a retired spy in his old years is haunted by memories of friends, foes and lovers past. a confusing script that feels disjointed and chaotic is matched with visuals resembling and referencing spy action of decades past at every opportunity. it's easy to call this one unabashedly and proudly style over substance until you realize that style is substance. an impressive piece of meta-fiction that serves as a eulogy to a genre that's died a slow death growing old just like the men that starred in it.

9/10

a 15-year-old orphan runs away from home to go to the city and happens to find a roof to sleep under in a film studio where they work on an adaptation of her favorite fairytale, The Snow Queen. by necessity she gets involved in the production as to not raise too much suspicion and starts developing a closer relationship to the lead actress. a beautifully shot movie that still left me disappointed due to its poor pacing. it's very pretty to look at but sadly the end result is a frankly, kinda boring movie with a lot of very slow scenes where neither the heavy fairytale influences nor the personal drama really properly unfold. feels like wasted potential to me.

5/10