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Roberto Saviano is an investigative journalist who angered the Italian underworld bosses so much with his book about the Camorra that he has to spend the rest of his life in barracks under police protection and wherever he goes, he is accompanied by a large group of bodyguards. However, this unfavorable lifestyle allows him enough peace and time for his work. This is how a new book came into being, which the Italian team fully utilized and created a series that is among the best in television production in recent years. The Italian peninsula is small for Saviano, so he focused on the global drug business. He maps the journey of cocaine from the American continent to Europe. It is a bloody journey accompanied by corruption, clashes with competition, and interventions by state power. The viewer follows three storylines that eventually intersect, and four groups of players who participate in the dirty business. Someone becomes a winner, while someone else pays the highest price. The series resembles the title of an older Soderbergh film, Traffic. Don't expect positive characters here, they have little significance as victims of ruthless predators. The series is not diluted by a large number of episodes and therefore contains no filler. Its main value lies in the characters - cunning, hard as granite, willing to take risks, and ruthless as Nemesis. For genre fans, it is a treat that would be a mistake to miss. Overall impression: 95%.

Berlin has fallen, the leader of the German nation has passed into eternity, and the surrender of the German armed forces was expected with each passing day. No one is rushing into battle anymore because who would want to die just before the end of the war? Actually, only the clean-up remains. However, a group of German soldiers who have gathered on the shores of the Baltic Sea do not want to surrender to the Red Army. They are not enticed by the prospect of infamous Siberian labor camps and forced work. They are considering escaping by boat to Denmark, where British captivity offers a considerably more favorable future. The Soviet captain does not press them. He, too, lives with the prospect of an imminent ceasefire and does not want to risk a clash against tenfold superiority. Moreover, he has enough worries of his own. His group has settled in an orphanage, and a German boy would like to experience the battle firsthand and gain some military fame. 4 Days in May is an intimate war film that focuses not so much on the grand epic picture of battle and war machinery, but rather on the personal dramas of people who must cope with the loss of a familiar world, new responsibilities, and above all, the question of whether and for what they should die for at the very end of the war. It is an inconspicuous film at first glance, but it is emotionally impactful, and it has left a mark on me. Overall impression: 90%.

Based on a single film, I can't estimate whether a francophone Spike Lee was born, but as a feature-length debut, Les Misérables is an extraordinary film full of energy, uncompromisingness, and rebellion against the system. After its release in France, it rightfully dominated the movie theaters and won every award it could. Thematically related to the Danish film Shorta, it is certainly above average and impressive, but fundamentally, it's no more than an action film with a certain social subtext. Les Misérables has a broader scope and showcases the notorious Parisian housing estates inhabited by unemployed (and often unemployable) immigrants and outsiders. Ladj Ly shows the ghettos as a complex ecosystem controlled by local hustlers, criminals, and Islamists. The police can only futilely try to keep up and create the impression that the state is in control of the situation. During two intense shifts of a three-member police patrol, the director shows what goes on there and who or what one can encounter. It's not a routine crime story but a genre film that significantly transcends into social drama. The carousel of boredom, poverty, and cultural and national unanchoredness creates a highly explosive Molotov cocktail that burns anyone who gets in its way. Overall impression: 90%.

I remember that Bulgarian cinema had such a bad reputation during the time period of true socialism that its film production rarely reached other communist countries as part of the cultural exchange of "friendly" countries. Even the 90s did not bring change. I mean what can you expect after wild privatization in the Balkan region...? Since then, I have had a tendency to look at Bulgarian productions with a certain distrust and even contempt. Komendarev's film showed me how misleading it is to approach films with prejudice. It has a well-crafted screenplay that cleverly balances several genres. We follow three police patrols during a demanding night shift and their adventures bring the viewer an unflattering message about the state of Bulgarian society 30 years after the fall of communism, when the country is trapped in a depressive cycle of poverty, corruption, brain drain, and the arrogance of the powerful. Tragedy alternates with comedy, hopelessness with moments of hope. The film does not bore whatsoever and belongs to those rare moments when you say to yourself that it is worth searching for gems among the trash. Overall impression: 90%.

Captain Yossarian has a problem. The government of the United States wants to win the war, the officers want a career and recognition, and Yossarian wants to survive first and foremost. These, as you will agree, are not completely identical goals, especially when Yossarian, with each unnecessary death and every example of the decay of moral values, loses more and more of his ideals and grows disgusted with the callousness and manipulation of the commanding officers. Yossarian is the opposite of exemplary, conscious heroes of war stories about courage and honor. Yossarian does not initially understand the madness around him, but the more he sees it, the more he desires to get rid of it and arrange things his own way. While watching the film, I appreciated the irony, situational comedy, and mockery of the traditional, pathetic concept of war, and yet I fully appreciated Nichols' film only after getting acquainted with the eponymous series. The film does not shy away from things, it is more apt, and I feel a greater presence of the author of the source material, Joseph Heller, in it. By the way, at the time of its creation, which dates back to the Vietnam War, a number of leading American film critics had a problem with the film, specifically with its protagonist. They considered him to be an amoral coward who undermined the anti-Nazi war effort. However, I completely understand Yossarian and his intentions. Overall impression: 90%.

There are movies that caress, and there are those that resist it. Jensen once again proves that nothing is sacred to him and that he has an inexhaustible supply of imagination. Social taboos are of no concern to him, and he doesn't care about offending a part of the audience that gets upset by jokes targeting physical disabilities or morally unacceptable forms of sex. I share Jensen's politically incorrect view of the world and thoroughly enjoyed his journey into the realm of crazy scientific experiments. The excellent cast of the quirky family significantly contributed to this. Scandinavian acting aces unleashed their mischievous clowning in a grand style, sparing no one and nothing. I wouldn't recommend watching this film to just anyone, but personally, I was on Jensen's side as he broke the laws of nature and social norms. I can't help but wonder how far he's willing to go next time. Overall impression: 90%.

Films like Blizzard of Souls are only sporadically produced in today's Europe, and perhaps only the Poles and Russians consistently dedicate themselves to them. Firstly, they represent the most expensive and technically demanding type of production in a situation where audiences are spoiled by big-budget war films from American and Asian studios. Secondly, the current social climate does not favor them, as European cultural elites are cosmopolitan and advocate multiculturalism. They associate national pride with nationalism, and for them, patriotism is just another term for fascism. Projects like Blizzard of Souls usually relate to confirming national identity and statehood. In the case of the Baltics, it directly relates to the restoration of nations that, due to population size and historical development, are not at all a given. In terms of the small Latvian cinema, it is an exceptional achievement in every aspect. Young Arturs has accomplished a lot in five years. He meets three women, serves in three armies, fights for four different regimes, experiences three offensives, sustains four injuries, and his birthplace finds itself under four state entities. Yes, Europe was a very wild place to live in back then, and it was necessary to constantly be on guard. The battle scenes are filmed without pathos or heroization of the right side—the actions of the film's protagonists do not suffer from logical acrobatics. Simply put, it is a high-quality genre film. Overall impression: 90%.

When examining the reactions to the new version of Papillon, you often come across a feeling of desecration. It's as if it were blasphemy to make a second version of the legendary prison escape at the same time when you can watch yet another adaptation of "Les Misérables," where no one questions the constant recycling. I saw the original adaptation of Charrière's book 25 years ago, and that is one of the reasons why I don't want to compare both films. Steve McQueen was undoubtedly extraordinarily charismatic on screen, and Hoffman was one of the stars of character acting. However, the success of the film did not lie in them. It lay in the exceptional story of human will and tenacity. Rami Malek may not be the typical representative of the Parisian elite of the 1920s, but take it as it is. Neither he nor Charlie Hunnam bring disgrace to the craft of acting. The production is impressive, the excellent camera effectively captures the atmosphere of both fashionable Paris and the South American colony, as well as the suffering of the prisoners. Papillon is a worthy return to the adventure film genre in a time dominated by silly comic book movies and cheap horror films. I have no reason to criticize anything about this film and I had a good time with it. Overall impression: 90%.

No Man's Land is a fusion of three genres - a spy thriller, a romance set in exotic landscapes of the Middle East, and a war drama. A naive young man from secular Europe travels to Syria to search for his sister after not believing the news of her death. He becomes involved in a brutal conflict between the supporters of the Islamic State and Kurdish militias, with other significant players entering the scene. Against the backdrop of a civil war and the clash of ideologies, a personal conflict unfolds for several characters on both sides of the barricade, dealing with the conflict between love and friendship on one hand and ideals and duties on the other, often facing painful moral compromises. The script leads its protagonists through complicated and unpredictable paths, which I consider to be a strong aspect of the film. However, the cast also scores points with plenty of unfamiliar faces, especially Mélanie Thierry, who I need to keep an eye on. The contemporary world of TV series and films rides the wave of poster-manifesting feminism, which is opportunistic and unreliable, often even ridiculous. And yet I believe in this girl's strength and moral fortitude. The characters, including those who only get little space, are portrayed convincingly and without superficiality. Those for whom the series may not resonate are popcorn movie fans. No Man's Land doesn't cater to them. It is not a simplified film and it requires certain knowledge of the realities and your concentration. My overall impression is 90%, and I am looking forward to the second season, which the ending of the first directly encourages.

I have always associated Jennifer Lawrence's charming face with masks of comic book characters and romantic Hollywood sentimental films. And behold, at the age of 20, she played the lead role in a raw social drama. However, Winter's Bone does not rely only on her performance. The environment and hostility of the local white trash community play a big role. I would say it's a significantly underrated film, but in my eyes, it definitely works better than most of the Dardenne brothers' films full of socially noble boredom. Overall impression: 90%.