FILM / Critical Review

QUINCE TREE SUN

'There are just a few slow spots. . . But if you relax, the film's slow rhythms prove generally hypnotic and take you inside a painter's head in a way cinema very rarely attempts. Uplifting, rejuvenating, a bringer of peace: The Quince Tree Sun is the perfect film to herald spring.' Geoff Brown, Times.

'I am not in the uplifting masterpiece camp. The film fascinates because it embodies the struggle it depicts: it has Nothing To Say and yet it says it with a crazed, anomic majesty. Erice is no stranger to minimalism.' Nigel Andrews, Financial Times.

USED PEOPLE

'Ultimately the film's determination to end things nicely, with reconciliation all round, weakens it considerably. It's funny, touching and very well-observed by its director. But it finally exposes itself as cliched, a little shapeless and too long.' Derek Malcolm, Guardian.

'A wry, gawky domestic everydayness stands guard over the escape-prone whimsy. So does a first-class cast. Invidious to pick out one member, so I will. Shirley MacLaine: for crackerjack acting and for having the nerve to look 60, at least until her wedding day. . . ' Nigel Andrews, Financial Times.