Ja Tozhe Hochu (Me Too) by Russian Alexej Balabanov. Very dark Russian story, most people were trying to work it out afterwards. At one point again caught up on some sleep. Rating: 6/10 Passion by Brian De Palma, another US biggie, reckon it's a strong contender,...
Sinapupunan, Thy Womb, by Phillipine director Brillante Mendoza, a gentle & touching story of a wife willing to let her husband marry a younger woman in order to have a child. Seems simple but as it is set in one of the few Muslim island communities in an...
O Gebo e a Sombra, by 105 year Portugese director Manoel de Oliveira. Very simple, like a stage set, measured but slow. I fell asleep again! However no sex nor violence! Rating: 5/10. Bella addormentata (Sleeping Beauty) by Italian Marco Bellocchio, a well known...
Pietà by South Korean Kim Ki-duk. A powerful film, well made about an enforcer of loans to small workshops in Seoul. Many twists of the tale, but it really prompts the question, like the Japanese gangster film - how many limbs do you need to see being cut off to get...
Outrage Beyond, Japan, Takeshi Kitano, director & main actor, gangster movie in Tokyo, action packed & at times violent, the Godfather style, the only film so far which Anna & disagree on. Rating: 8/10. Apres Mai, French by Olivier Assayas, set in late...
Fill the Void, Israeli, by Rama Burshtein, simple story based in Hassadic family in Tel Aviv about the marriage of a younger daughter, one of those surprises when you see a good film having had low expectations. Rating: 7/10. To the Wonder, USA by Terrance Malick, the...
È Stato il Figlio, Italian, by Daniele Cipri, "home game", big ovation, story of hard up family in Palermo Sicilly, shades of Tornatore, well made, funny & sad, really liked it. Rating: 8/10. The Master, USA, by Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the biggies, with...
Paradies/Glaube, Austrian, Ulrich Seidl, always controversial filmaker, a middleaged lady who refinds her Christian faith & becomes obsessive, complicated by the reappearance of her wheelchair bound Muslim husband. I fell asleep for a while, it really divided...
Izmena, Betrayal, by Russian Kirill Serebrennikov, a modern day drama of two couples, infidelity. A dramatic Hitchcock style thriller, popular, "on the edge of the seat". Rating: 7/10. Superstar, French by Xavier Giannoli, similar to the part in Woody Allen's To Rome...
Medici con l'Africa, documentary by a Venetian, Carlo Mazzacurati, about doctors via a Catholic organisation in Padova & interviews with the many Italian doctors who have gone there for a month or 30 years. Moving, well balanced & a long standing ovation. Not...
Our man on the ground was present at the Sala Grande for all the screenings for the entrants for the Festival. Here is the daily report on the films. These are personal views, not those of San Marco Press. The Sala Grande holds about 1200 people and it is great...
