Edinburgh Film Festival Review: Daniel Bandeira’s ‘Propriedade’
“As a pure piece of genre filmmaking, ‘Propriedade’ is highly successful.”
“As a pure piece of genre filmmaking, ‘Propriedade’ is highly successful.”
“‘Joram’ is effectively a new version of ‘The Fugitive’ (and a rather good one at that).”
“Thanks to some sharp, propulsive editing and a highly intriguing set of speakers, ‘Cassius X: Becoming Ali’ makes for an easily entertaining watch.”
“‘Therapy Dogs’ skitters around far too freely to be restrained by any sort of conventional coming-of-age narrative.”
“Denis drenches every scene in ‘Fire’ with such a sultry sadness; the film stays captivating even as a drastic turn never seems to arrive.”
“In ‘Nitram,’ even the simplest domestic scenes inside the Bryant family home seem to have had the light and life sucked from them. And even in the film’s gentlest moments, Kurzel never lets the audience forget the film’s hopeless destination.”
“Both emotionally and narratively, ‘The Man Standing Next’ is an easy story to get lost in.”
“Rather than using the violence itself as a punchline, ‘Voice of Silence’ builds a comedy of manners out of Chang-bok and his colleagues’ sensibilities.”
“Rowland’s direction throughout is clean and deliberate, rarely showy. He evokes the kind of barren small town where there is almost nothing to fight over, although some still find a way. There’s a bleakness to all of it, a greyness.”
“‘Miss & Mrs. Cops’ is a genuinely light-hearted movie which never strays into the emotional register of real life or real pain.”
“From the moment Ramona first appears, ‘Hustlers’ announces itself as a new addition to the neo-noir cannon — a film about bright lights in dark places.”
“Fathers make sense when we can reduce them to symbols, but the actual business of parenting is so defined by ‘feminine’ qualities — emotional openness, compassion, gentleness, patience — that we often struggle to correlate them with a father figure.”
“Looking back at a film like ‘Rocky IV,’ we can’t just say ‘wow, look how dumb we were back then’ because the simple truth is that we haven’t earned the right. We are still making the same mistakes, still falling for the same macho con.”
“There are things about ‘Rocky III’ that definitely raise eyebrows — its racial dynamics and maybe even its class politics — but ultimately it shows a fighter overcoming his opponent by reaching out to those around him and confronting the problems within.”
“Films like ‘Rocky II’ age well because the moments that now seem anachronistic serve to shed light on problems we still have today, delivered by the kind of characters viewers can sympathise with, even if one doesn’t agree with all their opinions.”
“The ‘Rocky’ films have given us great heroes. Their protagonists are sweet and kind, courageous and indominable. They have given us so much to cheer for. But they’ve also grown out of an idea of masculinity that is deeply, meaningfully flawed.”
“‘Baby Driver’ and ‘Drive’ are not road maps to modernity, they don’t offer any route through it that guarantees a safe arrival. The only advice they might offer is to tear up the map itself. To simply drive.”
“‘Argo’ allows you to enjoy the CIA’s outlandish caper, but it also confronts you with the ambivalence of the larger picture.”
“Like a modern-day Machiavelli, his amoral world-view doesn’t see the ethical shades of his actions, only the gains and losses they might occur.”