BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (France/2013/180
minutes)
Based on the graphic novel
Blue Angel by Julie Maroh, director
Abdellatif Kechiche’s film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and also rendered the festival’s top prizes to the director and its lead stars
Lea Seydoux and newcomer Adele Exarchapolous.
CLOSED CURTAIN (Iran/2013/106
minutes)
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s
follow up to the brilliant This is not a
film won the Silver Bear for the best script at this year’s Berlin Film
Festival. Much like Panahi’s previous film, Closed
Curtain was shot secretly in and around his own apartment seeing as the
filmmaker has been under house arrest and has been banned from making films.
THE PAST (France-Iran/2013/130
minutes)
Asghar Farhadi stormed to
limelight last year with the terrific A
Separation, and the Oscar gave him an opportunity to flex his dramatic
muscles outside his home country. The
Past is set in France but contains the familiar themes of relationship
dynamics, troubled marriage and a tragic mystery as seen in all his previous
work.
A TOUCH OF SIN (China/2013/135
minutes)
Perhaps the most important film
of the year, A Touch of Sin satirizes
the social and economic handicap China faces in the modern world. The film was nominated
for the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year and the director Jia Zhangke scored the Best
Screenplay trophy at the fest.
SHIELD OF STRAW (Japan/2013/125
minutes)
Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike
is the master of controversial violent dramas and his new film promises exactly
that – a busload of visceral risqué thrills. The film was nominated for the
Palme d'Or at Cannes and has received extremely polarizing reviews, meaning
either you’ll love the film or hate it, no middle ground.
THE ROCKET (Australia/2013/96
minutes)
Kim Mordaunt’s film has garned
universal acclaim and is Australia’s entry to the Oscars this year.
THE GREAT BEAUTY (Italy/2013/142
minutes)
Paolo Sorrentino’s latest chronicles an ageing writer on the
verge of a breakdown - the film was
nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes and is Italy’s submission to the Academy
awards this year.
WAJMA (Afghanistan/2013/85
minutes)
Afghanistan’s Oscar entry is an
interesting film that sheds light on modern relationships in the country – a
topic that has seldom been covered in cinema.
KILLER TOON (South Korea/2013/104
minutes)
This South Korean horror film was
a gigantic critical and commercial hit, and it’d be futile to attend a film
festival that doesn’t have a fun violent Korean movie.
HELI (Mexico/2013/105 minutes)
Mexico’s Oscar submission scored
some highly contrasting reviews for its bleak tone and raw depressing message. Polarising
reviews can mean one thing – that it’ll be an interesting watch.
ILO ILO (Singapore/2013/99
minutes)
Director Anthony Chen’s Chinese
Sinagporean comedy came out of nowhere and bagged the Camera d'Or at Cannes.
It’s one of few feel good movies to watch at the fest – and it’d probably be a
welcome change.
KATIYABAAZ (India/2013/84
minutes)
Fahad Mustafa’s film follows two
individuals who try to solve the severe power shortage in Kanpur – one, a power
supply head honcho and the other who illegally routes cables and steals
electricity.
QISSA (India/2013/109 minutes)
Anup Singh’s film has a terrific
cast of Irrfan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome and Rasika Dugal andan equally
terrific plot – a man who faces eviction during partition is forced to raise
his daughter as a son. Qissa won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema
Award at TIFF.
THE ACT OF KILLING
(Denmark/2013/159 minutes)
This stunning documentary focuses
on one proud Indonesian executioner who agrees to enact the killings in a faux
film about the genocide, and slowly begins to realize the horrors he’s
committed.
MOOD INDIGO (France/2013/95
minutes)
Michel Gondry’s return to trippy
French dramedies has the lovely Audrey Taotou and Gondry’s trademark flair for
the bizarre, impossible visuals.
BEKAS (Sweden/2013/97 minutes)
Karzan Kader’s film finds humor
in devastation as it chronicles two kids in 1990 Saddam Hussein plundered Iraq
who want to travel across to America and hang out with Superman.
THE MISSING PICTURE (Cambodia/2013/90
minutes)
Rithy Panh’s film grabbed the Un
Certain Regard prize at Cannes – it’s a biographical account of the filmmaker’s
time in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge administration. A bit like The Act of Killing, the central
character reflects back on the violence and atrocities by recreating events that
transpired during that time.
DON JON (USA/2013/90 minutes)
Joseph Gordon Levitt became an
international star and internet sensation but apparently he wasn’t happy with
just that – he’s turned to direction with a modern take on Don Juan, with
Scarlett Johansson in the lead.
SHORT TERM 12 (USA/2013/97
minutes)
Starring Brie Larson in her
breakout role, Destin Daniel Creton’s comedy-drama has been making a lot of
noise ever since it premiered at the SXSW film festival earlier this year and
has since scored some insanely positive reviews.
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (USA/2013/105
minutes)
It’s the Coen Brothers’ new film
- that is reason enough to line up and camp outside the movie hall for the
screening.
(First published in DNA)
(First published in DNA)
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