Fnc

Hong Sang-soo is often accused of making the same film over and over again; a man and a woman meet, have awkward conversations, drink soju, and life goes on. It’s by turns tiresome and winsome, because Hong’s films are often centered around profound ruminations on a sense of self and human relationships, wrapped up and delivered with a soft charm and humour that permeates each film to its core. In Right Now, Wrong Then, he literally makes the same movie twice, and in the process, he both acknowledges and dismantles his critics’ objections.

After a joyous, energetic opening, the second installment of Miguel Gomes’s Arabian Nights, subtitled The Desolate One, takes a turn, appropriate to its title, for the darker. The humor which makes the opening such a blast certainly hasn’t entirely disappeared, but it’s become more subdued, and at times even cruel.

On the one hand, it’d be easy (and tempting) to discuss Love, the new film from Gaspar Noé, solely through the lens of the movie’s sex. There’s certainly a lot of it, and it’s explicit, with unsimulated sex scenes making up a significant portion of the film’s two hour running time.

From a simplistic description, Miguel Gomes’s film Arabian Nights could sound unbearably self-important. Taking its name from a foundational collection of folk literature and running at a total of over six hours, the film almost sounds like a parody of arthouse excess. Add in the political goals of depicting life in contemporary Portugal under the pain of its economic collapse, and the mere concept of the film threatens to implode in self-seriousness.

The 44th Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) has announced the 19 films, including 12 in competition, that will make up this year’s selection for the Focus section, a showcase for productions from Quebec and Canada. The 12 films in the running for the Grand Prix Focus are: Les Êtres chers (Quebec/Canada) by Anne Émond (here …

The Festival du Nouveau Cinema has barely started and I already feel behind. Press screenings have been going on for over a week, and I missed many due to work. It doesn’t help that the first I show up to, a screening of Jauja, was cancelled due to a problem with the digital file. I …

Our Sunhi, the newest film from Hong Sang-Soo, is enamoured with interconnected romances and the mysteries of affection. A charming and patient comedy, the film excels at presenting the trials and tribulations of desire, offering a rewarding and funny take on the mysteries of love. Though there is nothing exceptional about the title character, Sunhi, she captures the elusive affections of three friends.

Tsai Ming-Liang has built a reputation for himself as one of the foremost artists of contemporary cinema. His work is often lauded for its challenging ideas, careful pacing, and incredible compositional sense. His newest film Stray Dogs (rumoured to be his last) is about an alcoholic father and his two children struggling to survive in Taipei. Blending stark realism with elements of fantasy and absurdity, there is little doubt that this is one of the most unique films of the year, offering a singular vision of the world.

Male bodies glisten in the summer sun while wandering eyes fall upon a murder that leads to a torrid love affair with a killer. This is the premise to Alain Guirandie’s L’inconnu du lac, an incredible thriller with the mood and atmosphere of a great horror.

Borne out of the current economic crisis, Bluebird is set in an obscure and isolated logging town in Maine. Coated in snow that seems to be barely ever cleared, there is a lingering fear that the mill will close and the town will fade even deeper into the past. Lost in the rituals of daily life, it is only through accidental tragedy that a true sense of malaise and hopelessness comes rising from below the surface.

The 42nd Edition of Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema is just days away and the weight of an incredibly diverse and exciting program can intimidate even the most weathered cineaste. Combining the very best of big name and upcoming filmmakers, the festival has built its reputation on giving attention to groundbreaking and avant-garde cinema. Though sometimes …

Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012) The new film from Mexican filmmaker, Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux- a latin phrase meaning Light After Darkness, is an experimental family drama, which adopts a narrative flow that does moves between different levels of consciousness, fragmented chronologies and alternating points of view. Perhaps a bit too dense to …

L’arbre Directed by Julie Bertucelli Strong characterizations can’t quite save Julie Bertucelli’s new effort, L’Arbre. After the death of her husband, Charlotte Gainsbourg struggles to readjust, while her daughter believes that her father’s spirit continues to live on in the ancient tree that grows right outside of their home. Most of the film’s failings lie …