Ten Years | New York Asian Film Festival
By Phil Guie July 22, 2016
A film anthology that ran afoul of the Chinese government during its theatrical run and, despite strong box office, disappeared abruptly until it found a second life.
A film anthology that ran afoul of the Chinese government during its theatrical run and, despite strong box office, disappeared abruptly until it found a second life.
The city’s premier showcase of the latest and greatest from international film festivals celebrates its 15th anniversary by continuing what it does best: highlighting the richness to be found in Asian cinema.
Followed by a smitten camera, Léa Seydoux’s face combines a Mary Cassatt apple-cheeked purity with the sullen roughness of a young Kate Moss in the latest take on the French classic novel by Octave Mirbeau.
The prime reason to see this artsy film is the beautiful black-and-white, weird, and mystical imagery of cinematographer Shai Goldman.
Urgency. That was the main ingredient propelling many of the best films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including the winner of the Palme d’Or, I, Daniel Blake.
Jacques Audiard’s moody heartbreaker, the winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or last year, daringly places a rough-and-ready, documentary-ish shooting style alongside confident, startling artistry.
Asghar Farhadi reminds us of how, ultimately, there are countless external factors that determine and alter our lives that we have no control over.
Cinematographer Francesco di Giacomo never lets an amazing shot go to waste, whether in sumptuous interiors or starkly beautiful landscapes. He is a master of chiaroscuro, rich texture, and, above all, framing.
Italian director Laura Bispuri’s debut film follows Mark (Alba Rohrwacher), an Albanian man who had renounced his female gender and taken a vow of chastity as a teen to escape a life of servitude.