Arnaud Desplechin’s whirlwind dramedy doesn’t fully reject Christmas joy, but it does give the undersung holiday traditions of dysfunction and discomfort their time in the spotlight. Starring a formidable French cast, this festive film’s thorny exterior makes way for little glimmers of tender hope.
For the second feature to be shot outside of his native Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien ventured to Paris for this lyrical masterpiece. Starring Juliette Binoche, and captured in swooning tracking shots by cinematographer Lee Ping Bing, The Flight of the Red Balloon is a work of warm and delicate wonder.
Winner of the Europa Cinemas award at Cannes (a top prize in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar), La Moustache is an eerie psychological drama in the spirit of Kafka with shades of Hitchcock, building outward beguilingly from the most simple—and bizarre—of premises.
Perhaps inspired by his early years in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Berlin School’s Ulrich Köhler drew acclaim for this ambitious, characteristically insightful exploration of the construction of masculinity inside & outside of the family unit. Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director.