Berlinale 2018 Review: Laura Bispuri’s ‘Daughter of Mine’
“Messy and real, touching and convincingly brought to the screen, ‘Daughter of Mine’ is a joyous, heart and mind-expanding film.”
“Messy and real, touching and convincingly brought to the screen, ‘Daughter of Mine’ is a joyous, heart and mind-expanding film.”
“In post-Hunger Games mode, Jennifer Lawrence continues her streak of pushing the envelope.”
“‘The Prayer’ – and its strange mountain community – is oddly timeless or out-of-our-time.”
“For those who didn’t think Petzold could improve after ‘Phoenix,’ you might have to reconsider after experiencing ‘Transit.’”
“A tremendously fun movie, ‘Damsel’ reinvigorates the Western aesthetic even as it defies many of the genre’s story conventions.”
“At the risk of succumbing to the Sundance hype atmosphere, writer/director Josephine Decker may be offering a new form of altered cinematic consciousness with ‘Madeline’s Madeline.’”
“De Lux excels at provoking a ‘what did he just sing?’ curiosity while you’re moving back and forth to the beat.”
“Listening to ‘Rock & Roll (Save My Soul),’ the first track on Dirty Sidewalks’ debut album, will have a definite impact on fans of The Jesus and Mary Chain.”
“If indeed this is Day-Lewis’ swan song, ‘Phantom Thread’ is the crowning achievement of a monumental career.”
“It’s ultimately Scarpa’s bizarre scripting decisions that make the film just a fun crime thriller, and not a Ridley Scott classic.”
“For a film that prides itself on being ‘based on a true story,’ ‘Molly’s Game’ often relies on moments that are too coincidental, too easy. Yet, there’s nothing here to suggest that Sorkin won’t eventually figure things out behind the camera.”
“Writer/director Akin presents everything through a stilted lens which mistakes prosaic framing and editing for a matter of fact tone.”
“‘The Breadwinner’ is a beautifully-constructed yet grueling story of female bravery that feels both timeless and timely.”
“For all its attempts at dissecting human cruelty, there’s no human core to this story, which makes its 135-minute runtime feel twice as long.”
“Renzu’s film gives a face to the thousands of women featured in the papers, disturbingly called ‘half widows’ — not just defined by the lack of a husband, but also by this ‘half,’ not full, not a complete status of being.”
“The Hollywood dream lives on proudly in ‘The Disaster Artist.’”
“Achieving a vibrant mix of swooning sincerity and bitter irony, Feng Xiaogang’s ‘Youth’ walks the tightrope of Chinese history with a showman’s flair and a subversive wit, channelling its conflicting perceptions of the past into a single cohesive, ultimately jaded vision.”
“It’s an odd little film, more melancholy and plaintive than outright scary or troubling, that slowly crawls under your skin.”
“‘Call Me by Your Name’ skips through time like a dream, or a calcified, powerful memory.”
“‘Porto’ aims for atmosphere but merely achieves it with convention.”