What is Cinema?

For the record, any of Ruben Östlund's previous features (as well as his one-take short "Incident by a Bank") is way better than his latest, the Palme d'Or-winner "Triangle of Sadness". Though this doesn't in any way diminish its merits, one can feel that with this film, the Swedish auteur is gradually gearing his way towards the mainstream (ala-Bong Joon-ho with "Snowpiercer" and "Okja";he somewhat went back to form with "Parasite", but this one has become so popular that it might as well be called "mainstream"). I already have an idea how Östlund's films work, but I practically went into "Triangle of Sadness" blind. That is to say, I hadn't read any review or seen any trailer of the film. The one review that I initially came across before, I only read the first two paragraphs, which didn't even say much about the film. Though I was aware that there was some kind of hype surrounding it, most ...

An annual film event, QCinema International Film Festival, was recently held here in our part of the globe. This event showcases recent works that premiered in prestigious film fests (for example, Cannes).  Sharing with everyone my thoughts on the 15 films that I was able to watch:  1.  "EO" (2022, Poland) by Jerzy Skolimowski  Watching this film from the 84-year-old Polish filmmaker, it dawned upon me that it isn't really a remake of, but is something that's rather inspired from, Robert Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar". Skolimowski actually intended to make his own donkey-centric film. And what a film it is! Whereas Bresson's classic is sublime and austere (plus a debuting Anne Wiazemsky), deliberately leading us towards a soul-crushing finale, Skolimowski's parable is bold and damning, oftentimes veering into the surreal and experimental, and with incredible use of sound design and the donkey's POV. An in-your-face indictment of animal crue...