Film Festivals 1999
1999's festivals were categorised by a stand-out crop of documentaries, 'Ghengis Blues', Werner Herzog's 'Little Dieter Needs to Fly', Ken Burns' 'Frank Lloyd Wright', Cuban music legends 'Buena Vista Social Club' and the hilariously insightful 'American Movie'. And along with these some highly imaginative and challenging features such as Lars von Trier's 'Idiots', Darren Aronofsky's 'Pi', Todd Solondz's 'Happiness', Tom Tykwer's 'Run, Lola, Run' and low-budget sci-fi hit, 'Cube' (pictured).
Get Real (1998)
7.6/10
Director: Simon Shore
Starring: Ben Silverstone, Brad Gordon, Charlotte Brittain, Stacy Hart
Focusing on 16 year old Steven (Ben Silverstone), who, struggling with his homosexuality and the need to keep it a secret, is surprised when, while wa... Read more
Hamam - The Turkish Bath (1998)
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Carlo Cecchi, Alessandro Gassman
Francesco, an unhappily married Italian architect, inherits a steam bath in Istanbul from his recently deceased aunt and decides to leave his wife in... Read more
Hana-Bi ( Fireworks ) (1998)
7.8/10
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Takeshi Kitano
This original, offbeat, explosive drama showcases Takeshi Kitano as Nishi, a detective distraught by a number of troubles in his life. Pushed to the e... Read more
Happy Together (1997)
7.8/10
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung (Chiu Wai), Chang Chen
This mesmeric story of love lost and endured focuses on two gay lovers who go to Buenos Aires to start over, but find themselves in a familiar vicious... Read more
Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows (1998)
8.2/10
Director: Paul Jay
Starring: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart
Fiction and reality collide in and out of the ring in this acclaimed documentary look at the life of pro grappler Bret "Hitman" Hart, a member of Cana... Read more
Irma Vep (1996)
7/10
Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard
This dig at French film-making stars Jean-Pierre Leaud as a faded auteur, who having seen Maggie Cheung in some Hong Kong action flicks, casts her as... Read more
It All Starts Today (1999)
7.5/10
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Starring: Philippe Torreton, Maria Pitarresi, Nadia Kaci
Daniel Lefebvre (Philippe Torreton), a director of a kindergarten in a poor area of Northern France is appalled by the deprivation that his pupils mus... Read more
Kamikaze Taxi (1995)
7.6/10
Director: Masato Harada
Starring: Reiko Kataoka, Kazuya Takahashi, Koji Yakusho
Part crime thriller, part road movie and part social polemic, writer/director Masato Harada's drama follows Yakuza underling Tatsuo (Kazuya Takahashi)... Read more
Kiss Me, Guido (1997)
6.1/10
Director: Tony Vitale
Starring: Nick Scotti, Anthony Barrile, Anthony Desando
Can a homophobic tough guy and an out-of-the-closet gay man find happiness splitting the rent in Midtown Manhattan? This and other crucial questions a... Read more
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
8.3/10
Director: Godfrey Reggio
The title is a Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance", an apt summation of this mesmerizing collection of wonders both natural and man-made. S... Read more