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European cinema

European cinema
From Danny Boyle to Michael Haneke, from Francois Truffaut to Ingmar Bergman, from Soviet Montage to French New Wave to Romanian New Wave, and from Berlin film festival to Cannes to Venice, this is the place to go for features, interviews and reviews about movies both classic and new from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and every other country in Europe.
Benedict Cumberbatch in a still from The Thing with Feathers (category: IIB) directed by Dylan Southern. Sam Spruell co-stars.
Film reviews

Review | The Thing with Feathers: Benedict Cumberbatch carries moving tale of grief

Benedict Cumberbatch and Sam Spruell star in this touching drama about a father struggling to bring up his two boys after his wife dies.

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American cinema

12 new Hollywood movies to watch this winter, from Hamnet to Song Sung Blue

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Asian cinema

Want to find solace in film? 10 movies that may offer catharsis and hope

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Obituaries

Oscar-winning UK playwright Tom Stoppard dies aged 88

His work ranges from plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to the film Shakespeare in Love, which scooped seven Academy Awards.

British playwright Tom Stoppard arrives for the world premiere of “Anna Karenina” in London in September 2012. Photo: AP
Asian cinema: Chinese films

British film about Hong Kong immigrants showed grim reality of their new lives

Soursweet (1988), about a Hong Kong family’s UK struggles, was a progressive film, despite the narrative controlled by its British makers.

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American cinema

Why this French film star just had to visit Hong Kong’s Chungking Mansions

In town for the Hong Kong French Film Festival, Garance Marillier discusses her ‘must visit’ list and acting with Angelina Jolie in Couture.

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Fame and celebrity

Pope hosts Hollywood stars at Vatican, laments decline in cinema-going

The pontiff urged filmmakers to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness with honesty, and to resist ‘the logic of algorithms’.

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Pope Leo greets Australian actress and producer Cate Blanchett in Vatican City on Saturday. Photo: Vatican Media via EPA
Asian cinema

Can’t get enough of Another World? 10 animated films set in the afterlife

If you liked Another World, you will love these 10 afterlife animations, with subjects from rabbits and dogs to a pianist and a corpse bride.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

How Macau and Hong Kong inspired Colin Farrell’s Ballad of a Small Player

Farrell and Edward Berger share why Macau was a ‘perfect setting’ for a tale about an erratic gambler and how he finds reprieve in Hong Kong.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Jean-Claude Van Damme films with Hong Kong roots, including Bloodsport

Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme has made a number of films either filmed in or linked closely to Hong Kong. Here are four.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme (right) and Bolo Yeung in a still from Bloodsport (1988), which was shot entirely in Hong Kong and is populated with local talent Photo: Warner Bros
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong-born filmmaker in the UK reflects on her immigrant experience

Filmmaker Calif Chong and actress Isabella Wei talk about Chong’s debut film High Wire and the realities of immigration in the UK.

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Isabella Wei (left) and Dominic Lam Kar-wah in a still from High Wire
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The story of Ping Pong, pioneering first film shot in London’s Chinatown

Also the first UK film made by a director of Chinese descent, Leong Po-chih’s Ping Pong flopped upon release but is being rediscovered.

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Fame and celebrity

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale dies aged 87

The actress, who starred next to leading men from Burt Lancaster to Henry Fonda, was the muse of Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini.

Fame and celebrity

After 15 years of Downton Abbey, ‘if this is where it ends, I’m happy’

Creator Julian Fellowes, actor Hugh Bonneville and producer Gareth Neame reflect on the period drama’s success and its enduring legacy.

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The cast of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and writer Julian Fellowes (front) at the world premiere of the film in London. Photo: AP
American cinema

12 Hollywood movies to watch in autumn 2025, from Zootopia 2 to Tron: Ares

Our list also includes Regretting You, Wicked: For Good, Predator: Badlands, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.

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Nick Wilde (left, voiced by Jason Bateman) and Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) in a still from Zootopia 2. Photo: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
American cinema

10 of the best movies from the 2025 Venice Film Festival

You won’t find the Golden Lion winner on this list, which includes harrowing Palestinian drama The Voice of Hind Rajab and British film Ish.

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Venice Film Festival

US indie film beats out Gaza war docudrama for Venice top prize

Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ took home the Golden Lion, while ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ took second place.

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Film reviews

Review | Silent Friend: Tony Leung Chiu-wai appears in his first European film

The Hong Kong star of In the Mood for Love and Lust, Caution plays a scientist in one section of Ildiko Enyedi’s three-part botanical film.

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Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from Silent Friend. Photo: Pandora Film
American cinema

Why Jet Li’s action thriller Kiss of the Dragon was banned in China

Kiss of the Dragon was a box office success in 2001, but its racial stereotyping, violence and sexual frankness caused it problems in China.

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Venice Film Festival

8 stand-out looks from the Venice Film Festival red carpet

Shu Qi, who just made her directorial debut, graced the red carpet in Gaurav Gupta, while Emily Blunt wore a Tamara Ralph gown.

On Our Radar

The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival is more relevant than ever

Showing 22 movies and 37 shorts, the 36th HKLGFF is a critical reflection on the challenges faced by an LGBTQ community under threat around the world.

A still from Thai lesbian romance Flat Girls, one of the closing films of the 36th Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Photo: Handout
Venice Film Festival

Male actors who stunned at the Venice Film Festival, from Jude Law to The Rock

Jude Law looked classy in a Brunello Cucinelli suit, while Callum Turner donned a crisp white suit by Louis Vuitton.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at the Venice Film Festival. He stars in The Smashing Machine. Photo: DPA
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Chinese person, English name: Hong Kong filmmaker explores ‘mistaken identity’

Being raised in a Chinese family with an English surname left Mary Stephen with questions she seeks to answer in her new documentary.

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Cinema

10 films to watch this fall: Anemone, Nuremberg and a Springsteen biopic

Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce Springsteen in his upcoming biopic while Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with Eleanor the Great.

American cinema

Review | After the Hunt: Julia Roberts is a professor in muddled sexual assault drama

While Julia Roberts shines in After the Hunt, which explores the chaos of a sexual assault case, the real crux of the story remains unclear.

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Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield in a still from After the Hunt, directed by Luca Guadagnino. Ayo Edebiri co-stars. Photo: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Wong Kar-wai’s The Hand made the 2004 anthology Eros worth watching

The Hong Kong director’s segment from the three-part erotic anthology Eros outshone those by Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni.

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Chang Chen (left) and Gong Li in a still from The Hand, Wong Kar-wai’s segment in the anthology film Eros (2004). Photo: SCMPost
American cinema

14 of the best recent body horror films, from Old to The Substance

Body horror hit its heyday in the ’80s with films like Videodrome and The Thing, but recent events are seeing the genre’s popularity resurge.

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Asian cinema

10 must-see movies and programmes at Hong Kong’s Summer IFF 2025

From It Was Just an Accident to Eddington, here are 10 highlights to catch at the Summer International Film Festival, from August 13 to 25.

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