Film Reviews by GF

This was a deserved Oscar nominee for Best International Film the year before last, so I was expecting a lot and was not disappointed! Set in the little known kingdom of Bhutan it follows a young male teacher who travels to what may be the most remote school in the world as a new placement. He finds himself in a village of around 60 people and a school of nine pupils. Most of the villagers are yak herders, hence the title. The scenery is unique and breathtaking, the performances including those from non actors are moving and convincing and the film is moving and amusing in different parts. A must see for whose who enjoy watching the best cinematic offerings from around the world.

I found this engrossing from start to finish as I am averse to heights and for me this was scarier than any horror film i have seen recently. The way in which the characters try and adapt to their circumstances and attempt to find a rescue plan is extremely well thought out. If you liked this try Free Solo - a recent winner of best documentary at the Oscars. It's a real life story of a climber planning to go up a sheer cliff face without a rope.

This is classic horror film making it its very best. No CGI effects, no gore, just a tense feeling of suspense and several genuinely, terrifying moments. A must see horror film.

It may be unavailable on DVD, but the time of writing, this debut by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is available as a re-release in cinemas. Kore-eda's films deal mainly with family and relationships and this one is no exception. Like hs better know films including Like Father Like Son, Our Little Sister and last year's P'alme D'or winner Shoplifters, Maborosi is beautifully shot, has layers of emotions and a great soundtrack.

Following a tragedy a young Japanese woman moves from downtown Tokyo, to a small fishing village, taking a chance on a marriage to a man she has never met. With her is her young son who becomes a brother to her new husband's daughter. Can they find family happiness in unusual circumstances?

If you get this chance to see this, it is well worth watching one of our current great Director's earlier films.

A heart rending movie about two girls and their Father living in a run down country house while their Mother is in hospital. Lovely backdrops and as usual the music is great.

By the way you HAVE to watch it in English, you can like me, watch it in Japanese with subtitles - the way it was made.

Ben Wheatley has been one of the UK's film makers to watch since the inspired darkness of "Kill List', but this is a turkey that ca neither be excused or denied.

Set in a large disused factory, the characters are a mixture of American low entry arms dealers and Irish terrorists, meeting to exhcange cash for guns.

For little apparent reason everyone starts shooting at each, but miraculously hardly anyone seems to stay shot and for the tiresome last hour, people are crawling around uttering unfunny dialogue. It really is one of the worst movies of the year, which seems like the filming of a script half finished.

Avoid.

The first part of this film is fairly routine - a young Spanish immigrant to New York without legal status is struggling to make ends meet in a series of dead end jobs like babysitting and dressing up in a chicken costume to promote a fast food shop.

Her friend Olga then invites her to a well paid job and THAT is where the movie takes an unexpected turn. The twist is clever and the tension is suddenly racked up. I should point out that this denouement is not entirely original - a film with a very similar twist came out several years ago, although I won't it spoil things for future viewers by naming it!

That said, if you want to be surprised by a well made indie movie, this is certainly one to watch.

The above synopsis sums up the plot, but this three hour and twenty eight minute meditation on the value of life, of forgiveness and redemption is much, much more.

The two children and the bus diver who have survived the tragic hijacking of a bus, drift towards each other two years later and end up leaving their small town to travel through Japan to see the ocean.

This is a wonderful and deep movie, full of understated emotion, and dense with passion.

A modern masterpiece of Japanese and world cinema.

This lively animated film tells the true story of Raymond Brigg's own parents from the day they first meet until their passing, in the same year in 1971.

Along they way they fall in love, marry, buy their lifelong family home and acquire the various trappings of their times, such as a telephone, a car and other more subliminal items which always set the tone of the times.

History too is very much a part of the story. WW11 comes and goes as does the 1945 Atlee Government and their real life son Raymond himself, grows up and shocks his parents by going to art college in the 1950's.

What makes this special is that it could so readily be the parents of many of us and that is also what makes it so moving.

An underrated masterpiece.

Moving Japanese anime telling the story of the great artist through his daughters and entourage. The storytelling is bound together through various stories behind his more famous paintings and all in all it is an accomplished moving example of current anime with a lovely soundtrack.

Two teenagers a boy and a girl, strike up a heartfelt freindship at school, and although they both move hundreds of miles away to new schools, their love endures, or does it? Told in three parts, the first shows the characters at school together and on a visit to meet each other, the second involves another girl who has a crush on the male character ,and the third sees the two characters in adulthood years later.

The theme of the movie is distance and time and the title takes its name from the speed at which cherry blossom falls, ( popular tree in South East Asia), This is a wonderful, life affirming and gorgeous movie with indelible music, particularly the closing song. Watching it for the second time, it was not hard to see why its Director has become the new star of Japanese Anime.

Oh dear. This looked like a sure winner - Juliette Binoche, the darling of French art cinema, paired up with Clive Owen an actor of intensity. After all, Binoche's English language film Clouds of Sil Maria a couple of years ago saw her team up with Kristen Stewart and the result was one of Olivier Assayas's best movies to date.

However this is a mess. Big time. The plot revolves around a rather pretentious'debate' between' whether words are more powerful than art and much of the dialogue is given over to 'verbal sparring' resulting in unintnetional humour due to the pretentious and cringing lines the cast have to wade through.

The sub-plots are crass including a misjudged attempt to deal with the subject of sexual harrassment.

Quite why Binoche allowed herself to get near a project such as this is beyond me.

One of this years most cringingly bad movies.

This Studio Ghibli lost gem was first released in 1991 but only made it to DVD in the West last year, for some inexplicable reason.

It nevertheless soared into made the Rotten Tomatoes top twenty movies of the year and deservedly so.

It tells the story of a 21 year old woman on a farming holiday in the Japanese countryside where she evaluates her life and future, through a series of flashbacks to her life as a ten year old girl growing up in Tokyo with her parents, grandmother and three elder sisters, scenes which make up the majority of the film.

The only person who seems to understand her in the present, is a young organic farmer, with whom she is staying for a few weeks. Although some of the anime graphic technology now seems a little dated, this is a warm hearted and enchanting film all the more welcome for its belated arrival in the West.

Set in 1971, coming up to the present day this is a coming of a age film combining politics, literature, and romance in a truly stunning mountain setting. A beautiful and though provoking film with great performances.

Wow, if this proves to be one of the swansongs from Studio Ghibli it is a worthwhile one. Based on a UK shorty story it has echoes of a Letter To Momo, bus very much its own film. It combines andinterlinks various themes such as loneliness, mystery, fantasy and identity in a moving and uplifting style that only Japaese anime can really manage.

A must see.