Clarence Tsui - The Film Verdict

Man in Black

Posted by Clarence Tsui | May 22, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, Festivals |

Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing’s second entry at Cannes 2023 is an intensely physical portrait of the life and tribulations of Chinese composer Wang Xilin.

If Only I Could Hibernate

Posted by Clarence Tsui | May 21, 2023 | Cannes 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2025 |

Japan-educated Mongolian filmmaker Zoljargal Purevdash’s first feature provides a sensitive yet sobering account of a teenager’s struggle for his family’s survival, even if it means sacrificing his own future.

A Prince

Posted by Clarence Tsui | May 19, 2023 | Cannes 2023, Festivals |

French farmer-filmmaker Pierre Creton combines his professional horticultural knowledge and his idiosyncratic cinematic language to produce an enigmatic, enthralling and intensely erotic film about a young gardener’s rite of professional and sexual passage in rural Normandy.

There Is A Stone

Posted by Clarence Tsui | May 9, 2023 | Festivals, Jeonju |

Tatsunari Ota’s second feature, the winner of Jeonju IFF’s international competition, teases ravishing visuals and taut emotions out of two strangers’ uneventful walkabout in a small town in Japan.

This Is the President

Posted by Clarence Tsui | May 8, 2023 | Festivals, Jeonju |

Lee Chang-jae’s documentary about former South Korean president Moon Jae-in mixes footage of his current incarnation as a gardening retiree with glowing testimonials from his aides, but lacks context for non-domestic audiences.

Author: Clarence Tsui

Man in Black

If Only I Could Hibernate

A Prince

There Is A Stone

This Is the President