Monthly Archives: August 2010

LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Tayfun Pirselimoglu’s ‘Hair’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Turkish director Tayfun Pirselimoglu’s “Hair” is a dreary and dispiriting tale of a wig seller dying of cancer who becomes obsessed with a woman married to a man who washes corpses for a living. … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Hongqui Li’s ‘Winter Vacation’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – There are many slow and uneventful scenes in Hongqi Li’s labored comedy “Winter Vacation” that are intended to show how slow and uneventful a break from school can be for teenagers in a snowbound … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: ‘The Human Resources Manager’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Despite its ungainly title, “The Human Resources Manager” is a typically humane and observant drama from Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis about a personnel officer who goes beyond the call of duty for a deceased … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Bogdan George Apetri’s ‘Outbound’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Romanian director Bogdan George Apetri’s first feature film “Outland” is a hard-nosed little thriller in which a no-nonsense woman takes a one-day release from jail for her mother’s funeral in order to flee the … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: ‘The Little Bedroom’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – The circle of life is given warm and redemptive treatment in “The Little Bedroom” (La Petite Chambre) written and directed by Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond. An encounter between a private nurse who recently … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Cedric Anger’s ‘The Counsel’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – French director Cedric Anger’s ambitious legal thriller “The Counsel” (L’Avocat) looks good and has a fine cast but his script covers familiar terrain and is so naïve that the whole thing becomes laughable. Told … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Nikola Lezaic’s ‘Tilva Rōs’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – An almost documentary look at the wasted summer of a group of youngsters in a defunct mining town in Serbia, “Tilva Rōs” strives for bright spirits but ends up being simply depressing. First-time feature … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Daniele Gaglianone’s ‘Pietro’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Daniele Gaglianone’s “Pietro” tells of a slightly brain damaged man whose heroin addict brother involves him with bullies and criminals until one day he snaps and things get very nasty. Pietro Casella (pictured) gives … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Eva Green, Matt Smith in ‘Womb’

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – There is an old joke about a woman who had a glass bellybutton. She had a womb with a view, which is more than can be said for Benedek Fliegauf’s “Womb”, a sappy drama … Continue reading

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: “Beyond the Steppes”

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland: Belgian filmmaker Vanja d’Alcantara’s “Beyond the Steppes” is a gripping and sometimes harrowing story of a mother’s determination to keep herself and her infant child alive despite brutal hardship. The film is set in Poland … Continue reading

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