4 September 2026
UN MONDE FRAGILE ET MERVEILLEUX **** (vo Arabic)
This Lebanese film by Cyril Aris is a moving and charming love story about a couple who were meant to be together from the day they were born in the same hospital in Beirut.
Tender, sad, amusing and beautifully shot, the film shows the day-to-day life of ordinary Lebanese people, and especially this extraordinary duo, under the repeated threats of scattered warfare and economic woes. But the film is not political; it is rather a deeply felt tale of love and survival. And it is Lebanon’s contender for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
The story of this lovestruck couple comes from the director’s own experience: the two met years later by accident, after having been separated since their school days. They had been close then, and the boy had already confessed his love to the girl. This reminded me of the 2023 Korean film “Past Lives” by Celine Song, but then love has many delicate versions.
The couple, played by Mounia Akl and Hasan Akil, illuminate the film by their intense presence and chemistry, weaving their years together like a tapestry of joys and sorrows, but always underlined by their fated devotion. This is one to experience…
LAUNDRY ***1/2 (vo Zulu, English, Afrikaans)
This film about the years of apartheid in South Africa is as lacerating and eye-opening as such exceptional works as “Cry Freedom” and “A World Apart” from the 1980s.
The endless pain of so much human injustice, when well presented, deserves to be witnessed again and again.
This time around, it’s a South African director, Zamo Mkhwanazi, who presents this colourful yet tragic melodrama, set in the late 1960s, about a successful Black family who owns a thriving laundry business in Johannesburg. The father, mother and younger daughter work there with pride and fervour, while the older son would rather be a musician. The mood is upbeat at first, but when the white authorities decide that this family should not be in their neighbourhood, things begin to unravel drastically.
In the meantime, the son wants to go to America with a famous blues singer to further his career, while the father needs to find the one white man who had helped him with papers that allowed him to continue his business. There’s jazz and soul music, family troubles involving a past affair, and terrible discrimination blatantly directed at these peaceful people. And there is a crucial dilemma that the son has to face in an attempt to save his family.
This first feature film by the female director packs a strong emotional punch, showing its contemporary relevance at a time when so much injustice is still happening in places such as China, Myanmar, Iran and Palestine, with complete impunity, and with no end in sight. Here’s a film to see and contemplate.
ROSE **1/2 (vo German)
Sandra Hüller, the fine, award-winning German actress who came into her own with “Toni Erdmann” at Cannes in 2016, and then with the 2023 psychological thriller “Anatomy of a Fall”, once again proves her strong presence in this strange European tale, set in the late 17th century, about a woman who for years pretended to be a man. Hüller won the Best Actress Award at the last Berlin Film Festival for this role, while the film has gone to the Oscars as Austria’s contender for best foreign film.
This is the sort of work that critics love to laud. Nothing emotional, but a darkly sober, coldly precise film, in an almost archaic German, whose female character is a composite of many women throughout history who dared to cross the barrier between male and female.
I personally was unconvinced by Hüller’s portrayal as a man, though this torturous tale of a long-standing deception turns her character into a sort of martyr, like the women of the Salem Witch Trials in 17th century America. More evidence of the persistence of injustice and societal pressures throughout history.
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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