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Reviews
Internment (2018)
Romance Wrapped Up In Betrayal and Intrigue: Go see it.
If you are a fan of Cold War drama (which is making a huge comeback lately), I would definitely recommend this engaging movie based loosely on real events in communist era Albania.
I saw it recently at the Vienna Independent Film Festival and I was fascinated by the vibrant performances, and subject matter from a country trapped in oppression.
Writer/Director Kast Hasa shapes the story well, and he managed to do a terrific job with casting largely unknown characters who are credible and appealing in their roles. The audience becomes quite attached to the young lovers who play a deadly game with romance in a country where most decisions are made by the government.
Hasa uses the dramatic foil of a man returning from America who turns the little village upside down as the authorities use him to create more turmoil. A father is accused of collaboration with this American enemy , and his family is exiled to internment. A young woman is being forced to marry a member of the ruling party to ensure protection for her family. Both of these plots , including a subplot about a woman who must demean herself in order to visit her brother in prison--Well, everything collides just like a Shakespearean play and the result is as dramatic as one would expect.
Even though this was not a big budget film, the production plays well on the big screen, including textured photography and the scenes filmed on location in Albania are in the exact location where citizens were locked up after any real or imagined transgressions.
Films about Albania are far and few between. This small gem of a movie may not be produced in Hollywood, but the cautionary tale of what can happen in a closed society rings very authentic. I would say it is worth seeing, whether that is in a festival or a streaming service.
Land of Winter (2018)
An Evocative Tale Well Told: Worth Seeing
Tommy Creagh's latest work, " Land of Winter" shows a lot of promise from the director/ writer as well as the lead actor Declan O Connor. I caught it recently at the Vienna Independent Film Festival and I was quite impressed at the quality of the filmmaking as well as the principal actors. Creagh pays tribute to James Joyce with an evocative tale of a young man who is feeling lonely and adrift as he spends another night in Dublin alone and without any purpose. Declan O'Connor is perfectly cast as the soulful and gentle writer who reflects upon the coming snowstorm as an ominous sign of more hardship coming his way. Alone in a bar he meets a girl who might lighten his mood, but even she has trouble penetrating his lonely soul. This film captures young angst perfectly, and I wanted to know more about these chapters. Will Polly ( Quite cheerfully played by a spunky Caitriona Ennis ) make a second date? Try to catch it.
A Decent Proposal (2018)
A Decent Proposal is a sweet treat with a twist at the end.
I caught Cathal Feeney's newest short film , " A Decent Proposal " at the Vienna Independent Film Festival this past July. Serving as both the director and writer, Feeney is reminiscent of Woody Allen with a gentle tale of a moment gone terribly awry. The camera work is good and the characters play their roles in an understated, but suitably comic manner. One can guess where the story is headed-but after it gets there - I could not help but wondering; Is this one long elaborate joke as the Irish are so fond of doing? Did I really see what I thought I was seeing, or was the female narrator just pulling our leg. Feeney is a talent with a little bit of luck we shall hear more from this young man soon.