ZFF 2023 #1
Cage is fantastic in the role of a character the film seems to lose interest in about halfway through, walking the thin line between empathising and lightly mocking a man undone by his vain desire for ultimately empty status. Brogli, by contrast, undermines the promise of both this fascinating protagonist and his solid horror comedy premise by the baffling decision to try his hand at a shallow satire about virality and "cancel culture." Ends up saying nothing much in particular.
ZFF 2023 #2
Rough around the edges in ways that don't exactly enhance the experience – the heightened artifice of the visuals occasionally falls into the awkward gap between "intriguing" and "cheap," the middle section drags a bit, McNamara's writing could stand to derive its humour from more than swearing in a period setting, and there are more shrug-inducing performances than you'd expect from Lanthimos (Dafoe and Youssef primarily, though Kathryn Hunter is outstanding) – but I was ultimately won…
Locarno Film Festival 2021 #13
Producer, touring the set: "I must say, Monsieur Mandico, I'm impressed. You seem to have gathered the best team of set and costume designers, makeup artists, lighting technicians, and composers money can buy. This movie will look and sound like a masterpiece. Do you have a script to match this artistry?"
Bertrand Mandico, scribbling stick figures onto a commemorative Kate Bush napkin: "A what?"
Locarno Film Festival 2023 #6
Uwe Boll. TikTok. Matsuo Bashō. Ernst Kantorowicz. Zoom. Andrew Tate. Handwritten end credits. A Godardian reappraisal of a Romanian film from 1981. A belated spritual sequel to The Happiest Girl in the World. Nina Hoss. 163 minutes of Radu Jude firing on all cylinders, taking aim at everything from Romania selling itself for parts to Western Europe and the limits of Charlie Hebdo-style caricature ("Aren't you afraid they'll call you a Putinist?") to the intractable…
