1930: Earth (Alexander Dovzhenko)
Earth/Zemlya (1930 USSR 83 mins)
Source: NLA/ACMI Prod Co: Wufku Dir, Scr, Ed: Alexander Dovzhenko Phot: Daniil Demutsky Art Dir: Visili Krichevsky
Cast: Stepan Shkurat, Semyon Svashenko, Yuliya Solnt...
The Whole Family Works: Nagisa Oshima’s Boy
For his 14th feature (in only a decade), leading Japanese New Wave luminary Nagisa Oshima made a fascinating film that has come to be regarded as one of his most acclaimed and interesting works: Shonen (Boy, 19...
Towards a Japanese Anthropology: Shohei Imamura’s Profound Desire of the Gods
“For me, the idea for the film lies in its attitude to human beings. In my case, this attitude is one of obsession…. In my work, people take centre stage. I am much more interested in mankind than I am in other...
Hollywood, Germany: The Longing of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss
Although with regard to career chronology Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss (Veronika Voss) marks the culmination of Fassbinder’s so-called “BRD (Budesrepublik Deutschland) Trilogy”, its narrative in fact positio...
Making (New) Waves: Milos Forman’s Black Peter
Following the quasi-documentary Konkurs (Audition, 1964), Cerný Petr (Black Peter) marked the feature debut of Milos Forman, the most famous, arguably most important and influential director of the Czech New Wa...
Games of Passion: Eric Rohmer’s Boyfriends and Girlfriends
“I don’t trust inner feelings. Inner feelings come and go.”
- Leonard Cohen
The above quote, from Cohen’s song “That Don’t Make it Junk”, could well be taken as a mission statement for the emotionally torment...
No Angels: Larisa Shepitko’s Wings (1966)
The Ukrainian director Larisa Shepitko completed only five features in her tragically short career (she was killed in a car accident in 1979). But even over the course of such a brief working life she produced ...
The Way We Were: Jerzy Skolimowski’s Hands Up!
Rece do góry/Hands Up! (1967/1981 Poland)
Prod Co: PRF/Syrena/Zespol Filmowy Dir, Art Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski Scr: Andrzej Kostenko, Jerzy Skolimowski Phot: Andrzej Kostenko, Witold Sobocinski Ed: Grazyna...
The Evil That Boys Do: Louis Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien
Lacombe, Lucien (1974 France/West Germany/Italy 137 mins)
Prod Co: Nouvelles Éditions de Films/UPF (Paris)/Vides Film (Rome)/Hallelujah Films (Munich) Prod: Louis Malle, Claude Nedjar Dir: Louis Malle Sc...
Paris Doesn’t Belong to us Anymore: Arnaud Desplechin’s Absurd Theatre of Life in La Sentinelle
La Sentinelle (1992 France 139 mins)
Prod Co: Why Not Productions/2001 Audiovisuel/La Sept Cinéma/Films A2 Prod: Nicole Arbib, Pascal Caucheteux, Grégoire Sorlat Dir: Arnaud Desplechin Scr: Arnaud Desple...
Polish Reveries & Reflections: Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Marble
Man of Marble/Czlowiek z marmuru (1977 Poland 165 mins)
Prod Co: Film Polski Film Agency/Zespól Filmowy “X” Dir: Andrzej Wajda Scr: Aleksander Scibor-Ryiski Phot: Edward Klosinski Ed: Halina Prugar-Ketli...
Long Night’s Journey into Day: Listening with Prejudice in The Ear
The Ear/Ucho (1970 Czechoslovakia 94 mins)
Prod Co: Filmové Studio Barrandov Prod: Karel Vejrík Dir: Karel Kachyna Scr: Jan Procházka, Karel Kachyna, based on the story by Ladislav Winkelhöfer Phot: Jose...