Change Your Image
daniolivam
Reviews
All We Imagine as Light (2024)
A poetic masterpiece
All We Imagine As Light is a beautiful and poetic tale of love, friendship and self-discovery by Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, telling the story of two nurses living in Mumbai who see a little wave of events ripple through their otherwise routinary lives. I really loved the film's color palettes, first of blues, and later reds and greens. It's depiction of city life and urban loneliness. Its gentle soundtrack, pace and characters. It feels like staying in on a rainy day, looking out your window and seeing a rainbow form from a timid sunray filtering through the clouds. A fleeting moment of magic.
Dane-ye anjir-e ma'abed (2024)
Brave, thrilling and powerful
The Seed of the Sacred Fig was one of the most expected premieres in Cannes due to the backstory of its creation. A film shot in secret in Iran, that led to its director and cast being sentenced to prison and lashing. So, would the movie be able to live up to the expectations despite its complicated production?
What followed was not a film, it was a MOLOTOV COCKTAIL! An incredibly brave, powerful and moving tale of morality, paranoia and resistance. The third act had people talking, but makes perfect sense to me in its symbolic context. If before the movie Rasoulof and his crew already received a big standing ovation due to the film's background, the emotive standing ovation it received after the screening was even more enthusiastic, with the also Iranian director and fellow Palme competitor Ali Abassi encouraging people to stand up and cheer.
The Seed of the Scared Fig did, unfortunately, not win the Palme d'Or in the end, and had to settle for a minor Special Jury Prize. But still, it would have been my choice for the main prize, and won over my and many other people's hearts. Women, Life, Freedom!