“A sense of common danger” ‘The Son’s Room’, directed by Nanni Moretti in 2001, is an Italian tragic comedy. Moretti plays Giovanni, a therapist in Ancona who spends his days listening to the problems of other people and his home life dealing with minor issues with his teenage son. One weekend he is due to…
Month: October 2017
A Touch of Zen (1971)
‘A Touch of Zen’, directed by King Hu in 1971, is a Hong Kong and Taiwanese wuxia movie. Gu, a mild-mannered rural portrait painter in medieval China, is drawn into a plot of political intrigue and spiritual superheroes. This is a strange, rambling film with wild shifts in tone that, for someone not steeped in…
The Iron Horse (1924)
“Accurate and faithful in every particular of fact and atmosphere is this pictorial history of the building of the first American transcontinental railroad.” ‘The Iron Horse’, directed by John Ford in 1924, is a silent American western movie. The film follows the development and construction of the transcontinental railroad. The focus is on the small…
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
“Every memory has a piece of its artist.” ‘Blade Runner 2049’, directed by Denis Villeneuve in 2017, is an American dystopian science fiction thriller. A sequel to the 1982 movie ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Blade Runner 2049’ takes place thirty years later. A cop, played by Ryan Gosling, has the special responsibility of hunting down and killing…
Five (2003)
‘Five’, directed by Abbas Kiarostami in 2003, is an Iranian conceptual movie. The film contains no dialogue, no characters and no plot. Kiarostami sets a DV camera at five locations, each by the sea, and films for fifteen minutes. The camera is static so the only movement is of the landscape, animals and occasional humans…
Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
“May those who sit down be loved.” ‘Songs from the Second Floor’, directed by Roy Andersson in 2000, is a Swedish comedy focusing on the ever increasingly surreal lives of modern city dwellers. The film is formed by a series of vignettes showing middle aged men in a number of bizarre situations, or normal situations…
Lourdes (2009)
‘Lourdes’, directed by Jessica Hausner in 2009, is a French drama set at the famous site of Catholic pilgrimage. Sylvie Testud plays Christine, a woman with severe multiple sclerosis who is unable to move below the neck. She, along with other afflicted people, is taken on the pilgrimage and cared for by nuns. The film…
The Princess Bride (1987)
“Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” ‘The Princess Bride’, directed by Rob Reiner in 1987, is an American fantasy comedy written by William Goldman and based on the screenwriter’s book. Robin Wright plays buttercup, the bride of the title. Five years before the story proper begins, Buttercup falls…
Hana-bi (1997)
‘Hana-bi’, directed by Takeshi Kitano in 1997, is a Japanese crime drama starring Kitano as Yoshitaka Nishi, a retired detective. Nishi was forced into retirement after a violent incident that lead to the deaths of two of his colleagues and the injury of others. Without a job and struggling to care for this sick wife,…
Jour de fête (1949)
‘Jour de fête’, directed by Jacques Tati in 1949, is a French comedy written, directed and starring the creator of Monsieur Hulot. In this, his directorial debut, Tati plays François, a postman in a small rural village in France. François is bumbling and easily distracted by drink and socialising with his fellow villagers. Inspired by…
I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967)
“Are there any interesting social cases here? People in sleazy flats? People with unpaid dental bills? Drug cases will do, too. I work for “Expressen” the paper with a sting. My paper is planning a conservative victory in the ’68 elections. We’re doing a series on the ten most sordid social welfare cases” ‘I Am…
Cabiria (2014)
“The movie feels old, and by that I mean older than 1914. It feels like a view of ancient times, or at least of those times as imagined a century ago. We are looking into two levels of a time machine. Silent films in general create a reverie state for me; sound films are more…
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
“I have to make it clear that not even for a moment is there doubt that it is not a technical but a philosophical question. So that the tonal system in question, through researches, has led us inevitably to a test of faith, in which we ask: on what do we base our belief that…
Film Ark 