Vozvrashcheniye (The Return)

This is an intense story about two sons who have grown up without a father. One day their father suddenly appears, and he wants to take them with him on a short holiday to go fishing. While they are on their way, the orginal plan changes. Father has to do some kind of job somewhere, […]

Squint your eyes

This Polish director (who can be compared to the Dutch Alex van Warmerdam) has made an unusually intriguing comedy about, well about nothing actually. The story deals with an ‘unemployed man’, who lives on a big farm, where he is surrounded by other jobless people and more or less lunatics. He lives a peaceful life, […]

Rhinoceros Eyes

Aaron Woodley’s film is a bizarre fairytale about a boy named Chep. He works in a storage depot for movie attributes. One day a beautiful lady comes round to ask for some props. In the blink of an eye Chep falls in love and he begins to mix reality and fantasy. He is prepared to […]

Spirited Away

Animation is growing up and is becoming more interesting day by day. Especially in Japan, where the highly aggressive and rather rude manga is developing into a mature form of art, with attractive animation both for adults and children. One of the better directors from Japan is Hayo Miyazaki. After ‘Princess Mononoke’ and ‘Ghost in […]

Cidade de Deus (City of God)

A confronting portrait of present-day Brazil, told from inside a slum neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro (the City of God). The main character describes in a kind of voice-over how his friends turned from small thiefs, who were relatively symphathetic, into unscrupulous drug bosses who slaughter their competitors without mercy. The director sketches the story […]

Frida

A lovely movie about the stirring life of the artist Frida Kahlo. “Frida” is designed in a sublime manner by play director Julie Taymor. She manages to portray the spectacular and dramatic biography of Friday with exotic spheric scenery and dazzling colourful images of Mexico. Absolute a pleasure for the eye. Salma Hayek delivers an […]

Japon

The highly original first movie from Carlos Reygadas. It tells the story of a painter who is fed up with his life. He travels to a canyon in Mexico (which is filmed breathtakingly beautiful) to commit suicide. His last stop is a shed, where he stays temporarily. This shelter is supplied by an old woman […]

Adaptation

‘Adaptation’ is the second movie by Spike Jonze, after ‘Being John Malkovich’. It has one of the most original and funniest opening scenes I know: protagonist Charlie Kaufman (played by Nicholas Cage) enters the set of ‘Being John Malkovich’ and is brutally sent away by the director. Then a film starts which is almost impossible […]

One Hour Photo

A fine movie by Mark Romanek, who previously worked a lot on videoclips. He made the clips of ‘Closer’ and ‘The Perfect Drug’ for Nine Inch Nails, amongst others. The story tells about Sy the Photoguy (Robin Williams). Sy is employee of a large company called the Savemarket. For many years now he works at […]

Drowning by Numbers

One of the highlights in the oeuvre of Peter Greenaway (‘The Cook, the Thief…’, ‘Pillow Book’). ‘Drowning by numbers’ is in many aspects a remarkable movie. It’s the captivating story of three women, who each have their own way to kill their men. A film full of anecdotes, things worth knowing, bizarre games and peculiar […]

Ichi the killer

In the category ultra-violent Japanese ‘Yakuza-movies’ has Miike Takashi (‘Audition’) made an attempt to produce the ultimate masterpiece. Especially inventive torture scenes, detailed slaughterings, the most sadistic crook in film history and a large dose of black humour. ‘Ichi the killer’ is completely over-the-top!

Irréversible

The most controversial movie of 2002. Gaspar Noe shows the story of a man who takes revenge on the guy who raped his girlfriend. So this movie has two extremely shocking, violent and disturbing scenes. The camera work, which is at times deleric and disorientating, and the hypnotizing soundtrack make this movie an unforgettable watching […]

Avalon

In a desolate near future, a couple of young people get involved in a dangerous war simulation game called ‘Avalon’. Ash turns out to be a very strong player, and little by little she gets further and further entangled into the game?The Japanese director Mamoru Oshii ( Ghost in the Shell) shot the whole movie […]

Nine Queens

A masterly movie about betraying and being betrayed. It was called the South-American version of ‘Pulp Fiction’, but that is not completely justified. But it certainly is a nice, fresh movie with excellent actors and sudden turns in the plot, which only just refrain from being over-the-top…

Tout va bien on s’en va

A beautiful and moving film about family-ties. Director Mourieras (also known for ‘Dis-moi que je reve’) knows how to avoid the traps of cliches and false sentiments in a professional manner. The film tells about three sisters, Laure, Beatrice and Claire, who are living a smooth, problemless life. The sudden appearance, after fifteen years of […]

Welcome to the Dollhouse

The movie that Todd Solondz made before the bewildering ‘Happiness’. ‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’ is again a biting satire on the American family life. The main character is a touching adolescent girl, who is struggling with her family, her classmate and mainly with herself. Extremely painful and extremely funny!

Fear X

A unworldy security agent, masterly played by John Torturro, is obsessed to find the murderer of his wife. The murder has been filmed by a security camera, and he tries to find clues in the rather vague images. The closer he gets to finding the offender, the more questions arise about the reasons behind the […]

1/2 Miete

A hacker decides to run away, after the suicide of his paranoid girlfriend. He is afraid that the police will discover his illegal practices. In order to find a place to sleep he breaks into the houses of several people. A bizarre but also moving relationship develops between the lonely inhabitants and the mysterious burglar, […]

Choses Secretes

Nicely stylished erotic film about two girlfriends, who are taking advantage of rich businessmen, using their bodies as instruments to quickly reach top functions. Everything runs smoothly, until they meet an ‘opponent’ who is a little too strong. Things begin too go wrong and even their friendship is put heavily to the test. Brisseau has […]

Celine

Quite a different type of movie than Brisseau’s ‘Choses secretes’, but the camerawork is again quite captivating. The story tells about a female village doctor, who finds a very confused girl on the street one morning. She takes the girl with her to home, where she can’t leave her alone for a second, because she […]