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Reviews
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (2017)
Kechiche best film so far: Sea, sex and sun.
'Mektoub my love Canto Uno' has devided professional critics.
It is easy to denounce its lack of former plot line, length (3hrs) and voyeurism. Although these accusations are valid, who let himself completely immerse into it will feel undoubtedly rewarded.
It is not a boring film and quite captivating actually. I was even craving for more..
The action takes place in Sète, a southern France resort town on the Mediterranean. Amin, a shy student of Tunisian background who came back to his home town for summer, hangs out with friends and girls on holidays. Bodies and characters faces are shot with the delightful summer light which gives an extra touch of sensuality to the whole story.
The film shows like no other movie before it what it really feels to be young, beautiful and on holidays. The camera is so close from the group that the viewer feels actually part of the band.
It can work as a time machine (for the ones who have enjoyed similar experiences) or better as a machine that sucks you into the present, a call that is so powerful that one can hardly get out of it unharmed.
Kechiche's tour de force is to create a fiction that feels so real it could be a documentary on sociability, family, seduction and love at 20 something.
For the viewer who has let go and enjoyed this piece of cinema at his true value it is hard not to regard 'Mektoub my love' as an original, authentic, peculiar masterpiece.
Katalin Varga (2009)
Fresh and daring : a stroke of genius
Peter Strickland's debut film Katalin Varga is fresh and radical. It carries the unique energy of a first grand artwork made by a young talented craftsman. In that respect I can't help comparing it to Oasis' 'Definitely Maybe' or Edward Albee's 'The zoo story'.
The beautiful Hilda Péter plays Katalin Varga, a woman who is forced to leave her husband after he discovers her son Órban is not his. Katalin sets out with Órban on a rickety horse carriage on a journey through the Transilvanian mountains in search for revenge on the men who raped her 11 years earlier.
Stunningly shot by Mark Györi in 16mm, Katalin Varga is a mesmerising dream-like tale of motherhood and revenge.
Made with very little heritage money and a big heart, it is
uncompromising in its directing approach and style and is rabove all the film of a young man who didn't want to give up his dream of becoming a movie director.
The film culminates in a jaw-dropping lake boat conversation scene during which the protagonist faces her rapist.
Katalin Varga was awarded a well deserved silver bear at the Berline in 2009 for sound design.
Katalin Varga is my second favourite film of all times - right after The double life of Véronique. I've seen it 7 times and will probably still watch it again as many times.
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The deepest war film ever made
Terrence Mallick's The Thin Red Line is like no other war epic.
Freely shot and edited it does not follow the classical 3acts plot line.
The purpose of the movie is to take the viewer on a free dive, whose immersion allows us to meditate on the philosophical aspects of war.
War is a affront made to humans themselves but also to nature and the divine.
Soldiers are seen acting like soldiers but we have access to their mind and deep thoughts (through their voices off) which allows an extraordinary cinematic experience.
Beautifully shot in vivid 35mm colour, The Thin Red Line is a classic masterpiece that will live forever.
La double vie de Véronique (1991)
More than cinema: pure poetry
There is something magic about Kieslowski 's cinema: his ability to expose the beauty and complexity of the human soul on celluloid print.
This is perhaps his most intimate and touching movie, an authentic classic masterpiece.
The double life of Veronique tells the story of two identical women living separate lifes in Poland and France. The furtive encounter between Weronica and Veronique triggers a meditation on life, destiny and the pursuit of love.
Love scenes are shot with unique sensuality and delicacy (at times through a magnifying glass). No other director has been able to capture the essence and fragility of women the way Kieslowski does it here - with her etheral beautiful muse Irène Jacob.
This film will fill your soul and mind like very few others.