Norte, the End of History

Norte, the End of History, directed by Lav Diaz, repositions Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment within the context of Philippine colonial history; it follows Fabian, a law school dropout given to philosophical rants who murders a moneylender, only for the crime to be pinned on an innocent debtor. At 250 minutes, the film is the shortest in Diaz's filmography, a director known for films running eight to twelve hours. It screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, marking Diaz's first film in Cannes' official selection. The film holds a 93 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and 81 on Metacritic. Who it's for: anyone curious about a Russian classic repositioned within Philippine colonial history, a film running over four hours that's still considered its director's shortest. Who it's not for: viewers looking for something short and fast paced, since even at over four hours this counts as relatively brief within the director's body of work.