World/Independent Cinema Discussion Thread

General discussion thread for independent/foreign language/festival circuit films that generally wouldn't attract enough attention for their own threads. Feel free to drop news, trailers, thoughts, recommendations or anything relating to cinema that strays away from the mainstream/wide releases.

Credit to @Joel for the thread idea.

I'll start things off by sharing the trailer to my most anticipated film of 2017. I went through Dumont's entire filmography last year and I adore the direction he's taken the last few years. I've seen this described as a heavy metal Straub-Huillet film, which is the most exciting things I've ever heard.

 

I also bought my TIFF ticket package last week and now I'm patiently waiting for them to announce the sections I'm looking forward to. I put together my TIFF wish list on Letterboxd which also acts as a guide to some of what to look forward to over the next year. TIFF Wishlist

 

Just looked through your wish list, lots of stuff I'll be keeping an eye out for. You Were Never Really Here sounds right up my alley, and man, Hong Sang-soo just cranks out films. I am going to get around to Right Now, Wrong Then as soon as possible - I've been putting it off and I don't have any excuse as to why!

At this point, my most anticipated are The Square and Happy End. I'm a little cautious of the latter but Haneke hasn't lead me astray yet. I'm also intrigued by Loveless, any word on how it's being received?

 

I'm definitely into this thread. I don't keep up with a lot of foreign stuff outside of the few things that get buzz here in the states, but this thread will hopefully help keep track of more.

 

That looks very much up my alley

Didn't realize Jupiter's Moon was from the director of White God, very excited for that now as well

 

For whatever reason, Guadagnino's films since I Am Love come and go without a lot of attention.

I was unable to get to The Beguiled before my trip, and I assumed it would be gone by the time I came back. It is still playing; is it worth going to see?

 

For me, The Beguiled has been the most disappointing film of 2017. It's pretty to look at, but it's essentially stripped of everything that made the original so compelling.

 

Dustin Guy Defa's Person to Person is on VOD and "out there" today. Don't know much about the film but it's gotten incredible buzz from pretty much every critic/movie person I follow that's seen it. Going to start it up soon.

 

Just grabbed it, definitely starting with that today as it looks pretty brisk. Was thinking I might dive into Sieranevada later.

 

Just finished and it's wonderful. A great mosaic of characters in New York that feels refreshing in the current landscape of American independent/Sundance cinema.

Sieranevada on the other hand... well, good luck.

 

It's a slog I take it?

 

I mean, I thought so. It's just exhausting being with this family. But I saw it towards the end of TIFF, where I saw some 30+ films, so there was definitely some festival fatigue kicking in at that point. I like his two previous films a lot though.

 

Wow, I adored Person To Person. So charming and genuine.

 

Right?! It's fantastic. I actually watched it a second time already because I wanted to be with these characters again lol. I think it's only the second time I've watched the same film twice in one day.

 

My friend crashed what was supposed to be my film marathon, but I did get to finish The Unknown Girl. I know the common perception is that it is the weakest of the Dardenne films but I reject that. It may not touch Two Days, One Night and The Kid with the Bike but few films ever will. That being said, the last ten minutes will haunt me for some time and even one of their weaker efforts is better that most filmmakers could muster. Gonna be chewing on that for a while and, as always, they have restored my faith in humanity.

 

You can't talk about the best Dardenne films without mentioning The Son. It is such a tense experience, one dealing with very complex moral themes where you are not sure where the character will go with his anger and you also are not sure what you would do in that situation.

 

Those are easily their top three.

I liked The Unknown Girl quite a lot when I saw it. Interesting for them to add a kind of noir twist to their style.

 

I still need to watch it but I can't wait. L'enfant was probably the fieat truly great films I was exposed to in high school and all their work has struck a chord with me since, this being no exception.

 

I hadn't even heard of this new one until now. Now I have something to watch.

 

I am going to start watching 2017 films after a long hiatus. Mungiu's Graduation, Davies' A Quiet Passion, and the Dardenne's The Unknown Girl will be this week before I have to go back to work.

 

It's been a little while since I watched it, but I really liked Graduation.

 

All three are quite good.

I just came back from a screening of Assayas' Summer Hours. It was a film I saw early on, approaching it more as a Binoche film than anything. I was pretty cool on it at the time but this screening I came out of it with a very different take. I would consider it among his best now. The first section is basically and Ozu film pumped with energy.

 

The Beguiled was perfectly fine, but felt completely anonymous. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.

 

It must be better than Bling Ring at least