Category: Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Tomboy’ mines difficult territory with remarkable sensitivity
Tomboy Written by Céline Sciamma Directed by Céline Sciamma France, 2011 Cannily appearing to de-politicize a thorny issue while actually keeping the ever-present conflicts intact, Céline Sciamma’s sophomore feature Tomboy sensibly and sensitively tackles transphobia and the rigidity of social … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinema: ‘L’Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison Close)’ – a film of strong atmosphere and thrilling characters
L’Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison Close) Directed by Bertrand Bonello France, 2011 For those who have seen films depicting a turn of the century brothel, Bonello’s film will seem familiar, at least in that he explores subjects and narrative threads … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinema: ‘Hara-kiri Death of a Samurai’ powerful and affecting
Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai Directed by Takashi Miike Japan, 2011 Moving from one genre to the next with ambition and passion, Miike’s newest effort is always worth a look. His newest film is an adaptation of the famed novel, … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘The Island’ a woefully misguided narrative mash-up
The Island Written by Kamen Kalev Directed by Kamen Kalev France, 2011 Generally, in cinema, there are greater crimes than overreaching. It’s often easy to forgive films that feature failures of execution if the ideas hold up to scrutiny. Unfortunately, … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Scabbard Samurai’ offers weirdly charming tragicomedy
Scabbard Samurai Written by Mitsuyoshi Takasu, Tomoji Hasegawa, Kôji Ema, Mitsuru Koramoto, Itsuji Itao, and Hitoshi Matsumoto Directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto Japan, 2010 Would-be samurai Kanjuro Nomi (Takaaki Nomi) has landed himself in quite a predicament. Wanted for desertion by … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘White White World’ tragically overwrought
White White World Directed by Oleg Novkovic Writen by: Milena Markovic Serbia, 2010 Trying too hard may be what stunts the otherwise portentous storyline and hefty characterisation in White White World by Serbian director Oleg Novkovic, a fourth feature film … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Guilty of Romance’ beautifully depraved
Guilty of Romance Directed by Sion Sono Japan, 2011 In Guilty of Romance, Sion Sono’s female protagonist, Izumi, is established as submissive. This quality permeates throughout the film and especially in the early scenes, she is presented as a docile … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Sleeping Beauty’ will leave most unmoved
Sleeping Beauty Written and Directed by Julia Leigh Australia, 2011 The premise of Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty suggests depravity: a young and beautiful woman is drugged and “given” to a man for the night. She is paid handsomely and has … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Une vie de ballets’ offers a portrait of dance in the moder ers
Une Vie de Ballets Directed by Marlene Ionesco France, 2011 Through the central romance between Pierre Lacotte and Ghislaine Thesmar, filmmaker Marlene Ionesco paints a portrait of the story of ballet in the latter half of the twentieth century. The … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Elena’ – Beware the Submissive Housewife
Elena Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev Written by Oleg Negin 2011, Russia In cinema it seems to take quite a lot of pluck to position an elderly couple as main protagonists. Thus the central duo in Elena, a curio of a … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Snowtown’ a mesmerizing crime masterpiece
-Snowtown Directed by Justin Kurzel Screenplay by Shaun Grant 2011, Australia First-time director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant, using pointers from the books The Snowtown Murders and Killing for Pleasure, tell the story of John Bunting, Australia’s most notorious … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Take Shelter’ ranks among the year’s best
Take Shelter Directed by Jeff Nichols Screenplay by Jeff Nichols 2011, USA Take Shelter, director Jeff Nichols’s sophomore feature and second collaboration with actor Michael Shannon (after Shotgun Stories), ranks among the year’s best. A study of paranoia plaguing rural … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘The Skin I Live In’ a well-crafted but unsatisfying psycho-thriller
The Skin I Live In Written by Pedro Almodóvar Directed by Pedro Almodóvar Spain, 2011 The hallowed caverns of cinema history are littered with the skeletal remains of mad scientists, those power-crazed maniacs whose unholy experiments are frequently an affront … [Read the Rest]
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma: ‘Kotoko’ organic, abrasive, and horrific
Kotoko Directed by Shin’ya Tsukamoto Written by Shin’ya Tsukamoto 2011, Japan Festival veteran, Japanese DIY master, Shinya Tsukamoto has earned a devoted cult following for his unnerving explorations of the junction between body and technology, most notably as seen in … [Read the Rest]
Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinéma Is Giving Away Free Tickets For ‘U2: From the Sky Down’
The Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma, in collaboration with Universal Music is happy to present 2 free screenings of the film on U2: From the Sky Down, directed by Davis Guggenheim, a musical documentary on one of the most famous … [Read the Rest]
