When the time came for Karim Aïnouz to direct his first English-language feature a few years ago, few would have bet on it being “Firebrand.” A historical drama based on the life of Henry VIII survivor Catherine Parr, it was handsome, well-acted and directed with complete proficiency by the Brazilian arthouse sensualist, but so far from his usual taste for saturated melodrama and eroticism, you’d think he’d been assigned the gig by lottery. After a brief trip home for the hyper-carnal thriller “Motel Destino,” Aïnouz returns to Europe with “Rosebush Pruning,” which on the face of it looks a snugger fit for his sensibilities: a sweating, absurdist family saga
→ Continue reading at Variety