Curzon Artificial Eye
DVD Review: Autumn Almanac
The magnificently named Béla Tarr is one of Hungary’s most renowned film-makers. With a focus on the unconventional, his films are often experimental; cavorting with non-linear storytelling, thriving on philosophical counterpoints and struggling under a heavy air of pessimism. Whilst much of his best work has been done in black and white, such as the …
Film Review: Ice and the Sky
Environmental issues are very much in the news at the moment with the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Paris at the moment. Despite ludicrous objections from a small minority of self-interested parties the case for global warming is now widely accepted by scientists and the general public alike. The first person to prove …
Film Review: Love
Gaspar Noé has been working hard to build up a reputation as the enfant terrible of modern film-making. In his previous outings, I Stand Alone, Irreversible and Enter the Void, he set about assaulting the viewer; using the camera as a weapon of violence to beat the audience to a bloody pulp. In his new …
Film Review: Red Army
It’s often said that sport and politics don’t mix but all too often they become uncomfortable bedfellows. Whether it be boycotting of Olympic Games or rebel tours to apartheid South Africa, money and politics are never far away. A country’s hopes and national pride are all too often staked on one of their sports teams. …
Film Review: The Dance of Reality
23 years is a long time to wait for a film, but then again Alejandro Jodorowsky is no ordinary director. Very few filmmakers have a unique vision, style, individualism and cult following which inspires someone to make a documentary about one of their aborted projects (as Frank Pavich does in Jodorowsky’s Dune). With surrealist masterpieces …
Incoming: Beyond The Reach
Ben is a young tracker living in the south-west with his girlfriend Laina. When she leaves for college on a scholarship, Ben makes the difficult choice to remain behind, a decision that he will come to regret. Madec is a rich, powerful international businessman, who is hunting for a bighorn to add to his trophy …
Film Review: The Salt of the Earth
Beautiful, harrowing, traumatising and uplifting, the new Wim Wenders film, The Salt of the Earth, only really deals in extreme emotions. The Oscar nominated documentary focusses on famous social and environmental photographer, Sebastião Salgado. Co-directed with Sebastião’s son, Juliano, Wenders’ reverence for his subject is clear, but so is the sheer beauty and horrific power …