Foreign Film Review: Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum – The Lost Honour of Katherine Blum

The film is based on a story by one of Germany’s most famous post-war authors, Heinrich Böll.  Set in 1975, in The Lost Honour of Katharine Blum, Böll lays bare how the West German police connive with the media to run roughshod over the rights and reputations of individuals in the name of fighting extremism.  […]

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Foreign Film Review: Des Teufels General – The Devil’s General

The Devil’s General is set in Berlin in December 1941 on the eve of America’s declaration of war on Germany. Although no Nazi, General Harris (Curd Jürgens) is nevertheless a cog in Hitler’s  Armed Forces. His position is made even more precarious when Luftwaffe planes keep crashing, and sabotage is suspected.  As Head of the Luftwaffe’s Technical […]

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Foreign Film Review: Danton

Danton is a great role for an actor to play – a tragic hero in the Shakespearian vein – a great man brought down by circumstance and a tragic flaw.  In Danton’s case this flaw is hubris. A revolutionary, loved by the people, Danton believes that though his arch-rival Robespierre may plot against him, the […]

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Foreign Film Review: Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin is one of those films you’ll always find in any list of the top films ever made/films you should watch before you die etc.  Made in 1925 under the auspices of the Soviet Central Committee to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the unsuccessful 1905 revolution, the film was directed by Sergei Eisenstein.  It […]

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Foreign Film Review: Bandit Queen

Bandit Queen is not an easy film to watch.  I first saw it at its London Premiere as part of the London Film Festival back in the 1990s, and was blown away by it.  It’s a scathing condemnation of the Indian caste system and, in particular, the way low caste women are treated within this […]

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