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O'Horten
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The decidedly Nordic -- though not at all glacial -- O'Horten is a mixture of sweetness and deadpan that proves the Kaurismki/Andersson school of filmmaking still has new delights in store.
Posted Aug 16, 2009
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The Country Teacher
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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This small, contemporary Czech marvel showcases two bright talents and a sentiment not seen often enough on screen nowadays: sincerity.
Posted Aug 14, 2009
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Boogie
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Three 30-somethings relive their gloriously lurid college days for one night only in Radu Muntean's Boogie, a restrained and honest look at the male midlife crisis in an embryonic state.
Posted Jan 20, 2009
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A Secret
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Makes for compelling viewing despite many familiar elements.
Posted Sep 06, 2008
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A Girl Cut in Two
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Snappy timing, focused writing and pitch-perfect acting.
Posted Aug 11, 2008
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Ca$h
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Feels more like a cheap hypermarch knock-off with a fancily designed label than the real deal.
Posted Jul 02, 2008
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Mataharis
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Having three different protagonists is perhaps too much, as Bollain and Rodrguez' screenplay only succeeds in reducing each woman's story to its soap-opera essentials.
Posted Jun 30, 2008
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Moscow, Belgium
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Crossover hits from Flanders are rare and Flemish working-class romantic comedies even less so, but van Rompaey may have actually made both when he made Aanrijding in Moscou (Moscow, Belgium).
Posted Jun 25, 2008
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Tulpan
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The details of the exotic trappings on display may be relatively new but the rites-of-passage story is as old as civilisation itself in Tulpan, a timeless and endearing coming-of-age tale for the Story of the Weeping Camel crowd.
Posted Jun 24, 2008
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Il Divo
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The uncrowned king of post-war Italian politics, Giulio Andreotti, might be the subject of Paolo Sorrentino's nominal biopic Il Divo, but it is as an incisive portrait of Italian politics in general that it impresses.
Posted Jun 24, 2008
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Gomorra
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The Neapolitan mafia, known as the Camorra, gets the Syriana treatment in Matteo Garrone's Gomorra (Gomorrah), one of the most incisive organised-crime films to emerge from any country since the 1970s.
Posted Jun 23, 2008
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The Class
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Again an austere but acutely observed drama with a quasi-documentary style, Entre les murs (The Class) impresses with its veracious tone and nuanced characterisations.
Posted Jun 19, 2008
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Welcome to the Land of Ch'tis
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A winner. Puts its tale of a southern postal worker hoping for a transfer to the Cte d'Azur through the very effective reverse psychology wringer when he ends up in the dreaded north instead - but discovers he loves it.
Posted Apr 25, 2008
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The L Sisters
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A willingly schizoid portrait of a generation growing up on a continent where distances count for nothing but some gaps are still impossible to close.
Posted Apr 09, 2008
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Paris
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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After two continent-wide trips and a plunge into the French capital's underworld, French director Cdric Klapisch stays close to home and well above the ground for Paris, his valentine to the City of Lights.
Posted Mar 31, 2008
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Revanche
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A meandering first half gives way to a spectacular psychological portrait of the deafening silence of pain and loneliness in Austrian writer-director Götz Spielmann's Revanche.
Posted Mar 31, 2008
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Chiko
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A gentle character sketch gradually makes way for a high-energy tale of loyalty and betrayal that is perhaps rife with clichs but works because Yildirim has established his characters properly.
Posted Mar 24, 2008
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Black Ice
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A showcase for Finnish acting talent and a significant step forward for Kotwica, though the closing reels of Musta J dilute its power as a psychological thriller in favour of plot twists more at home in a soap opera.
Posted Mar 24, 2008
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Tiramisu
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Tiramisu walks a fine line between feel-good clichs and true character development, though Van der Oest finally makes it all believable because of her direction of the actors.
Posted Mar 24, 2008
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Leo
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Especially the first hour of Leo is a promising debut in full-out Scandinavian drama for the comedy director after his first try at something more dramatic with his charming displaced children's tale Zozo.
Posted Mar 24, 2008
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Love Songs
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Are the characters completely believable? No. Are the feelings the characters talk and sing about pinpointed with a precision that seems to have become a Honor trademark? Very much so.
Posted Mar 17, 2008
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Paper Cannot Wrap Up Ember
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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If the film makes quite an impact, it is because of its candidness and the way Panh creates a heart-breaking portrait of these 'women of joy' without once resorting to voice-over or off-camera remarks.
Posted Mar 12, 2008
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Let the Right One In
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Quiet, touching and poetic are not normally terms associated with vampire films, but there are no better words to describe Lat den rätte komma in (Let the Right One in) from director Tomas Alfredson.
Posted Mar 12, 2008
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Outside Love
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Might at first seem like the umpteenth modern update of Romeo and Juliet, though in reality Uden for krligheden (Outside Love) tries to grapple with complex issues as a reflection of our complex times.
Posted Mar 10, 2008
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Animals in Love
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The documentary Les animaux amoureux (Animals in Love) might seem cute on paper but lacks the rigour of recent documentary hits such as La marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins) and Earth.
Posted Mar 10, 2008
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Go With Peace Jamil
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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In all likelihood, Ma salama Jamil is one of the first Dogme-inspired films mostly spoken in Arabic.
Posted Mar 03, 2008
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Happy-Go-Lucky
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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'Enormous crowd-pleaser' and 'directed by Mike Leigh' were not phrases this critic ever thought he would be putting together in the same sentence, but Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky is exactly that.
Posted Mar 03, 2008
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Quiet Chaos
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Grimaldi, Moretti and their co-screenwriters have cunningly opened up the narrative cinematically.
Posted Mar 03, 2008
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Filth and Wisdom
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A grungy ensemble piece that casts a fascinating spell despite its many shortcomings, Madonna's directorial debut Filth and Wisdom is equal parts naughty and nice (or filthy and wise, as the title would have it).
Posted Mar 01, 2008
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The Romance of Astrea and Celadon
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The greatest indication that a director is in complete control of his material is when everything seems to be casually in the right place, which certainly seems to be the case in Les amours d'Astree et de Celadon.
Posted Feb 28, 2008
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The Duchess of Langeais
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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It may sound like silly wordplay, but this film is nothing short of rivetting.
Posted Feb 18, 2008
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The Silence Before Bach
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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About as far away from a conventional composer biopic as Kraft's products are from real cheese.
Posted Feb 03, 2008
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Terror's Advocate
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Though the film comes with a warning that it expresses only the point of view of its director, in reality, what Schroeder seems to offer is a portrait of a glib man who simply defies any conclusive description.
Posted Jan 30, 2008
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King of Ping Pong
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A pleasant if not entirely successful addition to the Scandinavian tragicomedy genre.
Posted Jan 28, 2008
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Herbstzeitlosen
(2006)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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As a grey-haired feel-good movie, the film is a winner. But who thinks this might be Calendar Girls with mountains is wrong; it never quite reaches that level of sophistication or bite.
Posted Jan 22, 2008
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Ben X
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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It would be hard to guess from the final result that Balthazar has never made a film before; Ben X takes full advantage of all that the medium has to offer.
Posted Jan 18, 2008
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The Fox and the Child
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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A cute bedtime story that features spectacular photography and unaffected performances from both protagonists.
Posted Jan 14, 2008
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Inside Planet Earth
(2008)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Mix the grave but clear message of An Inconvenient Truth with the alternatively raw and cute look at wildlife of La marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins) and you will get Earth, a bona fide documentary hit.
Posted Dec 13, 2007
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Eduart
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The true interest of Eduart lies in the way it offers an Albanian immigrant's point of view as presented through Greek eyes, with the Stockholm syndrome and Freudian and ancient Greek concepts playing out in the background.
Posted Nov 21, 2007
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The Grocer's Son
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The lead actors are hot and the living is easy in the French summertime idyll Le fils de l'epicier (The Grocer's Son).
Posted Nov 05, 2007
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Summer '04
(2006)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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If Krohmer and Knocke meticulously crafted the world Miriam inhabits, it is Gedeck's presence that makes it such a tangible mess -- which is meant as high praise indeed.
Posted Oct 30, 2007
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Vivere
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Vivere is a study in contrasts that, though it has a somewhat laborious narrative structure, continues Maccarone's ascent as a strong new voice in European cinema.
Posted Oct 29, 2007
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In Mom's Head (La tête de maman)
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Seduces with a surprisingly dense narrative and a decidedly French take on the role of extramarital affairs and everyone's undeniable right to happiness.
Posted Oct 22, 2007
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Nadine
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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As a refracted psychological portrait of longed-for motherhood, Nadine offers a revealing glimpse of a subject not often seen on the big screen.
Posted Oct 22, 2007
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The Secret of the Grain
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Though not all of the film's 151 minutes feel indispensable, the story and mise-en-scene of this immigrant family's daily struggles are so involving that it is still well worth seeing on the big screen.
Posted Oct 22, 2007
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Elizabeth: The Golden Age
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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An Elizabethan-era version of the madcap energy, penny-novel intrigue and intentional historical inaccuracies of Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge!.
Posted Oct 21, 2007
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Akamas
(2006)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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Deftly reunites the emotional and the political, the historical and the natural into a familiar story infused with the particular details of Cypriot and Greek-language culture.
Posted Oct 20, 2007
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A Perfect Match
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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However good the script, it is Decleir's finely nuanced performance that is the cement of the movie, keeping all the various elements together because his character remains believable throughout.
Posted Oct 15, 2007
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Kid Svensk
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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While closely sticking to the traditional narrative structure of coming-of-age stories, the way in which writer-director Huolman juggles all her elements feels natural and true.
Posted Oct 15, 2007
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Her Name Is Sabine
(2007)
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Boyd van Hoeij
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The rage of the director can be felt in each frame and clearly shapes the pamphlet-like narrative, though the film is still a compelling examination of autism and the way the outside world tries -- and, more often, fails -- to deal with it.
Posted Oct 14, 2007
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