Something’s rotten in the state of Jiabo, where the king is dead, the queen has married her brother-in-law, the prince is acting crazy and his girlfriend is even crazier. Nothing ends well in “Prince of the Himalayas,” a high-altitude “Hamlet” that takes several liberties with Shakespeare’s plot but reps a muscular, boldly dramatic trip into a fanciful ancient Tibet. Considering the breathtaking landscapes, the reckless but effective camerawork and the star turn by young Tibetan comer Purba Rgyal, a festival run seems assured. Theatrical success may seem as remote as Lhasa, but it’s a heck of a calling-card movie.
Read full film review at Variety
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Something’s rotten in the state of Jiabo, where the king is dead, the queen has married her brother-in-law, the prince is acting crazy and his girlfriend is even crazier. Nothing ends well in “Prince of the Himalayas,” a high-altitude “Hamlet” that takes several liberties with Shakespeare’s plot but reps a muscular, boldly dramatic trip into a fanciful ancient Tibet. Considering the breathtaking landscapes, the reckless but effective camerawork and the star turn by young Tibetan comer Purba Rgyal, a festival run seems assured. Theatrical success may seem as remote as Lhasa, but it’s a heck of a calling-card movie.
Read full film review at Variety
Download to Own (US and Canada)
Photographer Francesca Woodman died years ago. It is apparent from how her parents, sculptor Betty, and painter George, speak distantly of her. The pain is still there, but it’s not as acute as it must have been when they found out. The Woodmans are a family of artists. Charlie, Francesca’s older brother, a video artist, faces the camera to give insight into who Francesca was, what their childhood was like with such intense, parental mountains, who believed, and still believe, that art is paramount. The elder Woodmans are not full of themselves. Their art is quite good, and part of the framework of this documentary from filmmaker C. Scott Willis is Betty creating artwork for the American Embassy in China, so we can see what she looks like when she’s creating. The same goes for George, who we see painting, as well as examples of his own work.
Read full review on Movie Gazette Online
Photographer Francesca Woodman died years ago. It is apparent from how her parents, sculptor Betty, and painter George, speak distantly of her. The pain is still there, but it’s not as acute as it must have been when they found out. The Woodmans are a family of artists. Charlie, Francesca’s older brother, a video artist, faces the camera to give insight into who Francesca was, what their childhood was like with such intense, parental mountains, who believed, and still believe, that art is paramount. The elder Woodmans are not full of themselves. Their art is quite good, and part of the framework of this documentary from filmmaker C. Scott Willis is Betty creating artwork for the American Embassy in China, so we can see what she looks like when she’s creating. The same goes for George, who we see painting, as well as examples of his own work.
Read full review on Movie Gazette Online
In her first feature, Danish filmmaker Lise Birk Pedersen offers a chilling view of modern Russia, its fragile — perhaps illusory — democracy, and Nashi's alarmingly fascist tendencies (mass rallies, book burnings, "patriotic education," and vilification of opponents). But, distinguished by an artful, cinematic aesthetic and astonishing intimacy, the film's emotional weight lies in the evolution of Masha's political consciousness. Putin's Kiss reminds us that all politics are deeply personal.
- John Nein, Sundance Film Festival
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