Category Archives: Reviews

LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Oleg Novkovic’s ‘White White World’

Posted on August 7, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – There are several mournful songs in Serbian director Oleg Novkovic’s “White White World” (Beli Beli Svet) and they seem to emerge from the melancholy Balkan soul of its array of defeated characters struggling to … Continue reading →

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Valdis Oskarsdottir’s ‘King’s Road’

Posted on August 6, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – Danish filmmaker Valdis Oskarsdottir, who won the 2004 best editing prize at the BAFTA film awards for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” has created a winning concoction for her second feature, “King’s Road”, … Continue reading →

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: ‘Deep in the Woods’

Posted on August 5, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LOCARNO, Switzerland – French filmmaker Benoit Jacquot’s “Deep in the Woods” (Au fond des bois”), takes a surprisingly benign view of kidnapping and rape in the tale of a bucolic erotic neurotic and her many tumbles in … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Howard Brenton’s ‘Danton’s Death’

Posted on July 23, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – A guillotine towers over the stage at the end of the National Theatre’s production of “Danton’s Death” as several French revolutionaries are executed. It’s a terrific illusion and it’s just a shame no blade was … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Neil Simon’s ‘The Prisoner of Second Avenue’

Posted on July 14, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Neil Simon’s 1971 play “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” is set against the economic slump of its day so given current circumstances the Old Vic’s West End revival would appear timely. Instead, it feels merely … Continue reading →

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Frederic Sojcher’s ‘Hitler in Hollywood’

Posted on July 8, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – The premise of Frederic Sojcher’s mockumentary “Hitler in Hollywood” is more amusing than the film turns out to be. It is that the United States government conspired with Hollywood to destroy the … Continue reading →

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Daniel Burman’s ‘Brother and Sister’

Posted on July 8, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Daniel Burman’s “Brother and Sister” is a tale of an ageing single man dominated by two overbearing women that could easily have become misogynistic but is instead an absorbing and forgiving character … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: David Hirson’s ‘La Bete’

Posted on July 8, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – “La Bete” is a 1991 American play by David Hirson set in 17th century France and besides being extremely funny it has a lot say about the dumbing down of art and entertainment. Mark Rylance … Continue reading →

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: ‘There Are Things You Don’t Know’

Posted on July 7, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Iranian filmmaker Fardin Saheb Zamani has titled his film about a taxi-driver’s ordinary encounters in the 10 days before a predicted earthquake in Tehran “There Are Things You Don’t Know.” By the … Continue reading →

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Catherine Martin’s ‘Mourning for Anna’

Posted on July 6, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – The power of nature and art in helping to heal emotional damage in humans is at the heart of Catherine Martin’s somber but affecting “Mourning For Anna”. Guylaine Tremblay plays a woman … Continue reading →

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