A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
French and French-language Films
Denis Dercourt, “The Page Turner” / “La Tourneuse de Pages” (2006) A cool, elegant psychological study of revenge, this film will certainly speak to a lot…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Johnnie To, “Exiled” aka “Fong Juk” (2006) Set in Macau territory just before its return by Portugal to China in 1998, this gangster film is a…
Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sapeña, “Fermat’s Room” (2009) Three brilliant mathematicians and an inventor, each already having solved a difficult problem, are invited to dinner together…
Michael Reeves, “Witchfinder General” (1968) Loosely based on the exploits of the English 17th-century witch-hunters Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne, this movie is a dark low-budget exploration…
Joel and Ethan Coen, “True Grit” (2010) Adapted from the 1968 novel of the same name by Charles Portis, “True Grit” can be read as both…
Akihiko Shiota, “Dororo” (2006) Based on the original manga by Astroboy creator, Osamu Tezuka, “Dororo” is a fun and entertaining escapist fantasy adventure about two wanderers,…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Feng Xiaogang, “Ye Yan” aka “Legend of the Black Scorpion” aka “The Banquet” (2006) Source: www.chinese-embassy.org.uk An adaptation of William Shakespeare’s famous revenge play “Hamlet”, this…
Park Chanwook, “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” (2005) “… Lady Vengeance” is the third of South Korean director Park Chanwook’s revenge-themed movie trilogy that began with “Sympathy…