Oct 2019
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2019 Film Reviews – 56: For Sama [dir. Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts; 2019]
![2019 Film Reviews – 56: For Sama [dir. Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts; 2019]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_forsama_october19-1.jpg?w=748)
There are many moments during For Sama – a first-person documentary account of the recent history of Syria, with a particular focus on the siege of Aleppo – when you feel you have no right to be watching the events portrayed on screen. The intimacy is almost overwhelming – the unflinching portrayal of horror, of… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 55: Live Flesh [dir. Pedro Almodóvar; 1997]
![2019 Film Reviews – 55: Live Flesh [dir. Pedro Almodóvar; 1997]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_liveflesh_october19-1.jpg?w=700)
It’s interesting to revisit Live Flesh now that we have enough perspective to see it as representative of the middle phase of Almodóvar‘s career: it mostly dispenses with the high camp of the likes of Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, yet it possesses a quirkiness that sets it apart from the man’s… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 54: The Souvenir [dir. Joanna Hogg; 2019]
![2019 Film Reviews – 54: The Souvenir [dir. Joanna Hogg; 2019]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_souvenir_october19.jpg?w=405)
The stars aligned when Joanna Hogg made Archipelago: her 2010 examination of a middle class family’s oh-so-politely angst-fuelled holiday on the Scilly Isles. With a deceptively simple, unforced style, she allowed her characters to reveal themselves in slow, carefully-charted steps, never over-emphasising any particular incidents or slipping into navel-gazing. Sadly, I can’t say the same… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 53: Pain & Glory [dir. Pedro Almodóvar; 2019]
![2019 Film Reviews – 53: Pain & Glory [dir. Pedro Almodóvar; 2019]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/cec6f989-d25d-41b4-b570-69ec1859c34a.jpeg?w=650)
It’s a testament to Almodóvar’s skills as a storyteller – and to the trust he places in his team – that one of the most memorable sequences in Pain & Glory was written a mere day before it was filmed, in response to the director seeing how a particular actress played her character. The scene… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 52: Persepolis [dir. Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi; 2007]
![2019 Film Reviews – 52: Persepolis [dir. Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi; 2007]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_persepolis_october19.jpg?w=973)
Using high-contrast, non-photo-real, black-and-white animation to tell the story of a young woman growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution may not seem like an obvious artistic choice to make, and yet it works. Beautifully. With charm, wit and a commendable refusal to allow even the most horrific events to be presented… Continue reading
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Unsigned
I’m trying to keep to the resolution that I’m not going to over-think these non-film-related blog posts and just write the first thing that comes to my mind as and when I get a chance to sit in front of a keyboard… but the trouble is that when I do find a moment to myself,… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 51: Embrace Of The Serpent [dir. Ciro Guerra; 2015]
![2019 Film Reviews – 51: Embrace Of The Serpent [dir. Ciro Guerra; 2015]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_embraceofserpent_october19.jpg?w=800)
Returning after a few years to a film with which you were originally impressed is always an interesting experience, not least because it gives you a chance to test your memory of it. In the case of Embrace Of The Serpent – Ciro Guerra’s account of a couple of explorers undertaking a dangerous journey along… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 50: Judy [dir. Rupert Goold; 2019]
![2019 Film Reviews – 50: Judy [dir. Rupert Goold; 2019]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_judy_october19.jpg?w=1024)
I don’t normally insist that films must possess a degree of contemporary relevance, but it’s hard to watch Judy without wondering why its creators felt this particular story had to be told now, and in this way. Yes, there are attempts to link Hollywood’s oppressive treatment of Judy Garland with current fears about movie moghuls’… Continue reading
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2019 Film Reviews – 49: The Great Hack [dir. Karim Amer & Jehane Noujaim; 2019]
![2019 Film Reviews – 49: The Great Hack [dir. Karim Amer & Jehane Noujaim; 2019]](https://dariushalavi.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/dariushalavi_greathack_october19.jpg?w=400)
I realise that various news sources have already covered the information this documentary presents about the activities of Cambridge Analytica (and if you’re not aware of the organisation, I suggest you look it up with delay), but Amer and Noujaim’s documentary encapsulates and presents it all in frighteningly compelling fashion. From the work of The… Continue reading
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No Need To Get Worked Up
Call me alarmist, but one of the main thoughts floating around in my mind at the moment is that Boris Johnson, in his great and unmatched wisdom (wait, no, that was the other guy) keeps implying that he may choose not to obey the laws that have been created to protect Britain from the idiocy… Continue reading
About Me
I am a writer and award-winning perfume critic currently living in the south of England and working on a novel. For my perfume-related writing, please visit Persolaise.com.
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DARIUSH ALAVI 