The recreation of Chile’s most notable ecclesiastic scandal to date. Father Karadima runs a tight ship in his diocese in Santiago. He has huge premises, an imposing church,
real estate and a supply of keen young acolytes. He is a charismatic and temperamental figure but as he is successful, Rome lets him get on with things. These things include sexual relationships with some of the young men, 5 of whom later reported him after decades of abuse.
What this film does is distill the story into one experienced by a Tomas Leyton, who becomes enamoured of the priest and conflicted between his supposed desire to become a priest and the sexual awakening he has with Karadima.
The film, directed by Matias Lira is a sober affair, with the dull grainy camerawork of a society at first under a dictatorship and continually keen adherents to the Catholic church, a very influential force in society. Luis Gnecco does a very good job as the convincing but underlyingly nasty Karadima
, Benjamin Vicuña has more of a battle to come across as the repentant adult and Pedro Campos is very effective as the younger Tomás.
My main complaint is with the flashbacks and the use of the two actors as Tomás. They are not always clear and the jump between the gauche boy and the young doctor is too big a jump.
Some have criticised the film for not attacking the church more but I think Lira is more interested in trying to show how such people as Karadima can exert such a sway over others. He partially succeeds in this but is otherwise very successful in portraying a sensitive issue with respect.
★★★ +
In some ways it is a small story with one or two important elements but most of all it is about love and reconciliation. Some read a political message in it which could be true but I am still not sure how much to accept that.
and the ever-fabulous Gong Li 
do the honours as the couple and both are excellent in their own subtle ways. Zhang Huiwen appears as their daughter
and looks like a very promising actress for the future.
near the French border. It is the story of a band of bank robbers led by Hugo Silva
and Mario Casas, who end up in the clutches of a coven of witches led by Carmen Maura and Carolina Bang.
Although the story gets a bit stretched at times, there is so much happening and so many characters, not to mention winks at previous classics of the terror/humour genre that the film keeps you entertained.
Very good special effects and a rather funnily macabre ending.
Not my favourite genre but I thought this had plenty to offer.
Siras is quietly played by Manoj Bajpayee in a very dignified performance, showing the suffering that the events cause him above and beyond losing his job and university flat, at least until the court decision. Rajkummar Rao is effective as Deepu, the journalist.
The film shows how far India still has to go as a society to accept certain behaviour and how quick people are to jump to conclusions.
The film reveals the truth slowly and gently adding up to a moving experience.
, where they are received in a refugee camp. Some years later a lucky few get to the US. Literally dumped in Kansas by the ill-prepared sponsor bodies, they have to get used to life and food in the US
and try to reunite their family; a sister got shipped to Boston and a brother was left behind. Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar) and scriptwriter Margaret Nagel paint a gently ironic picture of all the areas where culture shock hit them
and the basically uncaring US system, which aside from just abandoning them in the country, put severe blocks on immigration after that thanks to 2001.
Reese Witherspoon is relatively understated as the counsellor helping them and learning what to do without a guide book.
Not a great film but indeed a sobering one. We learn later that the refugees have sued the writer for royalties to their story. Good one!
This in itself was not bad as the subject does not give to long speeches but rather to internal work. Moreover, some of the dialogue seemed a little forced and preachy in parts. One scene that should have flopped was that in which Amanda is interpreting a speaker explaining the mechanisms of drowning in the body and thanks to the ability of Elena Anaya,
the actress, it works. Benjamin Vicuña holds the bulk of the film on his shoulders and does it well. 
So, overall I have mixed feelings about the movie. There is an authenticity in the actors and the scenes (Vicuña lost a child not long before this) but perhaps the film is a little self-conscious. Nevertheless, Bize is a director with talent and Arnaldo Rodriguez does well behind the camera.
who is dragged out of retirement to salvage the fortunes of a dull politician lagging behind in the polls. Castillo is deftly played by Joaquim de Almeida, 
not seen for some time. Billy Bob Thornton is Candy, Jane’s eternal rival.
The film has a humorous edge which tempers the lessons we can learn about the work of the spin doctors
and the way Bolivian politics is depicted on this film. There are clichés and characters who are stereotypic but there is also a lot that is authentic in this movie, based on a real situation.
Bullock gives another subtle performance and shows that she is an underrated actress. Her performance and this film deserved a wider audience.
Apart from a couple of moving scenes and a chase, this film is remarkably uninspiring, filmed in darkish hues. Only Anthony Hopkins as Heineken 
breathes some life into his work and Jim Sturgess
with some worried looks as Cor, the band leader has his moments.
The rest is all methodical but fails to ignite either as a historical document or as a good thriller or suspense film.
They cannot find decent rope in the area to winch the body out and the day pans out as the attend UN meetings,
try to find rope in the area with the locals not being very cooperative or laying land mines inside dead cows on the road, etc etc. It’s all a bit chaotic and the trials and tribulations of the team with their interpreter and a little boy they pick up on route are quite wryly recounted.
Watchable but not much more as a film but it does leave us thinking a lot about the roles and hardships faced by aid workers.
who due to his great intelligence gets to study in a Jewish school in Jerusalem. This produces the need to make choices in life between the two religions: related to family, his girlfriend, etc.
But on another level, there are so many similarities and points of contact. He befriends a Jewish boy with muscular dystrophy
and discovers that they have a lot in common and the friendship he develops with the mother Edna leads to a denouement which is surprising and yet credible in the circumstances and smacks also of the director’s determination to ask direct questions and stimulate debate. Yael Abecassis is fine as the mother
and Tawfeeq Barhoun as the teenage Iyad manages his role well.
Daniel Kitsis as the girlfriend shows a luminous quality which will probably lead to a successful career. Perhaps there are some slightly forced scenes but overall this is another satisfying work from this Israeli director.
passionfilm 