“With The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, Kunuk and Cohn have done away with almost all traces of the primary storytelling structure of Atanarjuat, liberating the film to explore the ebbs and flows, moods and rhythms of these intermittent encounters, which have been distilled to fascinating conversations within the cramped spaces of Avva’s warmly-lit sod-hut, interrupted only when the camera ventures outside in the snow-covered landscape to observe daily life in the colony, usually accompanied by Avva’s fantastic narrations of his experiences as a shaman, a position which now nears extinction due to encroaching Christianity” writes MUBARAK ALI...[Read More]

Meanwhile, TIM WONG on Jia Zhang-ke’s latest: “Six years on from the extraordinary Platform, Still Life retains a cogency in national commentary, remains eye opening and occasionally amusing in its social illustrations, and continues to show compassion for those caught in the maelstrom – all the while forging onwards as a potential departure point in its director’s ourvre.” Fresh from Cannes, GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN offers impressions on Gus Van Sant and Paranoid Park: “Van Sant’s latest film... does not disturb as much as Elephant did with its questions of why seemingly harmless, dull and uninspiring youngsters suddenly turn hostile and brutal... [but] still makes one a trifle uneasy.” And continuing the trend of new films by established festival favourites, SIMON WOOD considers Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s first foray into digital video: “Although flawed, Climates wallows in its own anxiety and there’s a certain thrill in seeing cynicism portrayed with such enthusiastic accuracy and ironic beauty.”

Of lesser artistic, but greater thrill value, JOE SHEPPARD concedes to the “puerile logic and cult factor” of Death Note + Death Note: The Last Note, a back-to-back screening we’re quietly claiming as a replacement for Grindhouse’s currently dismantled distribution form. Sheppard assures us of the Death Notes that “you’re guaranteed a good time one way or another, but you might want to check any adulthood you’re carrying at the door on the way into the theatre.”

These, along with the 25+ films we’ve covered to date, and the complete 160+ festival programme, open for business this Friday at the Auckland leg of the Telecom 2007 New Zealand International Film Festivals. Wellington’ turn begins the following Friday. Our daily coverage continues uninterrupted throughout.