A Touch of Sin review – ‘A shotgun blast at the dark heart of modern China’

This angry, bleak and brutal swipe at Chinese money worship, with echoes of Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino, is a radical departure for Jia Zhang-ke, writes Peter Bradshaw

The Heli director on why his film was too brutal – and honest – for Cannes

Jo Tuckman: A year on from winning at Cannes, the director says the furore over his film's violence was a sign of the hypocrisy of audience and critics, for whom barbarity is only offensive if it is truthful

Will the marriage of British and Chinese cinema be a happy one?

A new co-production deal is offering British film-makers the chance to grab a piece of China's booming but heavily censored movie industry. With so much at stake, asks Steve Rose, what kind of films can we expect to see from it?

Silent Sonata review – inane circus drama

There should be a word for a fear of films in which circus performers are a vehicle for deep and unmeaningful life lessons, writes Leslie Felperin

Before the Winter Chill (Avant L’Hiver) review – a bit too elegant?

Is this classy film, starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteuil, the modern equivalent of the French 'tradition of quality' that Truffaut warned us about, asks Peter Bradshaw

Ilo Ilo review – award-winning domestic drama set in Singapore

The tensions between a family and their Filipino maid make for an engaging film, writes Mark Kermode

In Bloom review – astutely observed coming-of-age drama

Mark Kermode enjoys a classy film set in 90s Georgia in which two teenagers search for independence

In Bloom review – teenage girls as prisoners of war

The effects of Georgia's conflict with Russia find turbulent expression in girls trying to grow up in a dangerous world

A Thousand Times Good Night review – Binoche’s tiresome martyred integrity

After a tense and promising start, the story of a war photographer's personal crisis presents an unconvincing picture, writes Peter Bradshaw

Ilo Ilo review – novelistic Singaporean debut by Anthony Chen

A brattish boy finds friendship with the domestic servant employed by his stressed-out parents in an impressive and sweet debut by a new Asian talent, writes Peter Bradshaw

After the Night review – laboured Lisbon ghetto drama

It's not clear why Basil de Cunha's drama about a moody Lisbon ghetto dweller did so well on the festival circuit, writes Peter Bradshaw

An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker review – unexpectedly affecting Roma study

This realist study about a Bosnian family who just scrape by is lit up by the couple's quiet love for each other, writes Peter Bradshaw

Magic Magic review – ‘shapeless mess’

Even a 'memorably repellent' Michael Cera can't save Sebastián Silva's film about graceless Americans abroad, writes Jonathan Romney

Wrinkles review – ‘unsentimental evocation of old age’

This Spanish animation, with voices from Martin Sheen and Matthew Modine, is intelligent and entertaining, writes Jonathan Romney

We Are the Best! review – Lukas Moodysson rediscovers his sense of fun

A film about a 1980s proto-riot grrrl band is a boisterous pleasure, writes Jonathan Romney