Cannes Review: To a Land Unknown Tells a Bitter Poem of Palestinian Exile
The tragic predicament of the Palestinians and what they’re now being subjected to begs to be analyzed and dissected, with various areas of dubious historical ...
David Katz
Berlinale Review: Philippe Lesage’s Who by Fire Provides a Tempered and Muted Blaze
You’d expect the pivotal music cue in Philippe Lesage’s Who by Fire to be its namesake by Leonard Cohen, a beautiful and plaintive prayer of a song. But instea...
The Crime Is Mine Review: François Ozon’s Twisty Tale of Fame and Forgery
As inevitable as a new day comes another François Ozon film––accomplishing the deft task of feeling equally breezy and clever, but never clearing an overall lo...
TIFF Review: Michel Franco’s Memory is a Somber, Twisty Study of Love and Trauma
I’ve always defended Michel Franco, not that he requires further support from numerous areas of the industry. But he’s been something of a critical punching ba...
Venice Review: William Friedkin’s The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a Muscular Swan Song
Herman Wouk’s celebrated novel The Caine Mutiny and play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial couldn’t even be called “peak boomer”; it’s pre-boomer. And having been...
Venice Review: Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance is a Fleet Investigation of Crimes and Misdemeanors
Tempting though it is to pen this review in the voice and style of Mort Rifkin, the most indelible Woody Allen character in years, the embattled New York-born ...
Venice Review: The Beast is a Spellbinding, Time-Shifting Coup for Bertrand Bonello
Where to begin with Bertrand Bonello’s wonderful The Beast? It’s been so gratifying to see the initial reaction to the French filmmaker’s tenth feature, after ...
Venice Review: Bradley Cooper’s Maestro is a Passionate But Sometimes Off-Key Biopic
Bradley Cooper is undoubtedly feeling the Bern. There’s something very endearing about Cooper’s star persona, not least the fact that, of all modern Hollywood ...
Klondike Director Maryna Er Gorbach on the State of the Russia-Ukraine War and Being Inspired by Maya Deren
If nothing else, Ukrainian director Maryna Er Gorbach’s first solo-helmed feature Klondike can be credited with uncanny timing. A vivid look at an ordinary far...
Cannes Review: Terrestrial Verses Finds Bureaucratic Comedy and Tragedy in Modern Iran
Iranian filmmaking’s reliance on formal restrictions and secrecy are given new variations in Terrestrial Verses, co-directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami,...
David Katz
David Katz has been a freelance film journalist for over a decade. Born in Columbus, Ohio and raised in London, he primarily writes for the trade publication Cineuropa, but also loves popping up at The Film Stage from time to time.