Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
Film round-up: February 25, 2022
The Star's critics Van Connor and Maria Duarte review of La Mif, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Cyrano, Studio 666, F@ck This Job, and Rurangi
Fred Baillif's La Mif
ANGUS REID considers the power of the podcast as a vehicle for consensus building in opposition to mainstream media narratives
GLENN FOSBRAEY recommends a biography worth reading for both existing George Michael fans and those yet to be converted
FRANCIS DEVINE introduces a new collection of essays that draws on Pease McKenna’s example to indicate future paths for the movement
KEVIN DONNELLY and MARIA DUARTE review Shoot the People, The Last One For The Road, Rosebush Pruning, and Moana
JAMES WALSH recommends an exceptional documentary about the experience of Western doctors in Gaza
La Mif (15)
Directed by Fred Baillif
★★★★
SOCIAL worker turned filmmaker Fred Baillif examines the shortcomings of an outdated social care system in this absolutely compelling film set in a Swiss residential care home for at-risk teenagers, which blurs the lines between drama and documentary.
La Mif (French slang for family) opens with a violent fight scene involving a group of teenage girls, later revisited from each of the participants’ points of view in a non-linear structure, as you glimpse life in this community of youngsters and social workers.
Developed over the course of two years through extensive improv workshops, the ensemble cast of impressive non-professional actors is made up of real-life residents and social workers of a children’s home.
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MARIA DUARTE, JAMES WALSH and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Invite, My Father’s Island, Nirvanna: the Band, the Show, the Movie, and Oh My Goodness!
LEO BOIX, ANGUS REID and MARIA DUARTE review Night Stage, Two Women, Kim Novak’s Vertigo, and Fuze
LEO BOIX, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review Dreamers, It Was Just An Accident, Folktales, and Eternity
MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Friendship, Four Letters of Love, Tin Soldier and The Ballad of Suzanne Cesaire