SAN SEBASTIAN 2022 - The Film Verdict

Dance First

September 30, 2023 di Stephen Dalton

Gabriel Byrne plays dual versions of Irish literary legend Samuel Beckett in Oscar-winning director James Marsh’s unrevealing but elegant and engagingly offbeat bio-drama ‘Dance First’.

Kings of the World

December 30, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

Colombian writer-director Laura Mora’s prize-winning road movie ‘Kings of the World’ is a messy but big-hearted love letter to the loveless.

CINE VERDICT Los reyes del mundo

December 7, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

La premiada road movie de la escritora y directora colombiana Laura Mora es una carta de amor desordenada pero con gran corazón para los que carecen de afecto

Maternal

September 28, 2022 di Deborah Young

A cocky 14-year-old rebel becomes a mother in Pilar Palomero’s closely observed and vibrant tale, whose mixed pro/non-pro cast is convincingly upbeat.

San Sebastian: The Verdict

September 27, 2022 di TFV Staff

San Sebastian celebrated its 70th anniversary with grace and good programing.

Pornomelancolía

September 27, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

Director Manuel Abramovich’s controversial docu-fiction portrait of Mexican porn star Lalo Santos, ‘Pornomelancolía’ is empathetic and absorbing, despite being disowned by its leading man.

For the 100th film of his career, Liam Neeson switches from action thriller to classic film noir in a flyweight but generally entertaining post scriptum to Raymond Chandler’s immortal detective series, co-starring Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange.

San Sebastian: The Awards

September 25, 2022 di TFV Staff

San Sebastian’s top prize went to a Colombian coproduction for the first time in its history, and to a woman director for the third year running.

Runner

September 24, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

Writer-director Marian Mathias celebrates small acts of kindness and empathy in her opaque but haunting debut feature ‘Runner’.

Walk Up

September 23, 2022 di Deborah Young

Emotions are delicately explored over drinks in South Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s beguiling and deceptively simple relationship tale.

The Wonder

September 23, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

Oscar-winning director Sebastien Lelio’s handsome literary mystery thriller ‘The Wonder’ stars Florence Pugh as a kick-ass nurse fighting fake news and dubious miracles in 19th century Ireland.

The Substitute

September 21, 2022 di Deborah Young

Set in the barrios of Buenos Aires, Diego Lerman’s classroom drama movingly praises a dissatisfied young lit teacher who can’t help but interfere in his students’ lives.

Great Yarmouth – Provisional Figures

September 21, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

Brexit Britain offers only hellish horrors to exploited migrant workers in ‘Great Yarmouth – Provisional Figures’, a bleakly compelling social-realist thriller from Portuguese director Marco Martins.

Il Boemo

September 20, 2022 di Deborah Young

The life and loves of 18th century Czech opera composer Josef Myslivecek, and his dazzling Italian career and fall into obscurity, are lovingly and authentically reconstructed in Petr Vaclav’s sumptuous period production.

Thunder

September 20, 2022 di Stephen Dalton

Carmen Jaquier’s powerful debut feature ‘Thunder’ chronicles a stormy collision between religious faith and sexual rapture in early 20th century Switzerland.

Sparta

September 19, 2022 di Deborah Young

Screening in San Sebastian competition after it was pulled from Toronto, Ulrich Seidl’s most controversial film to date underlines the sleaze and creepiness of pedophilia so forcefully it is painful to watch.

The Great Silence

September 18, 2022 di Deborah Young

Katrin Brocks’ feature debut takes full advantage of its exotic setting in a highly dramatized if not always convincing story about a devout young woman who’s about to become a nun when her violent brother turns up at the convent.

Prison 77

September 17, 2022 di Deborah Young

Director Alberto Rodriguez grippingly reconstructs the post-Franco years, using historical riots and prisoners demanding human rights as a microcosm of Spain as it made a screeching transition from fascism to democracy.

Vicenta B.

September 10, 2022 di Patricia Boero

Director Carlos Lechuga sends a powerful farewell letter to a country adrift in depression and despair in this heartbreaking chronicle of the post-Cuban revolution.