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JAMESON DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2014SUNDAY 16TH FEBRUARYBLUE RUINAs tough as it is smart as it is suspenseful, Blue Ruinproves that action cinema isn’t just the preserveof the big Hollywood studios. It’s been a few yearssince Jeremy Saulnier’s horror-comedy mash-upMurder Party hit the festival circuit and won a lot offans. Now he’s back with a riff on the revenge movie,immediately selected for the prestigious Directors’Fortnight at Cannes.‘Distinguished by the way it allies solid storytellingto fine craftsmanship’ Screen InternationalSun 16 Feb / Light House 1 / 6.15pm / 92 minutesWriter-director: Jeremy Saulnier 2013 USCast: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy HargreavesWinner, FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes Film FestivalIn the film’s solemn and quiet opening we meetDwight (Macon Blair), a homeless man who collectstrash for money. After reading about the releaseof a double murderer he visibly transforms fromdishevelled bearded bum into determined memberof society. What follows is a deeply comic narrativeof family retribution, white-trash psychosis andhome invasion, set to the unsettling rhythms of aweapons-obsessed world. Deftly shot, with thoughtfulwidescreen compositions, this terrifically directed filmcombines the classic feuding families set-up with themeditative veneer of a very clever contemporaryarthouse thriller.Ant TimpsonNew Zealand International Film FestivalLA PAZWhen Liso, a handsome young man from a wealthyArgentinian family, emerges from a spell in psychiatriccare, he finds himself struggling to recover the piecesof his shattered life in this delicate and affectingdrama from Santiago Loza (Extraño).Returning home, Liso finds his mother indulgent anddoting, his father somewhat more impatient withhis son’s apparent listlessness, while a succession ofencounters with ex-girlfriends provide glimpses of thechaos his illness has caused. Only in the companyof his genial grandmother and Sonia, the family’sBolivian maid, does he find moments of respite fromhis struggle, but when these comforts are taken away,Liso’s hard-won equilibrium threatens to unravel.‘oddly affecting’ The Hollywood ReporterSun 16 Feb / Cineworld 12 / 6.15pm / 73 minutesWriter-director: Santiago Loza 2013 ArgentinaCast: Lisandro Rodríguez, Andrea Strenitz, Fidelia Batallanos MichelAnchored by a sophisticated performance fromLisandro Rodríguez as Liso, Loza’s film is gentle,undemonstrative work, unafraid to draw comedyfrom Liso’s condition but generous enough totreat every character with the same clear-eyedcompassion. Beautifully shot in a palette of washedoutcolours, La Paz is both a touching study of oneman’s journey towards recovery and a subtle parableabout Argentinian society.Alistair DanielWith special guest Lisandro RodríguezBOOK ONLINE AT JDIFF.COM 47