Film Festivals 2004
Another great year for documentary fans with the gripping 'Capturing the Friedmans', political offerings 'Control Room', Robert McNamara in 'Fog of War', and the disturbing psyche of 'The Corporation'. For music lovers there was the fascinating 'End of the Century: The Sory of the Ramones', 'The Mayor of Sunset Strip', 'Metallica: Some Kind of Monster' and 'Festival Express'. Hector Babenco broke a long absence from directing with the powerhouse 'Carandiru' while Zhang Yimou's lush 'Hero' made it to New Zealand screens along with 'Motorcycle Diaries', gut-wrenching Korean flick 'Old Boy', heart-tugger 'Osama' and the delightful 'Triplets of Belleville' to name just a few.
The Man on the Train ( L'Homme Du Train ) (2002)
7.5/10
Director: Patrice Leconte
Starring: Johnny Hallyday, Jean Rochefort
Travelling to a small village to rob the local bank, an ageing criminal (Johnny Hallyday) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a retired poetry prof... Read more
Before Sunset (2004)
8.1/10
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Richard Linklater's warm and funny follow-up to "Before Sunrise" reunites former lovers Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke nine years after their whirlwind r... Read more
The Return (2003)
8/10
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Starring: Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Natalia Vdovina
Two teenage brothers, living with their mother, discover that their father has returned home after years of absence without a word of explanation. He... Read more
Oldboy (2003)
8.4/10
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: Min-sik Choi, Hye-jeong Kang, Ji-tae Yu
Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) has been imprisoned in a room for 15 years with no explanation when, barely sane, he is released. Thrown back into the world... Read more
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
7.1/10
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Cate Blanchett, Steve Coogan, Alfred Molina, Bill Murray, Iggy...
As hard to resist as its title vices, Jim Jarmusch's deceptively simple film consists of 11, to be fair, hit and miss vignettes, filmed over the cours... Read more
Touching the Void (2003)
8/10
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Starring: Nicholas Aaron, Richard Hawking, Joe Simpson, Simon Yates
The remarkable true story of mountain climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates is the focus of this harrowing docudrama. In 1985, the fearless pair sets o... Read more
The Cat Returns (2002)
7.3/10
Director: Hiroyuki Morita
From Japan's Studio Ghibli comes this magical animated adventure that will delight and inspire both the young and the young at heart. After saving a... Read more
Twin Sisters (2002)
7.5/10
Director: Ben Sombogaart
Starring: Thekla Reuten, Nadja Uhl, Ellen Vogel, Gudrun Okras
A.k.a. "De Tweeling". After the deaths of their parents, inseparable twin sisters Anna and Lotte Bamberg are cruelly separated at the age of six. Anna... Read more
Shattered Glass (2003)
7.2/10
Director: Billy Ray
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Melanie Lynskey,...
Gripping true story centres on Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), a young journalist for The New Republic magazine who quickly wins over colleagues w... Read more
The Triplets of Belleville ( aka Belleville Rendez-vous ) (2003)
7.8/10
Director: Sylvain Chomet
In this offbeat, creative, original animated feature from France, Champion, an orphan who lives with his grandmother Madame Souza, turns his childhood... Read more