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Sometimes transcendental, always relevant
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2018
» The American films were on short supply this year at Cannes -- which in turn deprived the assembly line of red carpet material -- but nobody seemed to mind that except, well, some American media and fashion bloggers. That superfluous caveat aside, the recently wrapped 71st Cannes Film Festival was nearly unanimously praised as one of the best editions in recent memory, with a string of good, sometimes very good, titles playing night after night -- and even the bad films weren't so offensively bad, as was often the case. In the midst of soul-searching following the question of relevance (the world wants Avengers), the rise of streaming (the world watches films on phones), the decline of arthouse popularity, Cannes insists on the sacredness of cinema, on the future of the art, and this year it paid off solidly.
Chinese hegemony
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» A gloomy assassin prowls the breathtaking fields of the Tang-era kingdom, while China's awkward march to become a 21st century world power stirs the emotional core of its people. The two Chinese-language films — Mountains May Depart from the mainland, The Assassin from Taiwan — let us savour two distinct sensibilities in the main competition as the world's largest movie showcase rounds its last bend. The awards will be announced on Sunday night, and the two films seem to have a decent chance of winning prizes, either big or small, in a year when the majority of the top-tier line-up leaves much to be desired.