Because he hadn’t appeared in a film for around half a decade, the death of Michel Piccoli (1925-2020) at the age of 94 came as no surprise; I had actually been wondering about his health only last week while chatting with a friend. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t deeply saddened by the news of his … Continue reading Michel Piccoli: one of the greatest
The recent announcement of the results of two polls – one conducted by the BBC asking a bunch of critics for their favourite films directed women, won by Jane Campion’s The Piano, the other Sight & Sound’s annual look at the films of the year, won by Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir – got me thinking … Continue reading Great Women Filmmakers: A Few Further Thoughts
Some hours after the announcement of the death of Agnès Varda, my friend Nick James – editor of Sight & Sound magazine – felt moved to tweet that his Twitter feed was so choked with tributes, it felt as if Varda was the Bowie of cinema. ‘Perhaps she was,’ he added. It was an intriguing … Continue reading Agnès Varda par…
In writing about my favourite films at last year’s Berlin Film Festival – which I confessed from the start was not in my opinion a vintage edition – I felt able to select 10 films to recommend you look out for. In retrospect, now that the 2019 edition has come to an end, selecting that … Continue reading My best of the 2019 Berlin Film Festival
With this year's edition of the London Film Festival due to begin in a few days, I thought I'd suggest a few titles to look out for. There are many movies in the Festival, of course, which I haven't yet seen, but of those I have managed to catch already – in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, … Continue reading The 2017 BFI London Film Festival – some personal recommendations
This year’s Cannes Film Festival – the 70th edition of the event, and my own 30th attendance at the gig – was far from remarkable; indeed, in terms of the films in the main competition, it was probably a little underwhelming. Yet Cannes is the world’s most famous film festival, and that arouses very high expectations … Continue reading Cannes 2017: My personal best from the 70th edition
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 