Allan Hunter

Poetry

A deeply moving portrayal of an elderly woman's struggles in rural South Korea

21 Jul 2011

(12A) 139min The quest to write a single poem becomes a heroic act in Poetry, a poignant, intricately plotted melodrama from Secret Sunshine director Lee Chang-dong. Poetry won the Best Screenplay at Cannes but it is the central performance from…

Beginners

Whimsical, autobiographical drama from Mike Mills, starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer

13 Jul 2011

(15) 104min You cannot accuse Beginners of lacking ambition. Directed by Thumbsucker's Mike Mills, this wistful, intensely autobiographical drama combines a love story, a reflection on the ties that bind the generations and a history lesson on the…

Cell 211

Spanish prison riot thriller with plenty of meaty political subtext

21 Jun 2011

(18) 112min European genre cinema has been delivering some cracking titles of late, none more compelling than prison riot thriller Cell 211. Daniel Monzón’s award-winning Spanish hit takes a clever premise and moulds it into an intense, cat-and-mouse…

Hell and Back Again depicts life of a Marine in Afghanistan

EIFF screening of photojournalist Danfung Dennis’ first feature film

17 Jun 2011

History suggests that the constant drip of unfettered, prime-time images depicting death and defeat made a vital contribution to turning the tide of American popular opinion against the war in Vietnam. It’s hard to imagine a similar decisive impact in…

The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick's sprawling epic a sermon urging re-engagement with spirituality

17 Jun 2011

(12A) 138min Terrence Malick often seems to be the last apostle of rugged individualism still at work in the American film industry. He painstakingly crafts films that are symphonic in structure with the character of poetic, intensely personal…

Treacle Jr.

Aidan Gillen-starring UK film where character and performance take priority

17 Jun 2011

(15) 85min Treacle Jr is a little gem of British independent filmmaking told with the lowest of budgets and the best of intentions. Director Jamie Thraves’ third feature returns him to his independent root that means a film where character and…

The Beaver

Mel Gibson steps closer to redemption in Jodie Foster-directed comedy

23 May 2011

(12A) 90min Just when it seemed that Mel Gibson would never work in Hollywood again, The Beaver proves that he might have a future after all. A string of tabloid scandals suggested that Gibson had pressed the self-destruct button on his career.

Potiche

Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu star in playful French comedy

23 May 2011

(15) 103 min Catherine Deneuve has a gift of a role in this deliciously subversive farce from the prolific François Ozon. Deneuve is Suzanne, the ‘potiche’ or trophy wife, blithely content to be a domestic goddess in the shadow of insufferable…

Point Blank (A Bout Portant)

Director Fred Cavayé's French thriller is engaging and well-paced

23 May 2011

(15) 84 min Fashion photographer turned filmmaker Fred Cavayé (Anything For Her) would have thrived in the old Hollywood studio system. His films operate with the speed and single-mindedness of a runaway locomotive. Give him a high concept premise…

Mammuth

Gerard Depardieu stars in road trip comedy

17 May 2011

(15) 92min Directors Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern have shown a talent to amuse with politically-incorrect, deadpan delights like Aaltra (2004) and Louise-Michel (still awaiting a Scottish cinema release). Mammuth offers more of the same with…

Glasgow Film Festival Meryl Streep retrospective

Festival co-director explains reasons behind 2011 retrospective

18 Feb 2011

Allan Hunter, co-director of the GFF, explains his choice of Meryl Streep for this year’s retrospective ‘Meryl Streep is a star who has stood the test of time, and is currently enjoying a fresh wave of popularity among the generation who've seen The…

Marilyn explores relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Simone Signoret

Major new play from Sue Glover examines life of American actress

1 Feb 2011

As a major new play about the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Simone Signoret opens at the Citizens Theatre, Allan Hunter explores the lives and cultural impact of these two very different film icons

Le Hérisson and La Petite Chambre among highlights of French Film Festival 2010

Pierre Etaix also presents his own Le Grand Amour

2 Nov 2010

France has one of the most prolific film cultures in the world yet for every A Prophet, Heartbreaker and Carlos there are countless fine films that never see the inside of a British cinema. The raison d’etre for the annual French Film Festival (FFF) is…

Africa United

22 Oct 2010

(PG) 85min The 2010 World Cup is already a fading memory but the event’s afterglow is almost sufficient to cast a spell over the simplistic, feel good road movie Africa United. The film’s mood is eternally sunny, the approach is hectic and bustling…

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

17 Sep 2010

(12A) 132min There is something comfortingly old school about Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. It has all the fancy moves, dazzling montage sequences and polish of a classic Hollywood melodrama. This could be one of those…

The Kid

7 Sep 2010

(15) 100min Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels alumnus Nick Moran has been quietly building himself a respectable second career as a writer, producer and director. His adaptation of the Kevin Lewis misery memoir The Kid is told with great energy and…

Tamara Drewe

7 Sep 2010

(15) 109min Just because a film is based on a newspaper comic strip does it have to feel like a crass pantomime? If you happen to be usually dependable British director Stephen Frears, apparently so. His relentlessly jaunty adaptation of Posy…

Profile: Abbas Kiarostami

Certified Copy's director's film history

20 Aug 2010

Name? Abbas Kiarostami. Born? Teheran, Iran, 1940. Background? Kiarostami worked as a graphic designer before joining the Centre for Intellectual Development Of Children And Young Adults where he started a film section. His first film The Bread And…

Certified Copy

Abbas Kiarostami's latest film is the first to be shot outside Iran

20 Aug 2010

Certified Copy is the first feature shot outside Iran by director Abbas Kiarostami. Initially, it feels out of kilter with the austere experimentation of his recent features and displays more of an affinity with Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset than…

The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto De Sus Ojos)

Argentinean thriller is fluid, emotional, and engrossing.

5 Aug 2010

Everyone expected this year’s Foreign Language Oscar to be a two horse race. It seemed an obvious contest between Michael Haneke’s mesmerising The White Ribbon and Jacques Audiard’s flinty crime drama A Prophet. The surprise winner, of course, was Juan…

François Ozon's The Refuge

An emotionally involving lyrical tale of new beginnings

5 Aug 2010

Prolific French director François Ozon makes his best films when directly addressing life and death issues. He fillets the drama from the tender aftershocks of life-changing events like the loss of a partner in Under The Sand (Sous Le Sable), the…

Greenwich Theatre and Rapture co-production of Hamlet tours Scotland

23 Feb 2010

Scotland’s Rapture theatre company has teamed up with the Greenwich Theatre in London to create a modern, accessible take on Shakespeare’s most famous play. Rapture’s updated Hamlet is set in the contemporary Glasgow underworld, where Hamlet is caught…

New Faces

21 Jan 2010

Recoat kicks off 2010 with a group exhibition under the theme of Modern Character Design. The show highlights the importance and validity of this new area of design and development, and includes contributions from Elph, Andrew Rae, FiST, Jon MacNair and…

Antichrist - Lars Von Trier interview

23 Jul 2009

Lars Von Trier makes films that defy consensus. He is a showman provocateur in search of a reaction, however extreme. The shrugged shoulders of indifference would be his definition of failure. With this in mind, Von Trier can only have been delighted…

EIFF 2009 - Fish Tank

11 Jun 2009

Andrea Arnold is a director who likes to work on instinct. She makes films that are defined by their acute observation of real lives rather than informed by a movie buff’s love affair with cinema. The point is underlined at the Cannes launch of her new…