In all my almost thirty years of moviegoing in Los Angeles I can’t remember a year that has opened to such an abundance of riches from around the world. Things happen faster these days, so most movies shortlisted for the Best International Film and Best Documentary Feature are now pouring into Cinemas and some are also available for streaming. Before we focus on 15 superb films from around the world, let’s first recap some of my reviews in these two categories from the end of 2023.
2023 REMINDER
Beyond Utopia A+
Beyond Utopia (2023) is one of the Best Documentaries of Recent Years A+ – TheBrownees
fallen leaves A+
Fallen Leaves (2023) Is An Affair to Remember A+ – TheBrownees
GODLAND A+
Godland (2023) Hlynur Pálmason’s Masterpiece A+ – TheBrownees
Last Call A+
Last Call (2023): A Serial Killer Preys on Gay Men in New York A+ – TheBrownees
THE DELINQUENTS A
The Delinquents (2023) Borges Anyone? A – TheBrownees
Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) A
Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) (2023) A – TheBrownees
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE A
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023) A Davis Guggenheim Documentary A – TheBrownees
BS High A-
BS High (2023). Greed and Exploitation in American High School Football A- TheBrownees
THE ETERNAL MEMORY A-
The Eternal Memory (2023) Shines. A- TheBrownees
DONYALE LUNA: SUPERMODEL B+
Donyale Luna: Supermodel (2023) B+ – TheBrownees
ELDORADO: EVERYTHING THE NAZIS HATE B+
Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate (2023) Netflix Documentary Review B+ – TheBrownees
AMERICAN SYMPHONY B
American Symphony’s Music is Sublime, but the Banter is Not (2023) B – TheBrownees
The Pigeon Tunnel B
Errol Morris interviews John Le Carré in The Pigeon Tunnel (2023) B – TheBrownees.
ROTTING IN THE SUN B
Rotting in The Sun (2023) Self-Referential with Penises Galore. B – TheBrownees
SICK OF MYSELF B
Sick of Myself (2023) Film Review B – TheBrownees
2024 OPENS IN STYLE
OCCUPIED CITY
(Steve McQueen)
(United Kingdom |United States)
A24
Rated A+
Director Steve McQueen’s masterful 266-minute documentary about life in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation, made in the time of COVID. Based on the book Atlas of an Occupied City, Amsterdam 1940-1945 by Bianca Stigter. Narrated by Melanie Hyams.
Now Streaming on Apple TV+ AND AMAZON PRIME
TO KILL A TIGER
(Nisha Pahuja)
(Canada)
National Film Board of Canada
Rated A
Director Nisha Pahuja’s remarkable documentary feature centers on a family in India who are campaigning for justice after their teenage daughter was brutally raped.
OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
(Christopher Sharp and Moses Swayo)
(Uganda)
National Geographic Documentary Films
Rated A–
Writer/directors Christopher Sharp and Moses Swapo chronicle the presidential campaign of popular Ugandan singer Bobi Wine against long-ruling regime leader Yoweri Museveni.
OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Now streaming on Hulu AND DISNEY+
FOUR DAUGHTERS
(Kaouther Ben Hania)
(Tunisia)
Kino Lorber
Rated A–
Tunisian Olfa Hamrouni rose to international prominence in April 2016 when she publicized the radicalization of her two teenage daughters, Rahma and Ghofrane Chikhaoui. Both teenagers had left Tunisia to fight alongside the Islamic State (IS) in Libya. Hamrouni publicly criticized the Tunisian authorities for not preventing her teenage daughter Rahma from leaving the country. After the arrest of the two women by Libyan forces, the authorities again did not react. Hamrouni is also said to have been prevented from leaving the country to look for her daughters in Libya on her own. To fill the void left by the daughters’ absence, film director Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses to fill their places – even Olfa is replaced by an actress when the emotional baggage in some scenes becomes too much for her. In this way, the director brings the viewer closer to the life stories of Olfa and her family. The film mixes documentary and fiction to thrilling effect.
OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+
INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL
(Phạm Thiên Ân)
(Vietnam)
Kino Lorber
Rated A-
When his sister-in-law Teresa dies in a motorcycle accident in Saigon, although her five-year-old son Dao survives the crash, Thiện (Lê Phong Vũ) takes both Dao and his sister-in-law’s remains to the rural village where he grew up. There, he sees life in a series of loosely connected events. Winner of the Camera d’Or at Last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film is luxurious and hypnotic.
Coming soon to Apple TV+
PERFECT DAYS
(Wim Wenders)
(Japan)
Neon
Rated B+
Directed by Wim Wenders from a script by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki, the film combines four short stories and stars Koji Yakusho (Best Actor Award at Cannes 2023) as a public toilet cleaner toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He repeats his structured, ritualized life every day, starting at dawn. He dedicates his free time to his passion for music, which he listens to in his van to and from work, and to his books, which he reads every night before going to sleep. His dreams are shown in flickery impressionistic sequences at the end of every day. He also loves trees. The soundtrack includes tracks by The Animals, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, Van Morrison and Nina Simone.
OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
NOW STREAMING ON Apple TV+
HERE
(Bas Devos)
(Belgium)
Anticipate Pictures
Rated A-
Set in Brussels, the film revolves around a potential love story between a Romanian construction worker and a Belgian-Chinese doctorate student of moss, who cross paths before the former is about to return home. Low-key but beautiful, director Bas Devos, who also wrote the screenplay, gets superb performances from his leads Stefan Gota and Liyo Gong. On a par with “Fallen Leaves” and “Past Lives”..
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
THE MONK AND THE GUN
(Pawo Choyning Dorji)
(Bhutan)
Roadside Attractions
Rated B+
Modern democracy and the allure of fire arms.
Bhutanese filmmaker and photographer Pawo Choyning Dorji is back following his feature directorial debut “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” which was nominated for Best International Film of 2021. “His sophomore feature “The Monk and the Gun” was shortlisted for this year’s Oscars. Tashi (Tandin Wangchuk) is a young monk in Bhutan, and Ron Coleman (Harry Einhorn) is an American visitor. Wary of what this new order will bring to his country, Tashi’s lama asks for guns, an odd request considering the rarity of guns in Bhutanese society. Meanwhile, the American is in Bhutan to acquire an antique rifle for a collector. The film explores Bhutan’s movement towards democracy while satirizing the fascination for guns and violence suggested as being endemic in Western society.
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
Coming soon to Apple TV+
TOTEM
(Lila Avilés)
(Mexico )
Sideshow and Janus Films
Rated B+
In a bustling Mexican household, seven-year-old Sol (Naima Senties, superb) is swept up in a whirlwind of preparations for the birthday party for her father, led by her mother, aunts and other relatives. As the day goes on, building to an anticipated and dreaded event, Sol begins to understand the gravity of this year’s celebration this year and watches as her family does the same. This poignant and emotionally expansive film from Lila Aviles (The Chambermaid) cements her skill at directing dynamic ensemble performances in her stunning sophomore effort.
NOW SHOWING AT SELECT THEATRES
COMING SOON TO Apple TV+
THE SETTLERS
(Felipe Gálvez Haberle)
(Chile)
Mubi
Rated A-
Chile, 1901. Three horsemen embark on an expedition to Tierra del Fuego, that vast stretch of barren land at the southernmost tip of the South American continent , which we last saw to stunning effect in Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis’ “The Legend of King Crab.” Director Felipe Galvez Haberle’s debut feature strikingly recreates the exploitation and colonization of this strange land by the European commercial interests in Santiago at the beginning of the last century including the order to eradicate the area’s indigenous people. Exceptionally violent but done with great style, the film puts you in mind of the best films of Sam Peckinpah.
Streaming soon on Mubi
PROMISED LAND
(Nikolaj Arcel)
(Denmark)
Magnolia Pictures
Rated A–
In 1755, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen), an impoverished Danish officer of humble birth, retires after 25 years of service from the German Army with a measly pension to his native Denmark and obtains permission from the Danish Court to build a property on the barren Jutland moorland for land cultivation. He hopes to establish a settlement on that property, and in return for that, he requests from the Court the privilege of a noble title with an associated manor. Soon after arriving at the site of his prospective homestead, he conflicts with Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a local magistrate at the nearby Hald Manor and a merciless landowner trying to monopolize ownership of the moorland. Filmed with epic sweep by Nikolaj Arcel, this is about as close as European filmmaking has come to capturing the spirit of the Hollywood Western since the days of Sergio Leone.
NOW Streaming on Apple TV+ AND AMAZON PRIME
DRIVING MADELEINE
(Christian Carion)
(France)
Cohen Media Group
Rated B+
This very enjoyable film stars Line Renaud as Madeleine, a old lady in Paris who is moving into a nursing home; en route, she asks taxi driver Charles (Dany Boon ) to detour to various locations around the city that have meant something to her in her life. Renaud and Boon have a wonderful rapport, but Paris is the film’s real star, and she looks fabulous.
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
Coming soon to Apple TV+
THE TASTE OF THINGS (La Passion de Dodin Bouffant) (The Pot-au-Feu)
(Trần Anh Hùng)
(France)
IFC Films
Rated B+
A labor of love for all concerned, most notably Vietnamese writer/director Trần Anh Hùng, who won the best director award at Cannes 2023 and his gorgeous stars Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel. The setting is France in 1885. Eugénie (Binoche) has worked as a chef for the famous restaurant owner Dodin (Magimel) for over 20 years and is considered one of the best cooks in Europe. Their passion for what they create in the kitchen and what they feel for one another has blurred over the years into something rare and magical. However, freedom-loving Eugénie has never wanted to marry Dodin. Now, sensing that he may lose her, Dodin decides to cook his love the meal of a lifetime, and he does not disappoint. “Babette’s Feast” was 37 years ago, so we have been waiting a while for a meal like this. Just don’t arrive at the theatre hungry! The character of the gourmet is based on Dodin-Bouffant, created by Swiss author Marcel Rouffin in his novel La Vie et la passion de Dodin-Bouffant, gourmet (The Passionate Epicure).
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
INSHALLAH A BOY
(Amjad Al Rasheed)
(Jordan)
(Greenwich Entertainment)
Rated A-
When her husband suddenly dies, Nawal (Mouna Hawa) faces the harsh realities of life in present-day Jordan; she is entirely at the mercy of men in this very patriarchal society. To forestall her brother-in-law Rifqi (Haitham Omari) from pressing his legal right to seize the home where she and her daughter, Nora, live, Nawal tells a judge that she is pregnant. Amjad Al Rasheed, making a very assured directorial debut, captures the harsh realities of Nawal’s life and why the simple greeting “Inshallah” (“God willing”) has such enormous consequences. If she is pregnant and the baby is a boy, she will never again have to worry about being evicted from her property.
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
Coming soon to Apple TV+
IO CAPITANO (Me Captain)
(Matteo Garrone)
(Italy)
A24
Rated A
Io capitano is based on an original idea by director Matteo Garrone, who wrote the screenplay with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini and Andrea Tagliaferri. The script is based on the stories of emigration from Africa to Europe by Kouassi Pli Adama Mamadou, Arnaud Zohin, Amara Fofana, Brhane Tareke, and Siaka Doumbia.
OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Now showing at Selected Theatres.
ABOUT DRY GRASSES
(Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Turkey
JANUS FILMS
Rated A-
After four years of mandatory service in a remote village in Eastern Anatolia, Samet (Deniz Celiloglu), a young teacher, is desperate to return to Istanbul. He shares his apartment with his fellow teacher and best friend Kenan (Musab Ekici) who is more easygoing and is content with his current posting. Samet likes to photograph the local people individually and in groups against the stunning snow-covered countryside, which extends as far as the eye can see to the distant mountains. However, you know these images are taken with clinical detachment and condescension. The only resident he is interested in is Sevim (Ece Bagci), his pet student. However, when he is accused of inappropriate contact by two students in his class his attitude darkens, and his contempt for the village people increases. It is at this point that he meets a fellow teacher, Nuray (Merve Dizar, who won Best Actress at this year’s Cannes Film Festival), in whom he has no interest – she has lost part of her leg in an explosion that happened during a political demonstration – until he realizes that Kenan is taken with her and also that marrying her would increase his chances of returning to the big city.
Turkey’s greatest film director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, has delivered his best film. At 197 minutes, it initially seems like a chore, but like the recent Icelandic marvel “Godland,” it is one of those great works of art whose longevity works to its and the audience’s advantage. You are under its spell after the first ten minutes and do not emerge until the final credits role. The dialogue (is a wordy film), written by the director and his wife and longtime writing partner Ebru Ceylan and Akin Aksu, whose personal experiences as a teacher form the basis of the story, is never dull. In fact, there is something hypnotic about the “speeches” that all three of the leading actors deliver. The dynamic between Samet and Kenan, who, although friends could be night and day in terms of personality, holds one’s interest from the beginning. However, Dizar’s magnificent performance as Nuray, a woman who has lived through things that Samet can only imagine, takes over the film’s second and more impressive half.
Please see this fantastic film. You will be glad you did.
