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★★★☆☆ Unceremoniously winching its way onto DVD this week despite contending for top honours at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival, Greek director Spiros Stathoulopoulos' (Pvc-1) snail-paced Metéora (2012) makes up for its lack of narrative dynamism through some deeply evocative religious symbolism and arresting vistas captured by Stathoulopoulos himself. Set amidst the mountaintop monasteries of the arid Metéora region, faith and lust make uneasy bedfellows for a young Greek Orthodox monk and a similarly pious nun. Animated interjections are almost as ill-fitting, but don't quite fully detract from what is a surprisingly involving study of self-imposed monastic isolation.

Meteora Trailer. Spiros Stathoulopoulos‘ Metéora (2012) movie trailer stars Theo Alexander and Tamila Koulieva-Karantinaki. Metéora‘s plot synopsis: “Meteora tells the story of an illicit affair between an orthodox catholic monk, played by Theo Alexander, and a nun, Russian actress Tamila Koulieva-Karantinaki, who live in monasteries divided by faith and a huge chasm.”

I love the visuals in this trailer.

More on Meteora:

The film screened in competition at Berlinale and by the few reviews currently available, the film is dreadfully slow with little dialogue and sequences which linger on the scenery with animal sounds the only reprieve. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it marks Stathoulopoulos’ film as a festival-only affair and even then, of limited appeal.

Watch the Meteora movie trailer and leave your thoughts on it below in the comments section. For more Meteora photos, videos, and information, visit our Meteora Page. Meteora has no Us theater release date yet.

Shadow Dancer

It's been a good week for festival news junkies. Sundance has opened, Rotterdam's full schedule is now online, Cannes has named Nanni Moretti as President of the Jury for the 65th edition in May, and the Berlinale's been rolling out lineup after lineup. Today's addition: "With seven more films, the Competition program of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival is nearing completion. To date it includes 22 films, of which 17 are vying for the Golden and Silver Bears. 18 films will celebrate their world premieres in the Competition of the Berlinale 2012."

So, the story so far:

À moi seule (Coming Home). France. By Frédéric Videau (Le fils de Jean-Claude Videau, Variéte Francaise). With Agathe Bonitzer and Reda Kateb. World premiere.

Bel Ami. Great Britain. By Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod (feature debut). With Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci. World premiere / Out of Competition.

En kongelig affære...

Andrea Riseborough in James Marsh's Shadow Dancer Robert Pattinson/Bel Ami, Michael Fassbender/Haywire: Berlin Film Festival 2012 Below is the list of the latest movie additions to the Berlin Film Festival's Official Competition line-up: À moi seule (Coming Home). France. By Frédéric Videau (Le fils de Jean-Claude Videau, Varieté Française). With Agathe Bonitzer, Reda Kateb. World premiere. Bel Ami, Great Britain. By Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod (feature debut). With Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Breaking Dawn Part 2, Eclipse, New Moon, Twilight, Remember Me, Water for Elephants, Cosmopolis), Uma Thurman (Henry & June, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Gattaca, Playing the Field), Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Dans la maison, Sarah's Key, Love Crime, Nowhere Boy, Tell No One, Gosford Park, The Horse Whisperer, Mission: Impossible), Christina Ricci (Speed Racer, Fear and the Loathing in Las Vegas, The Opposite of Sex,...