The Look of Silence

Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing, for all itsgruesomeness, was one of my top films of 2013.This is a companion piece to that, but the emphasis is on the victims rather than the perpetrators. While not quite as punch-you-in-the-face as The Act of Killing (although maybe it would be if you haven't already visited Oppenheimer's …

Force Majeure

A film which challenges our own view of ourselves. We probably have an idea of how we think we would react in extreme circumstances, but until we are actually put in that position, most of us will probably never know. And when you discover yourself to be a very different person from the one both you and …

En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron – A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

At times very funny, at times sad, and at times quite horrific, this surreal film is ... well, surreal! There is much that does make the viewer reflect on existence, on aspects of humanity, on death and life. It uses a bland, washed-out colour palette which matches the dead-pan delivery of much of the dialogue, and …

Wakolda

The true story of an Argentinian family in the 1960s, who cross paths with a German doctor as they set out to begin a new life in Patagonia. How lovely to have a film written and directed by a woman: Lucía Puenzo (who also directed XXY, yet another film featuring a girl with a genetic disorder). …