★☆
Sodom is an impressive, assured, thought-provoking debut for writer/director Mark Wilshin.
The Olive Tree (2016)
★★★☆☆
The Olive Tree is a heartwarming film scripted by Ken Loach’s collaborator Paul Laverty, directed by Icíar Bollaín, demonstrating the power of personal conviction and positive action.
Elle (2016)
★★★★☆
Isabelle Huppert is elegantly transgressive in Paul Verhoeven’s disturbing Elle.
Return to Montauk (2017)
★★★☆☆
Pianissimo rather than Moderato Cantabile, Volker Schlöndorff’s Return To Montauk fails to soar despite the best possible score.
Bright Nights (2017)
★★★☆☆
A war of the wordless, Thomas Arslan’s Bright Nights is a painfully accurate if unilluminating portrait of the father-son relationship.
Es war einmal in Deutschland… (2017)
★★★☆☆
With returning Jews looking to get rich and make it to the US, Sam Garbarski’s Es war einmal in Deutschland… unpicks the postwar search for truth with bitter glee.
Toni Erdmann (2016)
★★★★☆
A feelgood father-and-daughter comedy, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann sees the joylessness of the corporate world undone by paternal clowning.
BFI LFF 2016: Toni Erdmann (2016)
★★★☆☆
A feelgood father-and-daughter comedy, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann sees the joylessness of the corporate world undone by paternal clowning.
Festival Review: 24 Weeks (2016)
★★★☆☆
As a couple struggle to come to terms with their unborn baby’s condition, Anne Zohra Berrached’s 24 Weeks uncovers a grey world of female courage.