A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
German and German-language Films
Niels Bolbringer and Thomas Tielsch, “Bauhaus Spirit: 100 Years of Bauhaus” (2018) Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the artistic / aesthetic movement by…
Latin American Films (Spanish language)
Marcelo Martinessi, “The Heiresses / Las Herederas” (2018) A slow-burning, low-key character study that, among other things, examines loss and self-transformation and interrogates social hierarchy and…
British Films, North American Films
Dexter Fletcher, “Rocketman” (2019) Rather than playing as a straight biopic – a template that felled “Bohemian Rhapsody” – this comedy drama portraying the life and…
Park Jeong-woo and Park Hee-joo, “The Untold Story – ‘Korean Empire’ ” (Arirang TV, 2013) A symbol of the Korean people’s desire for freedom and independence…
Caolan Robertson and George Llewellyn-John, “Borderless” (2019) Lauren Southern is a political activist and independent journalist notorious for expressing views considered to be white-nationalist and borderline…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, North American Films
Wayne Wang, “Chan is Missing” (1982) Would-be taxicab owner / driver Jo (Wood Moy) needs to purchase a licence enabling him to drive a taxi so…
Anthony DiMieri, “America in denial: Gabor Maté on the psychology of Russiagate” (The Grayzone Project, May 2019) For two years from the time Donald Trump won…
Rhys Thomas, “The Great Pretender” (2012) The public fascination with the shy Parsi Indian boy born in a British colonial backwater in Zanzibar in 1946, who…
Mike Leigh, “Peterloo” (2018) Made just before the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in August 1819, when British cavalry troops and foot soldiers…
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 2)” (2018) In this second and final episode, Michael Palin ventures outside Pyongyang to spend a few days…