Genre: Drama – Page 13 – Wimbledon Film Club

Human Capital

This biting and stylish economic crisis murder mystery is based on Stephen Amidon’s prescient 2004 novel set in Connecticut, with the action transplanted to prosperous Milan. The destinies of two families are irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is hit off the road by a jeep in the night before Christmas Eve. Writer/producer/director Paolo Virzi…

Wild Tales

Six short films within a film provide a blackly comic and highly enjoyable portrayal of middle class meltdown within what writer/director Szifron calls the “crazy system” and “corrupt space” of modern Argentina. The influence of co-producer Pedro Almodovar, who along with his brother funded the film, is evident; Szifron also cites the work of Steven…

Listen Up Philip

Up and coming young New York novelist Philip (Rushmore’s Jason Schwartzman) suffers a crisis of confidence on the eve of the publication of his second novel. He finds solace in a burgeoning friendship with his Philip Roth-like hero, played by Jonathan Pryce (Ike Zimmerman – echoes of Roth’s alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman). This dry, misanthropic…

The Good Lie

Based on a true story, three orphans flee war-torn Sudan and make the appalling journey to a Kenyan refugee centre. Jump ahead 13 years and Mamere, Jeremiah and Paul gain entry to the US. Enter Reese Witherspoon to play the brisk charity worker who helps them find employment and understand Western society. Happily this is…

Slow West

A truly masterful, vastly enjoyable directorial debut from McClean. Shot in New Zealand, directed by a Brit and attracting top stars this pacey Western quest story is a film to relish. A naïve young Scot travels to the Wild West to find his errant sweetheart. Stunning acting, screenplay & cinematography. ‘There’s everything here from John…

La Famille Belier

A hearing girl lives with her deaf parents and brother on a farm where she acts as the family’s interpreter. They cannot appreciate her talent for singing, but she is encouraged by her local choir to pursue a career in it, which would mean moving to Paris and leaving her family. This coming-of-age drama proved…

Theeb

It’s World War One and a young Bedouin boy helps guide a mysterious British officer to a rendezvous in the Hijaz desert. Their plans swiftly unravel. The film pays critical homage to David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia, but ultimately this is about a boy finding his way in an adult world, rather than an…

Mandariinid

An Estonian-Georgian co-production, Mandariniid (Estonia for tangerines) is set amidst the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia as the conflict closes in on a tangerine farm in a now nearly depopulated ethnic Estonian village. The farmer simply wants to harvest his crop when two wounded soldiers – nominal enemies – appear on his doorstep. The film’s themes…

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

The story loosely follows two travelling novelty salesmen and their unsuccessful attempts to sell their vampire teeth, laughing bags and monster masks. But this is merely the framework for a series of absurdist tableaux that comment more generally on history and the human condition. “This is the third in what Andersson is now calling a…

The Second Mother

Val is housemaid to a wealthy Sao Paolo family. She mothers the son of the house more than her distracted employer. When Val’s aspirational daughter comes to stay, in order to apply for university in Sao Paolo, tensions emerge both between mother and daughter and between the pair of them and Val’s other “family”. An…