In competition at the 77th Venice Film Festival, Jasmila Zbanic gives us, with her Quo vadis, Aida?, a powerful and deeply painful story. And in order to stage the war and the personal drama of the protagonist, a skilful minimalist mise en scene proves to be the director’s best ally, who, in turn, knows how to reach the audience by skilfully avoiding any rhetoric. Except for a few missteps as we approach the finale.
Climate change has, for several years now, become a rather topical issue. And what does cinema, for its part, do? Great witness of our times, the seventh art has also often had its say on the subject. One example is the feature film The Station – made by Marvin Kren in 2013 – a reinterpretation/tribute to John Carpenter’s famous The Thing (1982). An operation, this one, however, very risky.
Although, nowadays, there have been so many similar films to our Party hard die young, one has to give credit to the young director Dominik Hartl – who has always been a horror fan – for having attempted, in his own way, a totally personal interpretation and direction.
With Northern Skirts, Barbara Albert told dramatic and extraordinarily joyful stories, probably thanks to her own 29-year-old youthfulness, and managed to establish herself on the international film scene.