Across the compact space of a rent-controlled Manhattan apartment, a frazzled writer and a dog the size of a small pony exchange pleading looks. It’s a classic odd-couple setup, and you might call the central duo in “The Friend” unlikely roommates. But, more to the point, they’re two grieving souls, brought together by the death … Read more
The low-key charms of the coming-of-age story “Holy Cow” emerge gradually but steadily. Set amid the rolling slopes of the Jura, a mountainous region in eastern France, the movie traces a teenager’s progression from carefree, at times careless youth to adulthood after a life-altering tragedy. That might lead to a rainstorm of tears elsewhere, but … Read more
Portrayed with an entrancing hush by the actors Duy Bao Dinh Dao and Pham Thanh Hai, Viet and Nam are coal miners — and lovers. They are also the title characters in “Viet and Nam,” the director Truong Minh Quy’s haunting, meticulously paced drama set in Vietnam in 2001. If you surmise Quy is up … Read more
After about an hour, “Misericordia” becomes an increasingly bent kind of murder mystery in which the weapon comprises sticks and stones, in which we can tell who’s lying better than the two cops on the case, in which the village abbot (Jacques Develay) proves suspiciously omnipresent, omnipresently suspicious and a touch covetous himself. The mystery … Read more
The proliferation of documentaries on streaming services makes it difficult to choose what to watch. Each month, we select three nonfiction films — classics, overlooked recent docs and more — that will reward your time. ‘Sweetgrass’ (2010) Stream it on Mubi. Rent it on Amazon. The cowboys in “Sweetgrass” have access to walkie-talkies, radio and … Read more
In a 1983 interview for a French television show, the actress Maria Schneider was asked whether she would mind if the program broadcast a clip from “Last Tango in Paris,” a film she had made 11 years earlier. “No,” she said, pleadingly. “I’d rather not.” Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, that movie depicts the heated sexual … Read more
When it comes to telling stories about the victims of abuse, filmmakers are often faced with a dilemma: to show or not show the act of violence. Showing could mean exploiting the victim’s pain to satisfy viewers’ curiosity; not showing could mean hedging around a hard truth. Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria” — a biopic of … Read more
The Comedian Who Anticipated Our Reality-Bent World
A Palestinian director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” was beaten bloody near his home by Israeli settlers and detained by the Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank on Monday evening, witnesses said. The director, Hamdan Ballal, was set upon in Susya, his home village, by at least 20 masked people, mostly teenagers … Read more
Do You Know the Classic Works That Inspired These Popular Family Movies?