Glasgow Film Festival Tag Archive
Age of Shadows – GFF 2017
Korean director Kim Jee-Woon made a name for himself in horror, with films like A Tale of Two Sisters and gruelling serial killer thriller I Saw the Devil. From there he’s made outlandish Western The Good, the Bad, and The Weird, not to mention reintroduced Schwarzenegger in US mad action caper The Last Stand. Age of Shadows is his latest film and follows the exploits of Korean rebels seeking to overthrow Japanese invaders during the 1920’s After an exhilarating opening the film launches straight into an exhilarating, freight train of espionage. Train […]
Headshot – GFF 2017
Headshot, the latest film from Indonesian exports Timo Tjanto and Kimo Stamboel, is a rip-roaring action extravaganza and the true culmination of the directors’ passion for farce, black comedy, and action. Surprisingly the so-called Mo Brothers have remained relatively low-key, even though Headshot marks their third feature film. In their native Indonesia the directors don’t fare much better, with most of their flicks never seeing the light of a cinematic release. It may prove the price […]
The Demons – GFF 2017
French Canadian film The Demons, from director Philippe Lesage, peaks behind the curtain of suburban civility for a slow but powerful discussion on childhood, sexuality, and social relationships. In it, an adolescent boy named Felix begins to encounter the adult world in subtle, but dramatic ways. Lesage is clearly an inquisitive and open-minded documentarian whose curiosity allows him to pry the deepest most private parts of life without seemingly rabidly intrusive. That’s an important […]
Love and Peace – GFF 2016
Love and Peace is the twenty-ninth feature film from eclectic Japanese writer/director Sion Sono, the man behind cult escapades like Love Exposure, Cold Fish, and Tokyo Tribe.
Couple in a Hole – GFF 2016
Only Tom Geen’s second feature film (after 2009’s Menteur) Couple in a Hole is a bold and startlingly pained microstudy. The film follows an apparently well-to-do Scottish couple, played by Kate Dickie (The Witch) and Paul Higgins (The Thick of It), live like savages deep in the heart of a forest in Provincial France.
Wolf Creek 2 – Glasgow FrightFest 2014
When it comes to horror sequels, something tends to get lost in translation; the follow up will rarely do more than enact round 2 of what the first one had to offer, upping the gore and shifting the set-pieces. The films that survive seem to be the ones that throw their eggs in the proverbial […]
The Strange Colour of Your Bodies Tears – GFF 2014
Following on from their stunning debut feature Amer, Helen Cattet and Bruno Forzani deliver another breath-taking giallo-inspired thriller, pushing the envelope even further in terms of narrative coherency and cinematic beauty.
The Girl From the Wardrobe – GFF 2014
Writer-director Bodo Kox’s debut feature follows the story of three isolated individuals who live on the same floor of a block of flats in a run-down residential area. Jacek (Piotre Glowacki) operates a business from his computer and tries to maintain a normal life whilst taking care of his autistic brother Tomeck (Wojciech Mecwaldowski) who […]
The Dance of Reality – GFF 2014
Reviewing a film like Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Dance of Reality (La Danza de la Realidad) is a tricky thing. Rarely do films achieve such a level of mind-boggling skill, flaunting an incredible fusion of art and entertainment like nothing you’ve ever seen. The legendary director’s first film in 23 years is an account of his […]
Stoker – GFF 2013
If you can avoid the trailer, then for God’s sake do because here’s a film that benefits from going in blind. Park Chan Wook’s Stoker is a thing of undeniable beauty; a
