REVIEWS CANNES REVIEWS IN BRIEF
Sightseers Dir: Ben Wheatley. UK. 2012. 90mins Sightseers is a blissful bit of dark, funny and at times very bloody entertainment as a pair of caravanning killers head off on a road trip through the beautiful landscape of the UK’s Lake District. It is an often-hilari- ous comedy horror that should click with audiences with a taste for pitch-black com- edy. Director Ben Wheatley has built some- thing of a cult following with Down Terrace and Kill List, and here consolidates his rep- utation as a quirky talent to watch. Mark Adams
CONTACT PROTAGONIST PICTURES
www.protagonistpictures.com
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL — PALME D’OR WINNER Amour Dir/scr: Michael Haneke. Fr-Ger-Aust. 2012. 127mins
Old age remains the great taboo of cinema, with only a few films daring to tackle the topic seriously — among them classics such as Tokyo Story and Make Way For Tomorrow. Amour is a more than worthy addition. As one
expects from Michael Haneke, it is a sober, rigor- ous piece, and a magnificent collaboration with two veteran actors, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean- Louis Trintignant. It is true to say the pair give the performances of a lifetime, in that no other roles could require them so directly to work with their own mortality and fragility. Haneke’s absolute control makes the film
intensely involving and quietly moving, rather than harrowing. Even so, getting audiences to see it will depend very much on Haneke’s auteur prestige, and on the presence of Isabelle Huppert, here in very much a back-up capacity. But viewers will get an intensely rewarding masterpiece about a topic that ultimately concerns everyone. Haneke begins with a forceful and unsettling
prelude that tells us how the story will end, but that also wrongfoots us, since the tone of what follows is much gentler. The main characters are elderly musicians and as ever in Haneke’s films, are named George (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva). Much of what happens is not dramatised
www.screendaily.com
directly, but Haneke pulls no punches in depict- ing Anne’s decline: increased immobility, demen- tia, incontinence and so on. It is clear the couple’s long-standing love is unshakeable, but the final stakes of that devotion are revealed in a powerful outcome, brilliantly handled by Trintignant. More than in any of his other films, Haneke’s
theatrical background is visible in the measured staging — in that, rather than dramatise the cou- ple’s experience, he shows it to us, for this is a hyper-lucid demonstration of his theme. But it is also a magnificently directed actors’ film in which the leads are challenged to confront their mortal- ity and follow its implications to the very limit. There is no trace of overstatement or senti-
ment. Huppert, as the couple’s daughter, lends typically strong support, and the film is shot with superbly understated spatial precision by Darius Khondji. This is a film of delicacy and immense force, and while it may well move you to tears, it is a hugely intelligent drama about a subject most of us cannot bear to think about. It takes a direc- tor like Haneke to make us grateful we did. Jonathan Romney
CONTACT LES FILMS DU LOSANGE
www.filmsdulosange.fr
Beyond The Hills Dir/scr: Cristian Mungiu. Rom-Fr-Bel. 2012. 150mins Spare, unadorned and strikingly shot, Cris- tian Mungiu’s film will split both audience and critical opinion, some considering it a major achievement and others blaming it for overlong, pretentious sensationalism. It is inspired by two non-fiction novels by Tatiana Niculescu Bran, who investigated the case of a woman supposedly possessed by evil spirits in 2005 and who was tor- tured to death in a Romanian monastery. Mungiu’s script tackles themes of love, faith and freedom of spirit versus rigid religion, ignorance and poverty, providing a fertile backdrop to the inevitable conflicts. Dan Fainaru
CONTACT WILD BUNCH
www.wildbunch.biz
In The Fog Dir: Sergei Loznitsa. Ger-Latv-Rus-Neth- Belarus. 2012. 128mins In The Fog is a carefully calibrated three- hander from Sergei Loznitsa, its slow, pre- cise rhythms playing out to compelling effect. It is a beautiful and rigorous piece that will delight cineastes, his collaboration with cinematographer Oleg Mutu (who also shot Beyond The Hills) moving up a notch to the point where the film’s visuals are palpa- bly in sync with its protagonists and some notably effective sound design. In The Fog’s intellectual and technical approach may prove too rich for wider audiences, but this very Russian tragedy is a jewel that will surely only burnish with time. Fionnuala Halligan
CONTACT THE MATCH FACTORY
www.the-match-factory.com
June-July 2012 Screen International 59 n
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68