July 7, 2006
Shadow Of Silence (2006) *
The first feature film from Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, it isn't very good - a heavy-handed allegory about comfort and oppression.
Notte prima degli esami (2006) ***
This is how Deborah Young has described this charming romantic comedy in Variety: ''A gently ironic high school laffer set in Italy in the '80s (...). When Luca (Nicolas Vaporidis) blasts his hated lit teacher (Giorgio Faletti) with a stream of insults, he doesn't know the prof will be sitting in on his oral exams. He tries to get back in favor with the prof while pining for the vixenish Claudia (Cristiana Capotondi), who he doesn't realize is the prof's daughter. A bright young cast gives the fast-moving screenplay sparkle''. What's missing from this very superficial review is a recognition that ''Notte prima degli esami'', directed by Fausto Brizzi, is far from being an ordinary Italian version of ''American Pie''. In fact, it's more like a sexy teen version of ''Sleepless in Seattle'', deconstructing all the conventions and the clichés of the genre. Like all romantic comedies, it has its ''meet cute'' moment at the beginning, when Claudia and Luca have to get out of their wet clothes, and upon seeing her naked, Luca immediately falls in love with her (and we can't really blame him). But from then on, the film piles on one narrative surprise upon another, and just when we think that we know where the story is going, we get the rug pulled from under our feet once again. The film was a huge hit in Italy and it deserves to be seen abroad.
Syndromes And a Century (2006) **
A typical film from Apichatpong Weerasethakul, but less impressive that his earlier ones.
Mariposa negra (2006) *
A Peruvian schoolteacher conspires with a journalist to avenge her fiancé's murder.
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