31 May 2024. By Neptune MEMORY *** Does memory stand up to reality? Do we each remember things differently and colour the facts with our own emotions? This is what Mexican director Michel Franco is delving into here – two damaged people who come together and manage, through distorted memories, to find a haven in […]
FILM: MARCELLO MIO – a charming nostalgia piece
24 May 2024. By Neptune MARCELLO MIO ***1/2 (vo French, Italian, English) This charming nostalgia piece is a real cinephile’s delight. But that is also its one drawback – for it’s a celebratory gift mostly to those who can recognise all the references to the film classics of the legendary, debonair Marcello Mastroianni: for instance, […]
THE SECOND ACT/LE DEUXIÈME ACTE ***1/2 (vo French)
The Cannes film festival is in full swing, and this French film was its opening selection. And it deserved to be, for it’s a clever, surrealistic work about cinema – fiction and reality in front of and behind the camera, narcissistic actors, and a possible future with AI looming over its creativity. It also touches […]
FILM: IF – an uplifting and amusing revelation about imaginary friends
10 May 2024. By Neptune IF (BLUE ET COMPAGNIE) **** Did you have an imaginary friend when you were growing up? That’s what the title IF stands for, and it’s an uplifting and amusing revelation. This mix of live-action and animation is about an adolescent girl (Cailey Fleming) who lost her mother as a child. […]
FILM: LE TABLEAU VOLÉ – thrilling tale of a lost and found masterwork
3 May 2024. By Neptune LE TABLEAU VOLÉ *** (vo French) Is it Sotheby’s or Scotties? Strange choice of a replacement name in this film about a heavyweight auction house whose real name couldn’t be used in this story based on a true event.But French director Pascal Bonitzer manages to show us two worlds in […]
FILM: HIGH AND LOW – JOHN GALLIANO ***1/2 – a must-see
26 April 2024. By Neptune HIGH AND LOW – JOHN GALLIANO ***1/2 Remember Galliano, the exciting, eccentric English fashion designer who revolutionised the house of Dior with his flamboyant, baroque shows? This in-your-face, honest documentary about Galliano shows it all with a fluid ease – his rise, his innate talent, his 15 years of glory […]
FILM: CIVIL WAR **1/2 – frightening view of a possible future reality
19 April 2024. By Neptune We have a highly varied selection of films this week – depicting unsettling violence, gentle wisdom and a surrealistic comedy – from different countries – U.S., India, Bhutan and France. Choose wisely… CIVIL WAR **1/2 This is a brutal film in its frightening view of a possible future reality. But […]
FILM: The Promised Land – a film not to miss!
12 April 2024. By Neptune KING’S LAND (The Promised Land) ***1/2 (vo Danish, German) In this historical epic, Danish director Nikolaj Arcel pits two vastly different men against each other in 18th century Denmark. One is a decent, lowly captain from the army who wants to develop the barren peninsula of Jutland (sort of the […]
FILM: THE PALACE – a film about the super rich filmed in Gstaad
5 April 2024. By Neptune This week – two comedies to take you away from the miseries of the world – run to them! THE PALACE *** This latest film by Roman Polanski has divided both critics and audiences. Some have said it’s the worst film ever made by the master Polanski (“Tess”, “Chinatown”, “The […]
FILM: GREEN BORDER **** – fleeing the horrors of the Syrian war
29 March 2024. By Neptune GREEN BORDER **** (vo Polish, Russian, English, Arabic…) We first see the Syrian family – from the stately grandfather to his son’s family including wife, children and a baby – on a flight from Turkey to Belarus, where they have plans to go to relatives in Sweden. Fleeing from the […]
