To utilize a neurological disorder at the center of your film’s narrative carries a massive weight of responsibility. Cinema has historically utilized mental illness in a ham-fisted manner—as nothing more than a trope to propel melodrama. The nuances are lost. A delicate touch must be used, and if not gentle, you must at least be aware of how close one can veer towards exploitation. Unfortunately, “The Roads Not Taken,” Sally Potter’s facile study of Leo (Javier Bardem), a man wrought by an unidentified mental illness, ventures far more into the realm of exploitation.

Continue reading ‘The Roads Not Taken’: Sally Potter Disappoints With A Melodramatic Take On Mental Illness [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

Every year, the Berlin International Film Festival plays host to some of the richest and most rewarding cinematic works of the year. In 2019, the festival screened Joanna Hogg’s lacerating “The Souvenir” after its Sundance premiere, as well as the slept-on fever dream that was “Monos,” and Nadav Lapid’s widely acclaimed “Synonyms,” the closing night film that also happened to take home the Golden Bear award.

Continue reading 12 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2020 Berlin International Film Festival at The Playlist.

Taking care of an ill parent is incredibly difficult. Making matters even more complicated is when the parent in question is actually suffering from a deep mental illness that no one is specially equipped to handle. That’s the situation facing a young woman in the upcoming film “The Roads Not Taken.”

READ MORE: 2020 Berlin Film Festival Competition Includes New Movies From Sally Potter, Hong Sang-Soo, Christian Petzold & More

With “The Roads Not Taken” prepping for its world premiere at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, we are happy to offer our readers with an exclusive clip of the film, which is written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker, Sally Potter.

Continue reading ‘The Roads Not Taken’ Exclusive Clip: Elle Fanning Has To Care For Javier Bardem In Sally Potter’s New Drama at The Playlist.

The choices we make in our lives, from the mundane to the earth-shattering, all matter. And in the new film, “The Roads Not Taken,” a man struggles to hold onto his sanity as he obsesses about the lives he could have lived if he made other choices.

READ MORE: 2020 Berlin Film Festival Competition Includes New Movies From Sally Potter, Hong Sang-Soo, Christian Petzold & More

As seen in the trailer for the film, “The Road Not Taken” follows the relationship between a father and his daughter as she desperately searches for answers about what makes her parent seem mentally ill.

Continue reading ‘The Roads Not Taken’ Trailer: Javier Bardem & Elle Fanning Star In Sally Potter’s Upcoming Berlin Drama at The Playlist.

We may be knee-deep in Sundance right now, but this is just the beginning of the festival season. And one of the biggest film events of the year is coming up in less than a month, the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.

READ MORE: Early Berlin 2020 Announcements Include New Film From Jia Zhang-ke & Series From Damien Chazelle, Cate Blanchett & Jason Segel

And with the fest beginning so soon, we finally know which 18 films will be competing for the coveted Golden Bear award.

Continue reading 2020 Berlin Film Festival Competition Includes New Movies From Sally Potter, Hong Sang-Soo, Christian Petzold & More at The Playlist.

Academy snubs be damned, 2019 was a spectacular end to a decade of outstanding films directed by women. Joanna Hogg reinvented visual memoir with “The Souvenir,” Lulu Wang challenged American conceptions of family and death in “The Farewell,” and Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” adaptation upended one of the most iconic American novels by and about a woman.

Continue reading 52 Films Directed By Women To Watch In 2020 at The Playlist.