Category Archives: Film

The locker room of the predominantly female staff in a fish canning factory is the opening scene of this intriguing Canadian French film from director Sébastien Marnier, whose superb cast in the wider story is also predominantly female. A young woman from that factory, played by the wonderful Laure Calamy,  turns up at the homeContinue reading “The Origin of Evil (l’Origine du Mal) (15)              French Film Festival”

This winter, Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Warehouse plays host to artist-filmmaker, Sarah Wood’s film Project Paradise. The work isinspired by the Black and White Oil Conference organised by Richard Demarco in Edinburgh in 1974 at which Joseph Beuys and Buckminster Fuller both spoke. The conference took place in the context of the imminent exploitation of oil and naturalContinue reading “New Film Project Paradise on the Climate Crisis Plays at Fruitmarket This Winter”

In lesser hands, this might just have been another “odd couple go on a journey” movie that would have made for pleasant, but unremarkable, viewing. In this case, Director Marc Fitoussi presents us with a film that sets the standard for the genre. The odd couple here, estranged school friends Magalie (Laure Calamy) and BlandineContinue reading “Two Tickets to Greece (Les Cyclades) (15)             French Film Festival”

A quiet film, this. Sparse dialog, no sudden movement, you almost hesitate to breathe while you watch in case you might disturb what appears on screen. The latest offering from Bas Devos has won the Encounters section at Berlin 2023 and Best International Film at Galway Film Festival, and it has done it with theContinue reading “Here (PG)       French Film Festival”

When the torrent of water that floods the screen in the opening shot of Driving Madeleine (Une Belle Course) starts to clear, we see the world weary face of Charles Hoffman (Dany Boon) in the driving seat of his Taxi Parisien as it leaves a car wash. This is a man who has driven enoughContinue reading “Driving Madeleine (Une Belle Course) (15)            French Film Festival”

The Festival, the only francophone film event in the UK, always aims to provide audiences with a glittering, stimulating, and at times challenging array of films. There is also an opportunity to view some select titles online (on a special offer) via Curzon’s streaming platform, Curzon at Home, and this year including Krzysztof Kieślowski’s famedContinue reading “The 31st French Film Festival UK Programme Is Now Live!”

Director Cesc Gay has been given the tag of “the Spanish Woody Allen” and his latest feature does indeed point up comparisons in their work. Five stories with, on the face of it, nothing to connect them bar the protagonists’ desire to tell their tales with a somewhat dubious honesty. That, and the fact thatContinue reading “Stories Not to Be Told (Historias Para No Contar) (12)        Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival”

Set in Barcelona’s Modelo 77 – built in the 1800s and only closed a few years ago, Alberto Rodriguez’s film is inspired by real events from the late 1970s. The picture it paints comes across as so authentic that you could be watching a docudrama rather than a tale of fictional characters. It opens withContinue reading “Prison 77 (Modelo 77) Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival”

Post Franco Spain, and in particular the beautiful Andalusian city of Seville, is the setting for the directorial feature debut of Alejandro Marín. It is June 1977 and homosexuality is still illegal in Spain but a burgeoning movement to change that is the driver of this film. The opening scene is of a neighbourhood weddingContinue reading “Love and Revolution (Te estoy amando locamente) Spanish Film Festival 2023”

Following its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August 2023, this film version of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde will be shown at selected cinemas in Scotland and UK. Based on the original 19th century novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, this version has been reworked for contemporary audiencesContinue reading “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Comes to Cinemas This October”