A very quiet piece focussing on two Iranian exiles living in snowy Canada; one a younger dissident Iranian singer, and the other a solitary mortician. The quiet, strange relationship between the two becomes the centrepiece of Mortician, as – despite their fundamental differences – the two learn about each other and what they want their lives to mean.
The narrative’s final, unexpected, sting – while still remaining in tune with the sedate pace of the rest of the film – took my breath away, and made me rethink everything I had just seen.
A kind of a heist movie, but where the heist isn’t the climax of the film – in fact, it’s the opening. Instead of building up to how the hold-up unfolds, the story explores – in reverse chronology – events which answer the question ‘why is this happening?’ rather than ‘how did we get here?’. Tragedy rather than mystery.
It’s refreshing to see a film featuring a trio of female actors in the three lead roles, with two of them being in their sixties – and also to hear the Irish language in a cinema.
4.It Was Just an Accident (dir Jafar Panahi)
It’s impossible to deny Panahi’s creativity and resilience, and I have always found his films full of humour and revelation in equal measure. Although I wish it had got there a little bit sooner, the last 20 minutes are mesmerising. And possibly the best final scene in a film this year.
3. I’m Still Here (dir Walter Salles)
Intense and oppressive throughout. Fernanda Torres is outstanding, gaining some kind of inner strength to keep going at the same time as things just keep getting worse and worse.
2. No Other Land (dir Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra)
Rightful Oscar winner. Crimes against humanity right there on your screen. I don’t wish to say any more here, I would just urge people to seek it out.
6. Mortician (dir Abdolreza Kahani)
A very quiet piece focussing on two Iranian exiles living in snowy Canada; one a younger dissident Iranian singer, and the other a solitary mortician. The quiet, strange relationship between the two becomes the centrepiece of Mortician, as – despite their fundamental differences – the two learn about each other and what they want their lives to mean.
The narrative’s final, unexpected, sting – while still remaining in tune with the sedate pace of the rest of the film – took my breath away, and made me rethink everything I had just seen.
5. Aontas (dir Damian McCann)
A kind of a heist movie, but where the heist isn’t the climax of the film – in fact, it’s the opening. Instead of building up to how the hold-up unfolds, the story explores – in reverse chronology – events which answer the question ‘why is this happening?’ rather than ‘how did we get here?’. Tragedy rather than mystery.
It’s refreshing to see a film featuring a trio of female actors in the three lead roles, with two of them being in their sixties – and also to hear the Irish language in a cinema.
4. It Was Just an Accident (dir Jafar Panahi)
It’s impossible to deny Panahi’s creativity and resilience, and I have always found his films full of humour and revelation in equal measure. Although I wish it had got there a little bit sooner, the last 20 minutes are mesmerising. And possibly the best final scene in a film this year.
3. I’m Still Here (dir Walter Salles)
Intense and oppressive throughout. Fernanda Torres is outstanding, gaining some kind of inner strength to keep going at the same time as things just keep getting worse and worse.
2. No Other Land (dir Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra)
Rightful Oscar winner. Crimes against humanity right there on your screen. I don’t wish to say any more here, I would just urge people to seek it out.
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