Mr. X/ Mr Leos CaraX


Mr XMr X. Dog.

Moving into the arty documentary side of things, here’s Mr. X, or as it’s been called, Mr Leos CaraX.

Leos Carax is the French film director who found fame and recognition at a young age, but who became known as more of a madcap genius who struggled to get any of his films made. Then, suddenly, one of the decade’s finer films – Holy Motors – is attributed to Mr. X. In this doc, Tessa Louise-Salomé brings us “a fine-tuned exploration of the poetic and visionary world of Leos Carax,” according to an IMDB synopsis, rather appropriately submitted by “anonymous”. Bet it was that Mr. X. Another Sundance premiere.

Nymphomaniac Vol 1

NymphomaniacNymphomaniac

Lars Von Trier has become almost as entertaining as his back catalogue of films. And given that the first volume of Nymphomaniac stars the ‘recently retired from public life’ Shia LaBeouf, who plagiarized an apology when apologizing for plagiarizing, it’s doubtful you’re reading about it for the first time, five films into a world cinema preview article.

It’s the gossip of the world cinema zeitgeist, and rightly so. Von Trier is a good filmmaker, and – even though people argue the nudity and ‘real sex’ is simply there for attention – Nymphomiac has the potential to be a brutal character development piece exploring sexual addiction. A bit like Shame but without Michael Fassbender’s impressive wang. Nymphomaniac hits cinemas on February 22nd in the UK and March 21st in the U.S, on a limited basis.

Liar's Dice

Liar's DiceLiar's Dice

Despite calls from her friends and family to stay put, Kamala decides to go and search for her husband, whom she hasn’t seen or heard of for five months. A disappearance like this isn’t unheard of while the men are out working in the dangerous, corrupt sites in urban areas; in Himachal Pradesh, India, men are known to have started other families without contacting those they left behind.

The journey is undertaken with her young daughter, Manya, and is poorly planned. It isn’t until the enigmatic Nawasuddin enters the party, acting as a reluctant guard for reasons yet unknown, and protecting the two vulnerable travellers. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta all star, and you can catch it at Sundance if you’re lucky enough to be there.

Next page: Sepideh: Reaching for the Stars