Simran HansReviews

2 weeks ago | bfi.org.uk | Simran HansReviews |Simran Hans |Anton Bitel |Nick Davis

In France’s Jura region, a laddish 18-year-old becomes the family breadwinner when his father suddenly dies. While working on a local dairy farm, he devises a plan to win a cheesemaking competition with a cash prize of €30,000, learning important romantic and culinary lessons in the process. In rural France, on a sweltering summer’s day, a middle-aged woman dunks her bare arms into a vat of scalding milk.

Sep 11, 2024 | bfi.org.uk | Simran HansReviews |Simran Hans |Jessica Kiang |Anton Bitel

After a long day, 70-year-old Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) is getting ready for bed. Preparing to brush her teeth, she appraises herself in the mirror. Squinting, she smudges turquoise eyeshadow over her eyelids. Better? Not quite. Sighing, she dots lipstick on to her cheekbones, rubbing it in with the back of her hands, and applying the coral to her lips. Her expression is sceptical, and then defeated. She retreats to the sofa, passing out in front of the TV.

Sep 7, 2023 | bfi.org.uk | Simran HansReviews |Simran Hans |Saffron Maeve |Elizabeth Sussex

Towards the end of Celine Song’s Past Lives, two old friends wait for a cab in front of a bright blue garage door. In the two minutes it takes for a car to arrive, both everything, and nothing happens. Writer and director Song is perhaps more attuned to rhythm of dialogue than most: like Nora Moon (Greta Lee), the protagonist of this feature debut, she made her name as a playwright. But Song is also sharply aware of the power of the unsaid, of what can be articulated through pauses and gestures.