10 October 2025
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE ***
Katheryn Bigelow (Oscar-winning director of “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty” – both concerning wars and the military) is back with another testosterone-filled thriller that feels too plausible for comfort.
A missile that cannot be traced is launched against the U.S. We are in Washington D.C. at the center of the crisis. The agonising events building up to the finale are seen from the points of view of three different characters, climaxing in the hands of the President of the United States, played by Idris Elba.
This is a frightening, cautionary tale executed with perfect detail and terrifying clarity.
NOUVELLE VAGUE *** (vo French)
The atmosphere of this film, an homage to the 1960s which gave birth to the new wave of French cinema, is incredibly authentic. And it’s especially amazing, as it is orchestrated by the well-known American director, Richard Linklater, with style and admiration.
It covers the ‘making-of’ Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film “À bout de souffle” (“Breathless”), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.
Being true to its subject, it’s in B&W, has all the characters smoking like chimneys and introduces the real players in the film – actors, directors and producers – with name tags. It’s a tribute to a nascent talent that would shake the cinema world – La Nouvelle Vague, like Italy’s Neorealism or the British New Wave. This work is almost a cloning of the original film being made and Linklater is in obvious awe of that era of artistic experimentation and nonchalance.
Beware, this is a work for serious cinephiles who know their cinematic history and who can appreciate the creators of the movement, such as Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol or Éric Rohmer. It might seem either boring or too intricate (with all those name tags) for an audience just looking for entertainment. This is literally cinematic history. And it may be screened along with the original “À bout de souffle” – a classic which should be seen.
C’ÉTAIT MIEUX DEMAIN *** (vo French)
What a relief – finally an intelligent French comedy with an apt message – a super satire of changing social mores, directed by Vinciane Millereau.
We’re in the late 1950s where the man goes to work every morning, the wife dutifully and cheerfully sees him off, takes care of the house and kids, and welcomes him back like a king in the evening.
But, due to a freak accident, this contented couple ends up in 2025, having no clue about all that has changed since their life in the 1950s. I don’t want to ruin your pleasure, but just know that Elsa Zylberstein and Didier Bourdon are perfect as the befuddled couple getting used to women’s emancipation and the daring, modern world. Great fun!
THE SALT PATH **1/2
This film, with superb cinematography of the English coastline and the majesty of the difficult walk to Land’s End with its dramatic cliffs and wild seas, starts off very slowly, without too much explanation about what is going on with the two scruffy hikers.
Eventually you begin to realise – through flashbacks – that they are a couple who have lost their home, have hardly any money left and the husband has a grave illness, impeding his walking.
It’s all a bit too much, as this misery drags on for quite some time, with the audience wondering why they are behaving so irresponsibly. But then we finally discover that it’s based on the wife’s (Raynor Winn, and her husband Moth Winn) notes on their travels, which were later turned into a best-selling book of the same name. This being a supposedly true story, the Salt Path (“the path by the salty sea”) is a metaphor for the deep love and commitment of the couple, their resilience and how nature can heal the body.
Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs are excellent as the couple, while Marianne Elliot’s direction is heartfelt though uneven at times, but this is her first feature film.
TRON – ARES *1/2
Unless you’re a gamer or an adolescent looking for senseless action, you can miss this one.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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