Odd how we’ve never watch a single Romanian film but here we have two in relatively short order. This one actually uses multiple different languages and attempts to be a kind of international thriller. Unfortunately it relies entirely on the central conceit of whistling as a language and is not otherwise a film to be taken very seriously. I do note it evinces a very cynical morality that says interesting things about Romanian society.

Here is yet another tiny, indie science-fiction film that has achieved a measure of critical acclaim all out of proportion with its budget. It’s the debut feature of its director Andrew Patterson who basically kept submitting it to many, many film festivals and finally got it to be shown in drive-in cinemas amidst the lockdowns of 2020. There’s is nothing new here to add to the extensive canon of UFO films but it does have an angle all of its own and I can’t help but love a film that knows exactly what it is trying to do as it is the case here.

Years after watching Sonatine, here we finally get around to Hana-bi which is arguably director Takeshi Kitano’s magnum opus. This one has many of the same thematic elements as the earlier film including the director himself playing a jaded, violent character but is far more refined and coherent. Featuring music by Joe Hisaishi and artwork by the director himself, it leans fully into the anime aesthetic to fantastic effect.

This is of course the film whose real world inspiration was the Harvey Weinstein affair though none of that is mentioned within the film itself. In fact, the film delicately deals with the controversial subject matter by side-stepping the boss entirely so that he is never seen and the main character here is his assistant. This brilliant move ensures that the film doesn’t feel exploitative in the least and refocuses the issue on the complicity of the industry as a whole in his wrongdoings.

This is a lesser Alfred Hitchcock film that I added to my list originally because the director mentioned in various interviews that it is one of his favorites. I think this was probably because it is one of his earliest Hollywood films that was a great success and clearly establishes his signature style. Watching this now, it feels too straightforward to be truly great but there are perhaps some interesting insights to be had in its themes.

This is a Nigerian film that made headlines a couple of years ago and given the growing prominence of Nigerian cinema, it seemed appropriate to watch one of them. It has been lauded as a film about female empowerment but I think this applies more to real life more than the in-story events. Lead actress Genevieve Nnaji is also the director and main scriptwriter so it’s very much her show.

This is one of those based on a real story films about events that took place in the early 2000s. In some ways, it’s a fairly straightforward recounting of the story and doesn’t boast of anything especially dazzling. But I rather appreciate how it is clear and informative with only very minimal embellishment of the facts. Also, the film highlights the role of student reporter Rebekah Rombom in breaking the story though her name is changed for the purpose of this film but doesn’t mention that its scriptwriter Mike Makowsky was also a student in the same school during that time.