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Film Review: Son-Mother (Pesar-Madar) (2019) - Iran [HKIFF45] Reviewed as part of 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2021 by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Help me reach one review per day in 2021. 2021 Review count - 18/365 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofilmreviews   Iranian cinema goes dark and the sense of constant hopelessness of the country’s state of being is added with deeper unresolved misery. Such is the premises of “Son-Mother”, by feature film debutant Director Mahnaz Mohammadi and written by veteran and the assuming Mohammad Rasoulof (“Manuscripts Don’t Burn” and “A Man of Integrity”). There is...

Film Review: Center Stage 阮玲玉 (1991) - Hong Kong [HKIFF45] Reviewed as part of 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2021 by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Help me reach one review per day in 2021. 2021 Review count - 17/365 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofilmreviews   Based in on the tragic yet inspiring life of the beautiful and talented 1930s Shanghainese actress Ruan Lingyu. In creating and directing this masterpiece epic running at over two and half hours, Stanley Kwan at 33 years of age made his possibly the most perfect film and thus cemented Maggie Cheung as a...

  Filmmaker in Focus Stanley Kwan - Face to Face [HKIFF45] Reviewed as part of 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2021 by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Help me reach one review per day in 2021. 2021 Review count - 16/365 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofilmreviews   Being one of the standout directors of our generation with an expertise in directing women roles that creates multi dimensional characters, Stanley Kwan have graced our screens with plenty of all time classics. The epic masterpiece “Center Stage” was created at only 33 years old and directing 26 year old Maggie...

Film Review: Undine (2020)- Germany / France [HKIFF45] Reviewed as part of 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2021 by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Help me reach one review per day in 2021. 2021 Review count - 16/365 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofilmreviews   There is a lot of problems with Silver Bear winning director of “Barbara” - Christian Petzold’s latest work “Undine”. As the title suggest, the film involves frequent water sequences and allergy on water and diving. At the journey, “Undine” remains one of Petzold’s much lesser work as it is rather pointless and the happenings...

Film Review: Love Unto Waste 地下情 (1986) - Hong Kong [HKIFF45] Reviewed as part of 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2021 by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Help me reach one review per day in 2021. 2021 Review count - 14/365 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofilmreviews   Coming out a year before the more acclaimed “Rouge”, director Stanley Kwan created a coming of age tragic romance in the highly underrated “Love Unto Waste”. Despite starring an now rated all-star cast in Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Irene Wan in leading roles, the film also is well supported by Chow Yun...