dreamlike

The sense of an ending is what this fascinating film delivers: an unimaginably painful ending and the moral reckoning that has to follow. This dreamlike satire from Georgian film-maker Tengiz Abuladze, was made in 1984 but suppressed for three years before release. This was not so much for its coded critique of Stalinism – of which the Soviet authorities had long since learned to parrot their regretful disapproval – but of the pusillanimous loyalty to the Stalinist memory that persisted in the USSR for generations, and…

In March 2011, a six-minute earthquake triggered a tsunami in Japan that killed 18,000 people. It was a devastating natural disaster, but strangely, the tsunami has inspired this calming, tranquil documentary – really more of an art piece – from Swedish visual artist Jennifer Rainsford. It’s a dreamy reverie of a film that drifts along, carried into obscure corner by her curiosity.We meet three tsunami survivors including a man who has looked everywhere on land for his missing wife, then took up diving to hunt the ocean…

Terrence Malick is an executive producer of this arthouse drama – and a poster of his 1973 classic Badlands hangs on the wall of an apartment in one scene. I suspect The Book of Vision’s director Carlo Hintermann might be Malick’s number one fan. He once made a documentary about Malick, and was a producer on Tree of Life. This film is his feature debut, and depending on your point of view, it could feel like either a parody of or homage to his film-making hero.The plot flits between the 18th century and now, with the same…

Dream to the beat, or beat your opponent The fourth day of Nintendo’s House of Indies holiday event has arrived, and four more games have been confirmed for the Nintendo Switch. Whether it’s rocking through your dreams or rocketing the ball into the opponent’s goal, there’s a good variety of games here on the penultimate day of indie joy. First up, the surprise drops. Dreamy rhythm game Melatonin is out today on Nintendo Switch, mixing a gorgeous art style with music specifically designed to flow with the visuals. It’s…

The Irish film-maker Robert Manson has gone back to his native Wicklow for this flawed, intriguing, indulgent movie with a touch of Kafka. It’s an experimental piece, drifting and dreamlike – though declining to let you know if it is a good dream or a bad dream – shot in black and white, with little bursts of colour Super 8.David (Conor Madden) is a nondescript guy attempting to leave what appears to be a featureless little town. He is trying to catch a ferry, but keeps getting told he has the wrong ticket or he’s at the…

In 1930, just as Luis Buñuel was releasing his classic L’Age d’Or, the Georgian director Mikhail Kalatozov gave us the 55-minute silent movie Salt for Svanetia, an equally rich, strange and mysterious work of ethno-fantasy and social-surrealist reverie. It is theoretically a documentary about the blessings which Soviet modernisation brought to the remote community of Ushguli in the Svanetia province of north-west Georgia; it contains a people governed by tribal traditions going back to the middle ages. Working with editor…

This is a whole vibe Sometimes, you just have to skate. And sometimes, you make a deal with the devil and you really, really do just have to skate. Skate Story is a game about the latter, coming sometime in 2023. Shown off during today’s Devolver Digital summer showcase, Skate Story is about a deal with the devil. You, as a demon made of glass and pain, have to skate to the moon and swallow it to earn your freedom. Simple enough, right? Seeing it in motion, though, is something else. It’s reminding me of Thumper, but…