Sarah's Key
M
France, 2010, drama
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Niels Arestrup, Aidan Quinn
What's it about?
In modern-day Paris, an American journalist (Kirsten Scott Thomas) is on the brink of making big life decisions regarding her marriage and her unborn child. What starts off as a research article about the Vel'd'Hiv Roundup in 1942, where 10,000 Jews were kept in a winter velodrome before being sent off to the concentration camps, ends up as a journey towards self-discovery as she stumbles upon a terrible secret and discovers the heartbreaking story of a Jewish family forced out of their home, a home that is now their own. Based on Tatiana de Rosnay's best-selling novel.
[link title="Sarah's Key: Tatiana de Rosnay, Gilles Paquet-Brenner (interview)" url="node/510"]
[link title="Sarah's Key ★★★★ review" url="node/5287"]
Rock the Casbah
MA15+
France/Israel, 2012, drama
Director: Yariv Horowitz
Starring: Yon Tumarkin, Yotam Ishay, Roy Nik
What's it about?
This powerful film by director Yariv Horowitz, a former military field photographer, depicts a harsh reality from a human perspective, portraying the individuals literally caught in the crossfire of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Set in 1989, during the first intifada, the film follows Tomer (Yon Tumarkin), one of four Israeli soldiers posted on the roof of a Palestinian home in Gaza, after one of their comrades has been killed in the neighbourhood.
Source: SBS Movies
Flame & Citron
MA15+
Denmark, 2009, drama/thriller/war
Director: Ole Christian Madsen
Starring: Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen, Christian Berkel
What's it about?
This stylish noir gem, which is not without evoking Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows, gives us a gripping portrait of the Danish resistance during WWII, carried by strong performances by Mads Mikkelsen () and Thure Lindhardt (Fast & Furious 6). During the Nazi occupation, Flame and Citron are assassins in the Danish resistance and target important officials of the Third Reich. However, the game changes when the pair discover that their powerful boss may be using them to settle his own personal scores.
Assembly
MA15+
Hong Kong, 2007, action/drama/history/war
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Starring: Hanyu Zhang, Chao Deng, Wenkang Yuan
What's it about?
Often described as the Chinese counterpart of thanks to its impressive and realistic account of heroism and sacrifice, Assembly follows Gu zidi (Hanyu Zhang), a Communist army captain, who is sent with his 47 men on a mission to defend a coal mine. However, his men are massacred and after waking in hospital, Gu zidi discovers his soldiers are considered MIA. The captain spends the rest of his life trying to gain recognition for his fallen soldiers.
Source: SBS Movies
Route Irish
MA15+
UK, 2010, action/drama/thriller
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Stephen Lord, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop
What's it about?
With the 2010 thriller Route Irish, Loach reverts back to his political roots to create an in-your-face examination of the privatisation of war in Iraq. Starting in 2004, the film follows fromer SAS trooper Fergus, who convinces his childhood friend Frankie to join his team of security contractors in Bagdad for a generous salary. Together they risk their lives a in city overtaken by violence and greed. But when Frankie dies in 2007 on the "Route Irish", the most dangerous road in Bagdad, Fergus rejects the official explanation for his death and sets out to discover the truth.
Waltz with Bashir
MA15+
Israel, 2008, biography/war
Director: Ari Folman
Starring: Dror Harazi, Ronny Dayag, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ari Folman
What's it about?
This fascinating animated film is the powerful account of director Ari Folman’s efforts to recover lost memories of his military service in Lebanon in 1982, and follows him as he sets out to talk to those he knew at the time to learn about the events and his role in them. Folman’s decision to render the images in stylised animation results in a ground-breaking depiction of atrocity and its far-reaching consequences. It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
[link title="Waltz with Bashir ★★★★★ review " url="node/4493"]
Source: SBS Movies
Lebanon
MA15+
UK, 2009, drama/war
Director: Samuel Maoz
Starring: Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen
What's it about?
This brilliant, explosive drama, set almost entirely within the confines of a tank, is every bit as terrifying, brutal and shocking as . Set in 1982, during the First Lebanon War, the action follows a lone tank and a paratroopers platoon dispatched to search a hostile town – a simple mission that turns into a nightmare. The four members of a tank crew find themselves in a violent situation that they cannot contain. Motivated by fear and the basic instinct of survival, they desperately try not to lose themselves in the chaos of war.
[link title="Lebanon ★★★★ ½ review" url="node/5040"]
Source: SBS Movies
Max Manus
M
Norway, 2008, drama/history/war
Director: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
Starring: Aksel Hennie, Agnes Kittelsen, Nicolai Cleve Broch
What's it about?
This biopic of a renowned Norwegian WWII resistance fighter by the directors of Kon Tiki and the next Pirates of the Caribbean was a massive box-office hit in its home territory, its Oslo premiere attended by no less than the King of Norway himself. When Norway is invaded by Germany, young saboteur Max Manus (played by star Aksel Hennie) returns home to help in the fight against the occupation. But as the war drags on and his colleagues die around him, Max finds himself having to battle his inner demons.
Source: SBS Movies
Armadillo
MA15+
Denmark, 2010, documentary/war
Director: Janus Metz
Starring: Ronnie Fridthjof, Sara Stockmann
What's it about?
In February 2009, a group of Danish soldiers, accompanied by documentary filmmaker Janus Metz, arrived at Armadillo, an army base in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. Metz and cameraman Lars Skree spent six months following the lives of young soldiers situated less than a kilometer away from Taliban positions. The outcome of their work is a gripping and highly authentic war drama. It also provoked furious debate in Denmark regarding the controversial behaviour of certain Danish soldiers during a shootout with Taliban fighters.
[link title="Armadillo ★★★★ review" url="node/5491"]
Source: SBS Movies
Crossing the Line
PG
UK, 2006, documentary/war
Director: Daniel Gordon
Starring: James Dresnok, Charles Robert Jenkins, Christian Slater
What's it about?
In 1962, disillusioned US soldier James Joseph Dresnok was captured in the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea after voluntarily ‘crossing the line’. Dresnok was one of a handful of American troops who defected to the communist state where he would go on to live (right up to the current day) and become a strong proponent for Communist propaganda. This documentary truly is the ‘untold story’ as Dresnok talks exclusively with the filmmakers about his experiences living under Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
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