Tag Archives: Dictatorship

Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Two different prisoners between desperation and fantasy

Posted on August 12, 2026 by kaist455

Bill Condon’s 2025 musical film “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, which went straight to streaming in South Korea, is about two very different but equally desperate prisoners whose reality swings back and forth between desperation and fantasy. As they begin … Continue reading →

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The Secret Agent (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A look into that dangerous period in Brazil

Posted on January 26, 2026 by kaist455

 Kleber Mendonça Filho’s latest film “The Secret Agent”, which won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Films Festival early in last year and then garnered 4 Oscar nominations including the ones for Best Picture and Best International Film, is … Continue reading →

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I’m Still Here (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A family under the dictatorship in Brazil

Posted on March 13, 2025 by kaist455

Walter Salles’ latest film “I’m Still Here”, which recently won a Best International Film Oscar, calmly but powerfully observes a real-life personal struggle under the dictatorship period in Brazil during the early 1970s. While never overlooking the grim and horrific … Continue reading →

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Argentina, 1985 (2022) ☆☆☆1/2 (3.5/4): A trial in Buenos Aires, 1985

Posted on January 12, 2023 by kaist455

“Argentina, 1985”, which was selected as the Argentine submission to Best International Film Oscar in last year and recently won the Best Non-English Language Film award at the Golden Globes, is a calm but powerful period drama surrounding one big … Continue reading →

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New Order (2020) ☆☆(2/4): A messy exercise of chaos and brutality

Posted on November 21, 2021 by kaist455

Sometimes, I come across hollow artsy flicks hopelessly stuck in their supposedly interesting but ultimately flimsy ideas, and Mexican film “New Order” is one of such depressing cases. Sure, I understand that it intends to be an edgy political allegory … Continue reading →

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The Man Standing Next (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): It’s really hard for him to stand next to his big boss…

Posted on January 5, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean film “The Man Standing Next” is a slick and competent period drama film which does not go further than what I and many other South Korean audiences already know. Based on one of the major historical incidents in … Continue reading →

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The Kingmaker (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Rotten, superficial, and powerful

Posted on April 15, 2020 by kaist455

If you are familiar with the notoriety of Imelda Marcos and her rotten family members in the Philippines, you will be often disgusted and horrified as watching documentary film “The Kingmaker”, which presents a very disturbing picture of how she … Continue reading →

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The Death of Stalin (2017) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A political satire set in the Soviet era

Posted on April 2, 2018 by kaist455

Some black comedies dare to generate laughs from dark, ghastly subjects, and “The Death of Stalin” is one of such interesting cases. Focusing on the human absurdities and inhuman horrors inside one of the most infamous totalitarian regimes in the … Continue reading →

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The Devil’s Double (2011) ☆☆☆(3/4) : A dangerous life with dictator’s son

Posted on May 25, 2013 by kaist455

One of my morbid childhood memories is associated with those pulpy anti-communism magazines published for South Korean elementary school students. Whenever I found nothing to read, I zealously read these magazines in my classroom because they told me lots of … Continue reading →

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