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Reviews
L'empire (2024)
I really enjoyed this
I was worried I wouldn't enjoy L'Empire - I had tried to avoid trailers and reviews, but finally gave in a read one which said at one screening many people had left halfway through the film. The images looked grotesque, but I still wanted to give it a go as I really admire Dumont's film l'Humanité and find his mix of professional and non-professional actors sensitive and clever, never humiliating. The film kept me entertained throughout. Dumont's touching look at small french coastal towns stem from his personal experience and history, which makes it all the more authentic. One could say the film is a pastiche of various sci-fi blockbusters (although I must say its way more like Star Wars than Dune) but in truth it felt like it must have been inspired by childhood games in a mostly poor and neglected area of rural northern France that features the entire village as enthusiastic players. On top of that great graphics and effects, and hilarious UFOs made for an amusing, unusual and ulitamtely moving film. I'm pleased I got a chance to see it at the Berlinale - and in my opinion it's a well-deserving winner of a silver bear!
The Outrun (2024)
A beautiful looking film...
The photography in the film is first class, the rest sadly overrated. I really wanted to like this film but I couldn't get a hold on the character and why I should be interested in her particular story of addiction. It felt self-indulgent and introverted, the only "speciality" being the Orkney islands. However even the sequences featuring this certainly unique location ended up feeling empty, rather like a banal tourism ad. Juxtaposing this setting against Ronas drunken outbursts and failing relationship was a weak attempt at instilling drama and empathy. To be fair, I haven't read the book, which I had read good things about, but it doesn't motivate me to do so.