Arthouse Reviews: The New Girlfriend
There’s something for everyone in this film, and not just because subversive French director François Ozon is a master at shifting tone from comedy, absurdist farce, high drama, psychological thriller to finely judged satire on bourgeois life. There are transvestites, flirtations with homosexuality, some general gender confusions, and some odd goings on in a mortuary. […]
Arthouse Reviews: Belle
With Belle, director Amma Asante has created a sumptuous eighteenth century costume drama, although not costume drama exactly as we know it. There are the familiar grand stately homes with luxurious interiors and sweeping gardens, beautiful young ladies in yards of dazzling crinolines, passing the time on embroidery and pianofortes with handsome rich suitors […]
Arthouse Reviews: Girlhood
‘Do what you want’ Marieme’s new friends tell her, but how much choice is there for working class black girls from run-down estates on the margins of Paris? In the spectacular opening scene of Girlhood, the girls look tough enough to break down any barriers life may put up. An all-female American football game […]
Arthouse Reviews: The Tribe
The opening sequence of the highly acclaimed film The Tribe reminds you there are no translations, no subtitles or voice overs (nor any kind of musical score) but that doesn’t quite prepare you for this strange and challenging film. ‘For love and hatred, you don’t need translation’ according to the film’s young Ukrainian writer-director […]
