What will 2009 be remembered for? At the cineplex, it was the year of 3D. Henry Selick’s creepy Coraline used it to take us deeper into its laby-rinthine fairytale, while Pixar’s Up used 3D to subtly enhance its lighter-than-air story in a film that even made grumpy film critics cry. Meanwhile, James Cameron’s Avatar, the self-prophesied revolution in 3D, finally arrived at the end of the year, wafting along on the vapours of its own hot air of hype.JJ Abrams reinvented Star Trek for the OC generation; Watchmen, after innumerable failed attempts, finally hit the screen like a slap of cold porridge; while District 9, a sci-fi thriller from South Africa (with a little help from Peter Jackson), gave a healthy two fingers to Hollywood and tore a healthy hole too in the box office. Funny... Similar posts

Frosty, formal, yet so forceful. This story of terrible deeds in a small German village in the months prior to the first World War is the latest masterpiece to come from the formidable Austrian director Michael Haneke. Shot entirely in black and white and with rigid camera mountings, the film seems like a throwback to early cinematic melodramas. However, this starched work has no accompanying score and its buttoned-up solemnity hangs heavily on the screen. Narrated in retrospect by the then youthful village schoolmaster (Christian Friedel), the film concentrates on the lives of six families – those of the Baron (Ulrich Tukur) and his steward (Josef Bierbichler), those of the village’s pastor (Burghart Klaußner), doctor (Rainer Bock) and midwife (Susanne Lothar), and that of a field... Similar posts

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke’s superb new film The White Ribbon is a stark and gripping period drama about a German town on the eve of WWI plagued by a series of violent incidents that act as a dark omen of the horrors to come. The story, narrated by the film’s central character, a young schoolteacher (Christian Friedel), is structured around a string of misfortunes that befall the citizens of Eichwald, a rural village in Protestant Northern Germany. Half of the townspeople are dependent on the thunderous Baron (Ulrich Tukur) for work and the other half take their spiritual sustenance from the church minister (Burghart Klaussner), who wields the power of the pulpit with understated force. The film opens as the local doctor (Rainer Bock) is thrown from his horse by a tripwire,... Similar posts

Haneke picks up Palme d’Or…Hi all…this year’s Cannes Film Festival ended in triumph for Michael Haneke, as his latest film Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) was awarded the Palme d’Or, much to his delight: “Thank you very much. Sometimes my wife asks me a very feminine question: that is, am I happy. Well, let me say that at this moment in time, I am very happy. Much thanks also to Thierry Frémaux for including me in this prestigious competition; to my producers, for letting me do what I wanted; to the funding sources which financed the film, and to the children, who were an enormous gift to me. A thousand thanks!” Meanwhile, a number of Asian films scooped top prizes-Best Director went to Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay (Phillipines), Hong Kong/France production Chun Feng... Similar posts