Film Reviews by TE

Something of an oddity in the film career of Rita Tushingham. She rolls her eyes and gurns her way through her role as a young mute woman on the grim frontier in British Columbia in the early 19th century.

At least she didn't have to learn any lines.

Her co-lead is Oliver Reed, who hams it up in his usual irritating way, guffawing crazily and doing his best Desperate Dan impressions. His accent is meant to be that of a French trapper, but it changes from one scene to the next, with a heavy emphasis on cod-Irish.

The glorious Canadian scenery is the best reason for watching this strange Mills & Boon rom-com.

Bursting with Imamura's unique brand of energy, 'Pigs and Battleships' is one of the world's most original gangster / urban underbelly movies.

The final cathartic action sequence in the city centre is an unforgettable blend of tragedy, comedy and crazy inventiveness.

At his best Imamura makes it all look so effortless as one memorable scene follows another with no let up.

As ever in his films, it is also a tale for grown-ups, with no inhibitions about sexuality or about poking fun at those in power.

'Stolen Desire' (Imamura's first film) has a more formal, classical feel, despite its brothel setting. Stock comic characters and incidents are given a fresh treatment, but it is a slight work compared to the later films.

Good two-parter on an important subject, the misuse of the word "honour" in connection with the murder and extreme abuse of young women who break away from the oppression practised by a minority of families within certain cultures.

The tension is well built up and maintained, with Keeley Hawes steering the whole film in convincing style.

It often feels slightly rushed and perhaps it could have benefited from being at least a three-parter, but this is a minor point compared to the importance of the voice given to the victims.

An absorbing, affectionate addition to the sub-genre of elegies for cinemas that are closing down or are freighted with a director's fond memories (e.g. Cinema Paradiso, The Last Picture Show etc).

The colour palate and the lingering takes are trademark Ming-Liang Tsai, though it is not quite in the same class as his other great films.

The emphasis is on melancholic, deftly humorous observation rather than full narrative, but there are still several memorable set-piece scenes.

Worth 5 stars just for the political wisdom and foresight.

Anyone who lived through the political maelstrom of the late 1960s and early 1970s will recognise the burning sense of injustice that drove Peter Watkins to make this unique docudrama. I wish there were more film makers like Watkins around today.

In some ways it is a gruelling watch because the dice are so implacably loaded against the young "rebels", but the relentlessness becomes fascinating in its own right.

Ideally a film should be made from this turkey by cutting out everything except the dance and music sequences, and then adding the dance and music bits from the Special Features.

The dialogue and the hyper-angsty, narcissistic characters can be binned with great relief all round, all of the non-dance stuff is alienating in the extreme. Maybe that's what Noe wants, but there is a chill nihilism at the heart of this rather beautifully filmed bore-fest.

Don't read the other review on here before you watch this film as it contains a huge spoiler.

The hilarious conceit at the heart of this superb movie comes quite early on. It's like a contemporary fairy tale, with roots in bawdy folklore.

A lively energy and good humour keeps the narrative ticking along amidst an engaging mixture of surrealism and naturalism.

Apparently the dialogue is full of double meanings in the original Japanese, something that is only occasionally reflected in the subtitles.

Another Imamura triumph!

Hugely enjoyable introduction to Richter's 'Sleep'.

Like the previous reviewer I would have given it 5 stars if there had been a bit more of the actual music.

A brave and innovative documentary which reconstructs the torture and interrogations suffered by Palestinian citizens at the hands of Israeli security forces.

The film builds in intensity from cautious and low-key beginnings. By the end the viewer feels complete empathy for the unjust and abusive treatment they suffered. And all the while there is the unstated awareness that these men are just a small sample, and that there are many others whose stories we will never hear.

An insightful, sobering, enlightening film.

Sadly this film is almost unwatchable now. Peter Watkins was a maker of excellent docudramas, like Culloden and The War Game, but this attempt at a dystopian fiction has not survived the test of time.

There are good ideas in the mix, but the wooden acting, the shambolic production values and the jerky narrative all combine to make this a grim experience.

From the opening sequences onwards the atmosphere is pure over-the-top melodrama (and not in a good way).

A lot of films from the 1960s are either timeless, or have qualities that bring them back into fashion. Sadly, Privilege is scarcely even a watchable curio.

To get the best out of this uniquely amazing film it is well worth watching the introduction (by Tony Rayns) that is included in the Special Features on this disc.

It sets the film within Okinawan mythology and within the context of Japanese views on Okinawa and its many islands.

The film sustains a vibrant energy throughout its nearly 3 hour length and does not feel in the least bit over-long.

Myth and traditional ways of life clash with demands for economic progress amidst a riot of comedy, tragedy, abuse of power and erratic sexual desires.

Visually there are set piece scenes of jaw-dropping beauty and strangeness.

If you enjoy one-off peaks of brilliance in world cinema this one is for you!

There is an air of tragic inevitability about this fine film right from the start.

The arbitrary horrors of war are visited on one individual, but we can see those horrors rippling out into the wider community with grim realism.

The story moves along at a slow walking pace, in keeping with the struggles of the main protagonists. The forest settings have a magnetic effect on the eye and the cinematography is excellent.

And just when you are wondering when the fog referred to in the title is going to appear, it does. 'Nuff said!

I heartily recommend Loznitsa's other major films: 'Donbass' and 'A Gentle Creature'.

The inner workings of a farming co-operative in a remote Icelandic valley might sound like an unpromising setting for a movie, but the film makers prove that idea wrong.

The narrative is always absorbing and the lead actor, Arndis Egilsdottir, carries the film brilliantly. She is rarely off screen and her dogged presence seems to fit well with the other star of the film, the Icelandic landscape scenery.

There seems to be a political allegory not far below the surface, something along the lines of the dangers of Stalinist bureaucracy growing from the seeds of good ideas.

Sometimes those who have been crushed by bureaucracy can see it as an opportunity to make changes, as the jaunty pop song used in the film suggests.

A classic thriller that has aged very well. Apparently Hitchcock was pipped at the post by Clouzot in a competition to buy the film rights to the original novel. In the event, Clouzot does an immaculate job.

The story is perfectly paced and the plot twists never feel contrived.

The cast is excellent, with a special mention for Simone Signoret, perhaps the best female actor in European cinema in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her beauty has nothing to do with the innocence that some of her rivals tried to project, and she is at her most subtle in 'Diabolique'.

'Vitalina Varela' is the latest film by one of World Cinema's contemporary greats, Pedro Costa. As such it is definitely his most fully realised work to date. It is quite simply a thing of deep, dark beauty.

Nearly every sequence is framed by impenetrable shadow, with the centre of the screen bathed in a pool of subtle light. Costa is a true master of lighting, down to the finest detail. You can freeze the picture at any point and see a superbly composed artwork. No wonder it takes Costa a long time to shoot his films.

The film is the true story of Vitalina Varela's attempts to understand her late husband's life and death in Lisbon. She arrives there from her home in the Cape Verde Islands. The twilight, becalmed world of the Cape Verdeans in Portugal will be familiar to anyone who has seen Costa's previous films.

Vitalina herself is rarely off screen, and she is a powerful presence, with a strong, intelligent face that commands the long, lingering takes.

Love and death are the key themes and it is well worth watching the Q&A with Costa that is included in the special features.

My one regret is that it is hard to see Costa's films on the big screen. I'd love to see this film on a quality system, with good sound and a visual capacity that does justice to the use of light.