I would love to write a personal review for each movie, as most of them made a strong impression on me in one way or another. But since my writing skills are zero, this post would take forever to get published and it's already a week late... But here's a list of what I saw at this year's film fest and my level of enjoyment for each film.
Loveless
by Andrey Zvyagintsev | Belgium, Germany, France, Russia | 2017* * * * *
Zhenya and Boris are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page - even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears. Loveless won the jury's prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Lady Macbeth
by William Oldroyd | United Kingdom | 2016* * * * *
England, 1856. Catherine is married to an embittered older man. Their marriage is loveless and her new family regards her as an unwanted burden. The vivacious young woman grows increasingly lonely. When her husband goes on a lengthy trip, she awakens from her lethargy and strikes up a passionate affair with a rebellious grounds worker, no longer willing to give up her newfound happiness. A gripping debut by William Oldroyd.
The Beguiled
by Sofia Coppola | USA | 2017* * * * *
Based on the novel "The Beguiled" by Thomas Cullinan: During the American Civil War, a girls' boarding school seems to offer a safe harbor amid the ravages of war. But when a wounded soldier is found nearby and brought there to recuperate, the orderly life of the finishing school is disrupted: The girls find themselves falling for the man's charms, and jealousy and intrigue start poisoning their lives together. An erotically charged game full of twists and turns begins, claiming victims on all sides. Sophia Coppola became the first woman in over 50 years to win Best Director at Cannes for The Beguiled.
Happy End
by Michael Haneke | Germany, France, Austria | 2017* * * * *
Georges Laurent wants to die. His daughter Anne has taken over the family firm, the former patriarch is tired of life and bickering. Director Michael Haneke, the painterly master of family guilt and alienation, draws a portrait of isolated family members, of adulterers and the blindly privileged – and of a granddaughter who is much too young to share her grandfather's wish.
Through The Wall
by Rama Burshtein | Israel | 2016* * * * *
Michal is 32 years old. She became religious 12 years ago, and now is she getting married. A month before the wedding, while checking out the catering for the event, her groom has a change of heart and calls off the wedding. Michal feels unable to go back to ordinary life, to the usual course of courtship. She feels this is the moment to change something very basic in her personality. She decides to trust in the benevolence of the Creator, and go ahead with the wedding in one month, even though she doesn’t have a groom yet: "I have the venue, the dress, the apartment; God can easily come up with my groom".
Sommerhäuser (The Garden)
by Sonja Maria Kröner | Germany | 2017* * * * *
In the sweltering summer of '76, a shared family yard becomes set and setting for this grotesquely funny sitcom, as the adults bicker over selling the garden and the kids are free to explore the mysterious neighboring lot. Then they hear about a girl that has disappeared... Sonja Maria Kröner's feature debut Sommerhäuser time-warps back to the 1970s to paint an atmospheric family portrait.
La Región Selvage (The Untamed)
by Amat Escalante | Mexico | 2016* * * * *
A meteor strikes in the mountains of Mexico. Down below in the valley, Alejandra and Ángel’s marriage is in trouble: road worker Ángel is having an affair with Alejandra’s brother Fabián, despite his macho demeanor. Then an alien creature appears, spreading lust and destruction. A mix of sci-fi and social drama, Amat Escalante’s film was shot in his home town of Guanajuato by Chilean-Danish DoP Alberto Claro, who also lensed Melancholia and Nymphomaniac for Lars von Trier.
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