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Lola (1981)
The image of post-war Germany that Rainer Werner Fassbinder composes in Lola is remarkably distinct from its 1905 source material, and yet its tragic romance between a middle-aged gentleman and young performer carries through with vibrant poignancy, melding social realism and colourfully heightened melodrama in a timeless fable of degraded honour.
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My Darling Clementine (1946)
Through John Ford’s grand cinematic mythologising in My Darling Clementine, lawman Wyatt Earp becomes a guardian of modern civilisation and legendary hero of the American frontier, cultivating seeds of growth in the rural town of Tombstone while challenging those who threaten to spoil its future.
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Afire (2023)
The young vacationers of Afire are happy assuming for the time being that they will be safe from the distant forest wildfires, and yet it is only a matter of time before this inferno wreaks havoc on their delicate lives, developing a haunting metaphor of blazing summer romance that Christian Petzold wields with ethereal elegance.
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Extraction 2 (2023)
Much like the first instalment in this series, Extraction 2’s action is as ambitious as its narrative is thin, though Sam Hargrave’s marvellous set pieces thrilling advance mercenary Tyler Rake’s rescue with thrilling momentum and a touching confrontation of fatherly responsibility.
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Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
Whether or not recent widow Sandra was the one to push her husband to his death in Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet’s chilling autopsy of their lifeless marriage uncovers an enormous, guilty weight in her soul, positioning us through flashbacks and cutaways as the jury of her moral conscience.
