POMO

The Wild Goose Lake is visually outstanding, the constant rain is heavily noir, and the very first shot of the movie is simply delicious. In general, however, it is a chaotic yawn fest with many scenes and details that are supposed to make the narrative original or even artsy, but instead just draw the focus away from the things that are important to the storyline. As a result, it lacks dramatic drive and its runtime seems to be needlessly inflated. [Cannes]

The yakuza versus the Chinese versus whoever. And a young, unsuccessful boxer, who is accidentally drawn into the scheme and is protecting a drug-addled yet important teenage prostitute against everything and everyone. The boxer’s storyline showing his transformation into a warrior is pleasant, but First Love pays more attention to the clan war, which is more grotesque than riveting, and its Miike-esque indie visuals do not add much. [Cannes]

Little Joe is an example of wasted potential despite its engaging futuristic style corresponding to its sterile setting and interesting theme that could have been developed in X ways with Y possible outcomes. The problem is not that it remained intimate and low-budget, or that it did not fit into the indicated genre categories. The problem is rather that in the second half, it is two steps behind the viewer in terms of wits and turns the main character, who is the viewer’s connection to the rising threat in the story, into a blind fool. [Cannes]

Is this how authentically and with so much sincerity Ken Loach can tell stories of “ordinary people” and their problems? And how wonderfully he can work with actors? Sorry We Missed You is a beautiful, sober drama in which people really care about each other, even though they are going through perhaps their biggest family crisis. Actually, I don’t know when I last saw such tangible understanding and support between two people in a movie as I did here between Hitchen and the novice actress Honeywood. It’s all about communication and dialogue. [Cannes]

With its complicated relationships, Beanpole presents an admirably difficult topic for its 28-year-old creator. In addition, the visuals perfectly convey the atmosphere of place and time, as well as the mood of the story and its characters. Although this type of depressing drama with a historical setting in old Russia is not exactly my cup of tea, I have to recognise Balagov’s artistic talent. What is he going to shoot when he becomes a seasoned master? The performances of both actresses are brilliant. However, the question is how much of that they had to act. The next day I raised my eyes from my cell phone while quickly walking in the city and, for a moment, I met the gaze of the passing Miroshnichenko (the actress who played the very complicated main character). It was precisely that look, and within it the reaction to a creature entering her comfort zone, which she was throwing at everyone in the film. It was chilling. [Cannes]

A Brother’s Love is a chatty wannabe Woody Allen-style film about a desperate, mentally immature girl that irritates with its mood and sitcom humour. All of the other characters are about as deep as a birdbath, but they have plenty of reasons to sweat over all sorts of things during their supposedly authentic “moments of everyday life”. All of this is interspersed with short montages, reminiscent of women’s selective partial perception of escalating situations without overall context and logic. A comedy for a girls’ night out, I guess. For me, suffering. Some viewers walked out and others applauded at the end. [Cannes]

It takes time to get used to the hand-held camera, and I also had to endure the entourage of Eastern European criminals who are not portrayed in a cool, “Guy Ritchie-ish” way, but rather realistically and thus repulsively. But as the main character sinks deeper and deeper under psychological pressure, the film draws you in more and more, and the conclusion is interesting. A decent little drama. [Cannes]

Nighthawk is an unbelievable ride that leaves you staring with your jaw on the floor. It cannot be compared to anything else and is difficult to write about. With its very captivating drive and a skilfully hidden but strong political subtext, it is a great festival flick offering a riveting, even “action” allegory of haughty evil and simple life professing resistance that has to resort to violence. The opening scene of the truck driving through the Brazilian wilderness suggests a unique experience – a promise that the masters Dornelles and Filho more than fulfil. In short, Nighthawk is an explosion of filmmaking creativity. [Cannes]

Set in poor rural Texas, Bull tells the story of outsiders who must be tough to survive (or at least they think so), and yet they develop signs of friendship between one another, even though he is an aged, physically drained bull fighter and she is a teenage girl without a father and with a mother in jail. For a directorial debut, the film offers a nicely flowing narrative, but is also an unoriginal drama with little emotion that could have been set in a thousand other places in the world without losing anything. [Cannes]

Another crazy Dupieux movie destabilising the viewer’s thought process, Deerskin is based mainly on the main protagonist’s obscure behaviour and his unpredictable actions. The best thing about Dupieux is how much he drifts away from reality without losing contact with human psychology, which he inventively deconstructs. The one thing I didn’t quite understand was the choice of the washed-out colour scheme. Maybe it’s a paraphrase of the home video filmed by the protagonist, but in any case, it spoiled the experience a bit for me. [Cannes]