Misery loves company, which may account for Portuguese director João Canijo’s decision to split his angst-ridden hotel-set project into two complementary films. Both were selected for the Berlinale, with the half centered on the hotel guests (“Living Bad”) landing in the Encounters section, and “Bad Living,” which revolves around the hotel staff, taking a main competition slot. It makes reviewing one without reference to the other something of an exercise in shadowboxing, especially when, as in “Bad Living,” the minute observation of its deteriorating female relationships could have used some kind of counterpoint, if only to make an unremittingly bleak, fractious 127 minutes pass a little faster. They may work in hospitality, but the women of “Bad Living” live in a draining, near-permanent state of hostility.
The heartbreak hotel location is perhaps the film’s biggest star. It’s a large, modern building, though not so modern that it doesn...
The heartbreak hotel location is perhaps the film’s biggest star. It’s a large, modern building, though not so modern that it doesn...
- 2/25/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
A supernatural horror rife with family ambiguity, anger and self-discovery, Sarah Lasry’s Spell on You (La Verrue) sees the Paris-based director take the confusion and rage of her childhood and combine it with the companionship she found in the world of witches and spells. It’s a narrative which empowers her young protagonist who after being initially horrified by the warts on her nose, through them, learns to harness her own unearthly powers. Lasry explores adult themes beyond the grasp of children yet glimpsed through forbidden keyholes and cracks in doors, and unlocks the freedom of self-expression through powers unknown. Spell on You is a creeping dark burgeoning of power where the adults do not rule and an ominous presence is felt right from the seeming normality of the opening scene through to a crescendo of unbalance in its final moments. Ahead of today’s premiere, we sat down...
- 1/16/2023
- by Sarah Smith
- Directors Notes
In “Alma Viva,” Portugal’s Oscar entry which is currently screening in main competition at the Marrakech Film Festival, it’s Summer, time for Salomé to visit her beloved grandma Avo in North East Portugal.
Ever since they moved to France with her mom, she comes back every year. Avo is revered in the village, but also feared. Some consider her a witch. Grandma’s connection with spirits and the dead fascinates Salomé. But the summer idyll is over when Avo, a diabetic who for years self-medicated with herbs and spells, suddenly dies.
While raging fires enclose the area, the family and neighbors struggle to find unity in mourning.
Sold by Kinology Films, “Alma Viva” marks the feature debut of experienced documentarian Cristèle Alves Meira, shot in the village of her mother and maternal grandmother.
“It is a region [left] deserted by the massive exodus of its population abroad or to cities.
Ever since they moved to France with her mom, she comes back every year. Avo is revered in the village, but also feared. Some consider her a witch. Grandma’s connection with spirits and the dead fascinates Salomé. But the summer idyll is over when Avo, a diabetic who for years self-medicated with herbs and spells, suddenly dies.
While raging fires enclose the area, the family and neighbors struggle to find unity in mourning.
Sold by Kinology Films, “Alma Viva” marks the feature debut of experienced documentarian Cristèle Alves Meira, shot in the village of her mother and maternal grandmother.
“It is a region [left] deserted by the massive exodus of its population abroad or to cities.
- 11/16/2022
- by Anna Tatarska
- Variety Film + TV
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