Living: a lifeless film about living with meaning and purpose
Oliver Hermanus, “Living” (2022) A gentle if sad and understated film, Oliver Hermanus’s “Living” is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 “Ikiru (“To Live”), this time…
French and French-language Films, North American Films
Clash of two codes of honour and loyalty in “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai”
Jim Jarmusch, “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” (1999) Even after twenty years, this film still holds up well as an unusual and odd pastiche…
German and German-language Films, North American Films
Tár: character study of power-crazy artist undone by a weak plot
Todd Field, “Tár” (2022) It has all the ingredients to be a great film – an excellent cast, a stunning performance from its main star Cate…
Troy: spectacle and stereotyping instead of character study and emotional drama drawn from myth
Wolfgang Petersen, “Troy” (2004) Loosely based on Homer’s epic poem “Iliad”, this blockbuster spectacle of the Trojan War plays hard and fast with the details of…
Culturocide: how an entire generation of schoolchildren is systematically immersed in alternative false history and identity
Vasily Prozorov, “Culturocide” (October 2022) Short though it is, this is a disturbing documentary demonstrating how the post-Maidan government in Kiev under Presidents Petro Poroshenko (2014…
The Lost King: real people and events lost in identity politics stereotypes
Stephen Frears, “The Lost King” (2022) A breezy and light film, “The Lost King” depends very largely on its lead actor Sally Hawkins’s energetic and impassioned…
Round-up of Films seen in 2021 and 2022
Dear USE Readers, As I’d not seen many films in 2021, due in part to a long lockdown in the second half of that year, I…
British Films, French and French-language Films
Triangle of Sadness: a perilous navigation through class warfare, power struggles and a plot that falls apart
Ruben Östlund, “Triangle of Sadness” (2022) Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip … er, sorry, this won’t…
Japanese Films, North American Films
Bakemono: modern-day ghost story on family relationships
Jorge Lucas, Sumire Takamatsu, “Bakemono” (2019) Even in modern times, the demons and spirits of yore can still find a way to inveigle themselves into people’s…
Home in Time: time travel, the consequences of bad behaviour, free will and reconciliation in comedy sci-fi short
Patrick Hagarty, “Home in Time” (2019) In time for Christmas, this amusing sci-fi comedy short about a married couple preparing for family Christmas at their home…