The bleak schedules of the new-year, enhanced this time around by the mammoth WGA strike, make it a perfect time to catch up on some of the notable releases of the last twelve months.

Tell No One

Veteran actor in native France, amateur director Guillaume Canet crafted one of the finest films of 2006. Tell No One tells the story of a doctor, Alex Beck, and his emotional dealings with the mourning process after his wife's death. Matters get complicated when Beck starts receiving emails from his wife - eight years later. What happens next and in-between is for every viewer to discover for themselves as Canet's film, very mature and measured in tone, oozes with the flourish and excitement of a debut filmmaker. Tell No One pulsates with style in every frame and manages to calm down when it counts - as a thriller it is five-star calibre but as the sign of a flourishing director it is off the charts.

The Lives of Others

Set in the oppressive GDR period of East Germany , The Lives of Others follows the symbiotic relationship of an oppressed artist and his voyeur audience of spies. Filmed with an eye for detail and minimalism reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's heavyweight period pieces, the film's microcosm for a nation at odds with its own personality is hard-hitting without every being forceful. There's a very European elegance to the work that inspires, allowing the subjective machinations of the plot to lay low enough that The Lives of Others teaches rather than preaches.

 

That the above films have been granted relatively high-profile releases - on DVD at the very least - is proof that access to world cinema is getting easier all the time. The shifting sands of distribution methods is something very real at the time of writing and in the coming months is something sure to be addressed by your friends with ideas at the seconddimension.

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