Monthly Archives: August 2008

LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Howard McCain’s ‘Outlander’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Here’s a twist for fans of creature features: Aliens versus Vikings. There’s no reason to suppose that if extra-terrestrials visit Earth it has to be in modern times. In Howard McCain’s “Outlander,” futuristic terrors … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Enroque Rivero’s ‘Parque Via’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Mexican director Enrique Rivero’s first feature film “Parque Via” is the study of a simple man who lives alone and really likes it that way. Slow and repetitious, it uses the structure of a … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Federico Bondi’s ‘Black Sea’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – A clash of cultures and generations gives way to understanding and friendship in Federico Bondi’s touching “Black Sea” (Mar Nero) in which a grouchy Italian widow slowly bonds with her young Romanian caregiver. Acclaimed … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Mijke de Jong’s ‘Katia’s Sister’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Dutch director Mijke de Jong’s “Katia’s Sister” is an observant snapshot of a young woman who is the heart and soul of an all-female Russian ex-patriot family living in Amsterdam. It features an endearing … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: ‘The Market – A Tale of Trade’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – An uneven saga about capitalism’s capacity to corrupt the innocent, Ben Hopkins’s “The Market – A Tale of Trade” tries to blend whimsy with harsh reality but doesn’t quite pull it off. Set in … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Denis Cote’s ‘All That She Wants’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Shot in atmospheric black-and-white but lacking clear exposition, Quebec filmmaker Denis Cote’s “All That She Wants” tries without success to combine a gritty crime story with a portrait of loneliness. The French title suggests … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Yuri’s Day’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Reality takes a back seat in Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s puzzling fable “Yuri’s Day,” in which an internationally famous opera star abandons everything to become the incarnation of Mother Russia. Intriguing at first, the … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Lance Daly’s ‘Kisses’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Two little Irish kids flee their abusive homes on a bleak estate and ride a barge into the center of Dublin for a night of adventure and stark terror in Lance Daly’s captivating feature … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Denis Rebaglia’s ‘Marcello, Marcello’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Swiss director Denis Rebaglia’s romantic comedy “Marcello, Marcello” has a terminal case of the cutes as it relates the fable of a young man wooing his beloved on a Neapolitan island in the 1950s. … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Alessandro Baricco’s ‘Lecture 21’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Italian director Alessandro Baricco’s English-language “Lecture 21” is a treat for lovers of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and filmgoers who enjoy sumptuous images accompanied by splendid music. The film explores the substance of a fictional … Continue reading

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