An entertaining wedding switcheroo, “Laapataa Ladies” (or “Lost Ladies” in some areas) makes effective use of Bollywood’s broad social messaging. This style of storytelling can be clunky in order to draw in audiences, but director Kiran Rao deftly combines the literal and the symbolic, resulting in the audience being filled – for better or worse … Read more
Looking back seems to offer insight into the future in “The Hungarian Tailor,” Iveta Gruvova’s compelling adaptation of Peter Krzystovec’s novella “Emma and the Death’s Head” set in Slovakia during World War II. At that time, local residents had to navigate uncharted territory of authoritarianism, when the far-right Slovak People’s Party came to power (…)
History, when told well, is a muddy and confusing thing. There are no elegant narratives or happy endings. Philip Sotnychenko’s “La Palisiada” takes this truism and twists it into a suitably complex form: this 1996 film noir chronicles a pivotal moment in Ukrainian history by focusing on the investigation of a murder. But as it … Read more
Engaging, yet baffling, contemporary drama Drowning Dry presents a non-linear portrait of two sisters, their marriage and children while depicting a family tragedy during a summer vacation. While the events unfold in a kaleidoscopic fashion, the narrative becomes quite clearer as the film ends. It’s the second feature from Lithuanian multi-hyphenate writer Lorinas Pareša, who … Read more