sorana_necula_reset

You know that story of an English-speaking, “mid-life crisis approaching” woman who wants to inject her stale and placid life with inspiration? You know, she visits Italy, falls in love, and re-awakens her inner-passion and purpose?  This  film is probably the exact opposite of  that . I do not mean the above in a negative way.  The Girl by the Lake  is a well-paced, thoughtful, and Twin-Peaks-esque (without the Lynchian whimsy) mystery about a young beautiful girl who is found murdered in a small Italian village, where everyone is a suspect.  Secrets are revealed about her relationships, obsessions, and demons, making it a much more complicated case than anticipated, by Commissario Sanzo, who is called in to solve the crime.  Is it her family? Was it assisted suicide? Perhaps her lover? Many options seem viable, thus creating a solid web of questions for the audience to mull over while we embark on the journey. What I found lovely and fresh about...

Spanish filmmaker Jaime Rosales (“Bullet in the Head,” "The Dream and the Silence") returns to Cannes for the fourth time with this somber portrait of wayward suburban youth. CANNES -- The title of Spanish writer-director  Jaime Rosales ’ fifth feature,  Beautiful Youth , can be taken both literally and cynically. On the one hand, the young couple -- played by  Ingrid Garcia-Johnsson  and  Carlos Rodriguez  -- at the heart of its loose-limbed narrative are certainly easy on the eyes, their gorgeous faces and bodies illuminating the drab Madrid suburbs where most of the action is set. On the other hand, the film’s depiction of unemployed, directionless 20-somethings is anything but pretty, revealing a lost generation where few viable solutions exist beyond exploitation or expatriation. It’s a premise we’ve seen before in the work of  Larry Clark  or  Gus Van Sant , and one that can sometimes feel as aimless as its two forlorn heroes, altho...

The search for the perfect home leads the couple to 165 Eaton Place, which hasn’t held up well, acquiring about 40 years’ worth of dirt and disrepair in a fraction of the time. Lady Agnes is nevertheless enchanted and sets about bossing workmen around in an extreme makeover. Sir Hallam’s opinionated and eccentric mother, Lady Maud (Dame Eileen Atkins), moves in for a permanent stay, after decades of living abroad. She brings along her aide, Amanjit Singh (Art Malik), and her pet monkey, Solomon. Lady Agnes’s conniving sister, Lady Persephone (Claire Foy), also arrives and immediately causes a ruckus. For her domestic staff, Lady Agnes turns to an employment agency run by Mrs. Buck. That would be the same Mrs. Buck who toiled for the Bellamys as a parlormaid, the same Mrs. Buck played by the same Jean Marsh who co-created and starred in the original series and now acts as a bridge between eras.   Mrs. Buck takes the housekeeper job herself and assembles a staff, and thus “Ups...