Alex de Campi: Gojira!

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26.3.05 My Three Favourite Films of 2004

My three favourite films of last year are all coming out soon on DVD or to broader theatrical distribution. Yes, they are all pretentious subtitled foreign filth. But what do you expect, in a place like this?

THE RETURN is now available on DVD. It's a three-hander, a very simple tale of two boys whose father returns after an unexplained 12-year absence and takes them on a fishing trip. Despite the simple premise and dialogue so spare it makes POINT BLANK feel like Bendis on a bad day, THE RETURN is utterly gripping from start to finish. It's an object lesson in effective screenwriting. And it's also very, very pretty. The cinematography has all the luminous framing of Tarkovsky, but carries with it none of his sluggishness.

KONTROLL comes out on DVD in the UK on 11 April. A mad, absurdist, comedic, tragic story about people who live in the Budapest underground, it's more fun and more horrifying than it has any right to be. It's beautifully filmed - all rich, bluey artificial light and unexpected colour. And it has a kicking soundtrack.

TONY TAKITANI is an adaptation of a Murakami short story that has so far only appeared in English in the New Yorker. The film had a Western premiere at the London Film Festival last October, where I saw it. It was then a feature at Sundance this year and has been picked up for US distribution. Keep an eye on your local independent cinema for it; I think it's unmissable. A quiet tale of missed chances, fathers and sons, and relationships, its whispers are far more effective than all of Hollywood's shouts.

( 12:23 PM )

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