Writer-director Pema Tseden tells this story of a clash between modernity and tradition as a woman is dismayed to find she is pregnantThe latest of Pema Tseden’s empathic and intimate portraits of Tibetan pastoral life begins with an intriguing cloudin…
The Hand of God review – Paolo Sorrentino exposes his childhood trauma
Going back to Naples and the tragedy that changed his life, The Great Beauty director evokes his adolescence with bawdy vigourAt 16, Paolo Sorrentino returned home to find that both his parents were dead, killed by a carbon monoxide leak. On the night …
Streaming: The Father and other films about dementia
Florian Zeller’s heart-rending film The Father is the latest in a spate of recent works tackling the condition and its effects on the familyFirst shown way back at Sundance in January last year, and repeatedly delayed by the pandemic, The Father waited…
Beasts Clawing at Straws review – jet-black comedy in arch Korean thriller
A long-suffering sauna worker finds a bag stuffed full of cash in a crime caper with perfectly pitched performancesWhen Korean director Bong Joon-ho won the best picture Oscar in 2020 for his near-universally acclaimed Parasite, he suggested that maybe…
All Hands on Deck review – fresh and funny French holiday romance
A romantic surprise has unexpected consequences in a gentle comedy channelling Éric Rohmer crossed with Carry on CampingHere is a terrifically fresh, funny and gentle film from director and co-writer Guillaume Brac, which takes quite seriously somethin…
The Fever review – dreamy film about an indigenous Brazilian’s alienation
Maya Da-Rin’s subtle, poetic debut about a man with a mysterious fever engages with the hidden lives of the Desana people of BrazilHere is a mysterious and opaque movie, a feature debut from 42-year-old Brazilian artist and film-maker Maya Da-Rin. It d…
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World review – devastating exposé of showbiz abuse
Luchino Visconti emerges badly from this desperately sad documentary about the exploitation of his Death in Venice child star Björn AndrésenThis documentary tells us how the most beautiful boy in the world became its saddest man, his life damaged by th…