Review of Ivul (2010) by Mike M — 24 Jul 2010

An extension of that childhood game - referenced in the opening compilation of archive pastimes - in which players strive to keep themselves off the ground by whatever means for as long as possible: the type of pursuit that can manifest itself in latter life as a penchant for free running.

It's certainly a fully physical performance from young Auzanneau, who uses the narrative framework as an opportunity for his own personal, eco-friendly highwire act: part Philippe Petit, part Swampy.

In a week without an obvious blockbuster, "Ivul" might be as close as the cinema comes to an action movie, Kotting's camera zooming in whenever it looks as though Alex's feet might touch la terre.

.. Kotting, of course, is not the only British filmmaker to have obliquely dramatised their state of exile: the heroine of Peter Strickland's "Katalin Varga" was harried and harassed, cast out into an untenable position.

Up until its last-reel inferno, though - Kotting turning the screen over to hellfire - this bizarro, highly textured effort makes going off the map look really rather fun.