Two drama companies happened to share one auditorium for rehearsal. Friction was inevitable. One of them played ‘Peach Blossom’, a comedy in medieval costume. Another played ‘Secret Love’, a sad story with contemporary setting. Though unreconciled in all aspects, they find themselves telling the same story: the story of Chinese people forced to leave home.Read More »
Quote:
Claire Denis’ first-rate video documentary (1990) about filmmaker Jacques Rivette, produced for French television, has many things to recommend it. The main interviewer is the great critic Serge Daney, who, two years before his death, converses with Rivette while relaxing in a cafe and strolling around Paris (Denis interjects a few questions toward the end); since both men were former editors of Cahiers du Cinema, not to mention groundbreaking and highly articulate critics, they have a lot to discuss apart from Rivette’s filmmaking. Clips from many of Rivette’s major films are included, as are interviews with some of Rivette’s actors, such as Bulle Ogier and Jean-Francois Stevenin. Best of all, the film beautifully captures Rivette the man, as both solitary cinephile and exploratory filmmaker. — Jonathan RosenbaumRead More »
Oscar is a 1991 American slapstick crime comedy film directed by John Landis. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is a remake of the 1967 French film of the same name, but the setting has been moved to Depression-era New York City and the plot centers on a mob boss trying to go straight. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Marisa Tomei, Ornella Muti, Tim Curry and Chazz Palminteri, and was a rare attempt by Stallone at doing a comedy role.Read More »
letterboxd:
Fragments of scenes from the lives of men and women who are tormented and bullied appear in this film. Using the film camera as a medium, the film attempts to objectify the never-ending time of their lives, but in fact the actions that unfold here are staged in order to generate a physical voice, and at times it seems that it is the landscape itself that witnesses their actions.Read More »
letterboxd:
The enormous amount of modern stars surrounding us is not a fantastic sparkle of light, but a litter of false information. The “I” in this film collects messages from an imaginary research company. A unique personal film that confronts the fictionalised reality on an equal level. (IFF, 1996).Read More »
A corrupt cop named Sam handles negotiations between two Triad leaders who plan to join forces. However, he meets a suspicious bald man named Tony, who keeps following him around and disrupting his personal business.Read More »
This film is an experiment on editing, deconstructing and reconstructing, a game of collision between frames. As a narrative body disintegrates, it gradually becomes possible for viewers to pay attention to the phenomena of intra-frame intervals.Read More »
Towards the end of the Shahanshah’s reign, Sergeant Makvandi is assigned the commander of the gendarmerie station in a small town. A stern disciplinarian, Sergeant Makvandi tries to impose order at the station but, being as degenerate as his subordinates, he fails to re-store discipline. faced by rebellious crowds, he imposes martial law, but people outwit him by mailing to his address a forged letter which “promotes the sergeant and ends the curfew”. Makvandi tries to intimidate a school teacher into writing a song which he wants the students to sing on the day his “promotion” comes into effect. But the teacher refuses to give in, for he and his students are preparing to sing a new song, the song of revolution.Read More »
Set in County Cork,in 1920, the drama unfolds at Danielstown House, the home of Anglo-Irish aristocrats Sir Richard Naylor (Michael Gambon) and his wife, Lady Myra (Maggie Smith). As the war for Irish independence escalates around them, Sir Richard’s nineteen-year-old niece, Lois (Keeley Hawes), struggles with her longing for love and the yearning for freedom. She is being courted by a British Army captain (David Tennant) who is deeply in love with her. But when she discovers an old childhood friend who is now an Irish freedom fighter hiding on their estate, she becomes fascinated by the rebel he has become. It’s not long before the violent turmoil that has thus far remained at a safe distance threatens to transform all their lives forever.Read More »