Foreign

MY SWEET PEPPER LAND: (IRAQ, FRANCE, GERMANY:ENGLISH SUBTITLES) Scintillating blend of contemporary and archaic spheres in a destitute Kurdish village after the death of Saddam Hussein. “Govend” a gorgeous, idealistic educator convinces her father and seven brothers to allow her to return to her teaching position in this testosterone-driven village;  she meets “Baran” the police commissioner, a fearless war veteran, …

At this point of total emersion, I will address, in mini -synopsis, the requests for my favorites: A THOUSAND TIMES GOOD NIGHT (Norway: In English) Juliette Binoche, pulls out all the stops and gives one the most brilliant performances of her career; as photographer “Rebecca” she treads where only the fearless venture; commencing with the conversion of a woman as …

Never has cruelty been showcased in such a ravishing landscape; blackness of human nature set in luscious loveliness, a Bordeaux vineyard run by obsessive, perfectionist “Paul de Marseul” (brilliant interpretation by Niels Arestrup); a Beelzebub, with a Faustian tongue whose “grapes” reap more respect than any man. Director/writer Gilles Legrande paints a portrait of evil, so profound, overwhelmingly egregious, it …

Watching this remarkable film by Saudi director Haifaa al-Mansour (first full- length movie filmed in Saudi Arabia) realizing we are almost fourteen years into the twenty-first century and that millions of women live in restricted, reduced environments: individuality denied, erased, censored by scripted clothing; unable to vote, drive or control their finances; divorced by simple sentences; birthing vessels, castoff when …

“Amin Jaafari” (Ali Suliman) a Palestinian surgeon living and practicing in Tel Aviv, embraced by his Israeli co-workers, the first Arab to obtain an Israeli achievement award; at the ceremony he articulates his fervent desire to remain in his adoptive environment. Noticeably absent from this, the most important moment of his life, is his beautiful wife, of fifteen years, “Siham” …

Spanish actor, director Pedro Almodovar has blessed the world with some of the most entertaining, creative, formidable films ever visited upon the screen; my favorites: “Volver”, “Broken Embraces”, “All About My Mother”, “Talk to Her”, “The Skin I Live In”. His films have amplified the careers of Penelope Cruz, Antonio Bandaras, Javiar Bardem, and countless others. It was with anticipation …

Director Francois Ozon (“The Swimming Pool”) serves arguably, one of the most intriguing, conversation-provoking films of the year; wickedly psychological, creepily voyeuristic “In The House” explores the relationship between a beleaguered, bored, high school English professor “Germain” (caustic, keen-witted performance by Fabrice Luchini) and his precocious student “Claude” (titillating portrayal by handsome newcomer, Ernst Umhauer). Lonely, manipulative Claude, writes about …

This enthralling, riveting, compelling film is for anyone who has actualized their dreams, defied the “odds” and the “gods”,  bulldozed antagonistic skeptics, spitting in the eye of the disbeliever; castrators of ingenuity, promise;  and for all those who have yet to slay the cynics;  give birth, sculpt their fantasies into reality. “Kon-Tiki” is filmmaking at its pinnacle; actors, especially Pal …

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), masterful champion of “Impressionism” is brilliantly depicted by Michel Bouquet in Gilles Bourdos film about the legendary painter at the conclusion of his life, in tandem with his second son “Jean” (1894-1979, destined to be the iconic filmmaker), at the commencement of his, (Vincent Rottiers); linked by “Andree” (Christa Theret) the luminous, endorphin-infused, final muse of Renoir …

Pablo Berger’s homage to silent, black –and -white film’s legendary history was the opening feature at the Palm Springs Film Festival in January. Referencing the Grimm Brothers historical fairy tale; flaying “Disneyesque” (1937), benign, whistling interpretation, Berger’s heroine is of stronger, tougher “stuff”; “Carmen” (“Snow White”) inherits from her father, a matador’s muleta. Seville, Spain in the 1920’s harbors the …