“Man Can Do What He Wills But He Cannot Will What He Wills” On the Freedom of the Will, Arthur Schopenauer, 1839. By Dr. Franco Ferrarini, gastroenterologist and film reviewer. This short HBO series centres on the life of two twin brothers, Thomas, and Dominick Birdsey (both played by Mark Ruffalo), the former affected by […]
Tag: film review
Reflecting on Loss and Grief
Review of ‘Loco’ (Rory Wilson, UK, 2020), ‘Skeletons’ (Will Peppercorn, UK, 2020), and ‘Early Grief Special’ (Jessica Chowdhury, UK, 2020), showing at the BFI Future Film Festival—Free Program Available online 18–21 February 2021, https://www.bfi.org.uk/future-film-festival Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent History taking from patients, and presenting stories of people’s illness in a […]
Blurred Lines: “Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time” (Film Review)
‘Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time’ (Lili Horvát, Hungary 2020) Khalid Ali’s selection for the best feature film in 2020, and Hungary’s submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ for 2021 Oscars by Khalid Ali The opening credits for Lili Horvat’s film are lines from a Sylvia Plath’s poem pondering on […]
Love and Insight in a Time of Plague (Film Review)
‘The Sixth Day’ (Al-Youm Al-Sades) (Youssef Chahine, Egypt, 1986, produced by Misr International Films) Review by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Based on the novel of the same name by Andrée Chedid, ‘The Sixth Day’ portrays the raging epidemic of cholera in Egypt in 1947. With its inescapable relevance to the current […]
Film Review: Unnatural disasters, a look at ‘Cooked: Survival by Zip Code’
Review by Neil Singh, a primary care physician and senior teaching fellow in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School ‘Cooked: Survival by Zip Code’ (Judith Helfand, USA, 2018, distributed by Bullfrog Films) (Streaming free on PBS, also available on Amazon) “What’s the best way to prepare for […]
A woman on the verge of suicide
‘The Human Voice’ directed by Pedro Almodovar (Spain 2020) shown at the London Film Festival 2020 and due for UK wide release on 7th November Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘The Human Voice’ takes back esteemed Spanish Film auteur, Pedro Almodovar to the narratives he cherishes the most; stories of embittered women […]
Silent Suffering in the Valleys of Hope
Review by Dr Ayesha Ahmad, Global Health Correspondent, Medical Humanities Journal Widow of Silence, d: Praveen Morchhale, India, 2018 (Urdu with English subtitles) Winner of ‘best film award’ in Kolkata Indian Film Competition Showing at the London Indian Film Festival 2019, http://londonindianfilmfestival.co.uk/2019-festival-programme/ The silence during the first few scenes of ‘Widow of Silence’ is […]
The Poetry of Addiction: Review of ‘Wherever you are-Ovunque Proteggemi’, Directed by Bonifacio Angius, Italy 2018
Showing in ‘Cinema made in Italy 2019’ London Saturday 2nd March, https://www.british-italian.org/cinema-made-in-italy-2019/ Written by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medicine ‘Wherever You Are’ is a new Italian film that portrays addiction along with its usual weight of bleak antecedents and consequences, including dependency, conflict, depression and the collateral suffering of family members. But this alternately […]
Let’s NOT Talk About Death: Review of ‘Euforia’, Directed by Valeria Golino, Italy 2018
Showing in ‘Cinema made in Italy 2019’, London, https://www.british-italian.org/cinema-made-in-italy-2019/. Review by Dr Khalid Ali, film and media correspondent ‘Euphoria’ is defined as ‘a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness’. The word originates from the 17th century when it described well-being produced in a sick person by the use of drugs. In her second […]
Cinema Bellissimo: Italian Cinema in London 2019
Review by Dr Khalid Ali, film and media correspondent Italian cinema has always had a special place in world cinema; the neo-realist wave of film-making led by directors Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Roberto Rossellini told stories of the Italian working-class facing poverty, social injustice and oppression. Classic films like ‘The bicycle thief’ (Vittorio De […]