IFF Day 15: Reservoir Dogs, A Brand New Life, The Time That Remains

(Actual writing date: June 8th)



Reservoir Dogs. Such a great movie. It was being shown as one of the greatest first features of the last 30 years, and I made a little presentation before the film. It absolutely holds up. If you still haven't seen it yet, go rent/buy/download. The credit sequence at the beginning is one of my absolute favorites (along with Pulp Fiction and Easy Rider), it makes you want the movie to fully start, right now!



A Brand New Life (Yeo-haeng-ja) tells the story of a little Korean girl at an orphanage, waiting to be adopted by a Western couple. It's based on the real life experiences of its director, Ounie Lecomte. There is nothing wrong with the film, in fact, the little actress is excellent, and the director manages to be not too sentimental. Nonetheless, there is also nothing extraordinary about it. A typical well-enough-made festival fare that becomes tedious when watched on the last weekend of a long festival.



I'm a fan of Elia Suleiman. Even more so after The Time That Remains, which reflects on his family's (and his own) experiences in Israel from 1948 until today. He's a Middle-Eastern Buster Keaton, calm and cool, yet full of emotions. And funny.