“We are like blind men lost in the streets of a big city. The streets lead to a goal, but we often return to the same places to get to where we want to be. I can see a few little streets here which, as it is now, are going nowhere. New combinations have to…
Category: 1960s
Belle de Jour (1967)
“I will pump you once for good! I will pump you once for good! I will pump you once for good!” ‘Belle de Jour’, directed by Luis Buñuel in 1967, includes the same basic preoccupations as the director’s later movie ‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie’ from 1972, but the earlier film has less of…
I Am Cuba (1964)
“I am Cuba. Once, Christopher Columbus landed here. He wrote in his diary: “This is the most beautiful land ever seen by human eyes.” Thank you, Señor Columbus. When you saw me for the first time, I was singing and laughing. I waved the fronds of my palms to greet your sails. I thought your…
Daisies (1966)
“Dedicated to Those Whose Sole Source of Indignation is a Messed-Up-Trifle.” ‘Daisies’, a 1966 Czechoslovakian movie directed by Věra Chytilová, is an avant-garde comedy following the adventures of two teenage girls as they seduce and let down a string of men. They party, eat food, break things and generally cause havoc. It’s an experimental film,…
Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)
“All definitions of cinema have been erased.” ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’, directed by Toshio Matsumoto in 1969, is a New Wave Japanese movie that charts the lives of homosexuals and transvestites in Tokyo as they re-enact the story of Oedipus. It’s a difficult film to like, not because of the subject matter, but because of…
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960)
“Hieronymus B. Mistelzweig: ‘B’ stands for ‘belly’” ‘The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse’ from 1960, the last film directed by Fritz Lang, is an action packed, Hollywood style thriller with, as expected from Lang, touches of German expressionism and a distinct look. It’s a film along the lines of the Fu Manchu series: an international…
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
“The old ones called it “the hour of the wolf”. It is the hour when the most people die, and the most are born. At this time, nightmares come to us. And when we awake, we are afraid.” ‘Hour of the Wolf’, directed by Ingmar Bergman in 1968, is a horror movie that is surprisingly…
Bande à part (1964)
“We now might open a parenthesis on Odile’s, Franz’s and Arthur’s feelings… but it’s all pretty clear. So we close our parenthesis and let the images speak.” ‘Bande à part’, directed by Jean-Luc Godard in 1964, is a more accessible movie than his later ‘Pierrot le fou’, but includes many of the same anarchic and…
Yojimbo (1961)
“Cooper. Two coffins… No, maybe three.” ‘Yojimbo’, directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1961 is a truncated and less epic, but no less effective, version of ‘Seven Samurai’. It tells the story of a lone, nameless rōnin who finds himself embroiled in a power struggle in a small town. A precursor of Sergio Leone’s trilogy of…
Film Ark 