One of the year’s greatest female performances helps Todd Field’s well-shot film to rise even higher, eventually earning six Oscar nominations. Lydia Tarr (Cate Blanchett) is a world-famous conductor at the height of her career preparing the release of a new book and, at the same time, a long-awaited live performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which she directs. However, suddenly, a seemingly insignificant incident takes on tragic proportions, jeopardizing her career and turning her whole life upside down.

Field is well aware of the great merit of his film, which is certainly the presence of Cate Blanchett, and he tries his best to emphasize this. The Australian actress creates a very special character, in many of its elements “masculine” (power, imposition, manipulation), but which at the same time hides a very fragile dimension under a hard surface. This will come to light as the pressure—mostly on herself—for absolute perfection intensifies, combined with sweeping criticism of politically correct social media that will push her to her breaking point. Especially from the middle onward, a long (more than two and a half hours) drama turns into a normal psychological thriller, and Blanchett directs this conversion perfectly.

Always socially sensitive, the Dardenne brothers are back with a simple yet humane film that addresses the broader issue of immigration. The main characters here are two children, a ten-year-old and a teenage girl, who traveled unaccompanied from Africa to Belgium, hoping to build a better life there. A hard day-to-day life, paper-hunting and steamboat work is what we see until Lokita finds herself in a difficult situation, and Tori, without a second thought, rushes to the rescue.

Dealing with virtually the entire world, the two minors learn to rely only on each other. The friendship they develop, partly inexplicable to others, is so deep and strong that they take risks without hesitation to keep it. The Darden film itself, which is quickly filmed and edited, takes on the dimensions of a painful thriller, especially towards the end, without leaving, however, its humanitarian character.

Ran Tal’s biographical documentary tells the story of Israel’s most famous military photojournalist, Misha Bar-Am, through an extensive image archive that the filmmaker had free access to. Based on these very footage and interviews with the artist himself, as well as with his wife and children, the documentary is at the same time a historical record of important events, from the trial of Adolf Eichmann and the Six Day War to the Yoma conflict. Kipur.

Peter von Kant ★★½
DRAMA (2022)
Directed by François Ozon
Interpretations: Denis Menochet, Isabelle Adjani

The outstanding French director François Ozon pays homage to the great Rainer Werner Fassbinder by paraphrasing the title and, in part, the message of the latter’s famous work, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. Peter, a successful director (Denis Menochet), lives with his assistant, whom he insults and humiliates. One day, the house is “invaded” by Amir, a handsome young man with limited means, whom Peter falls in love with and tells him to make him a screen star. Understandably, Ozone’s film is rife with references to the work as well as Fassbinder’s flamboyant personality, making for some really enjoyable scenes. Impulses, uncertainty – artistic and otherwise – and genius are mixed here with a dominant lust, the whole, probably, remaining elliptical, not exploring its hero in real depth.

From Romania comes a wonderful film of socialist realism, which also received an award at the festival in San Sebastian. The main character is Irina, a young girl who is trying to get into university to escape her manipulative family, who lure her into the tourist business somewhere in the mountains of the country. At the same time, a strange sexual experience at a party will set her up with a married artist and start a dangerous psychological game. Included (unofficially) in women’s emancipation films increasingly coming from the Balkans/Eastern Europe, Alina Grigore’s film is full of tension and immature dynamics, starring a very good Ioana Kitou.

Also released: The documentary “Theodoros Angelopoulos – Nikos Panagiotopoulos: Everything and His Music” (***) by Antonis Kokkinos and Giannis Soldatou. “Thiasos” (*****) by Theodore Angelopoulos has been re-released and “Titanic” by James Cameron (****) has been remastered for the 25th anniversary of the first release.