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Australian Contemporary Cinema Japanese Story: A Shift of Heart by Felicity Collins This recent, multi-award winning Australian film marks a quantum leap for the Oz landscape genre film and hints at a shift in national consciousness. Unpopular Populism, or The Decline and Fall of the Little Aussie Battler: Notes on Australian Film Comedy in 2003 by Jake Wilson This short essay argues that most recent Australian comedy films have been all too "ordinary" – but nominates one or two new directors as talents to watch. Abbas Kiarostami Days in the Country: Representations of Rural Space and Place in Abbas Kiarostami's Life and Nothing More, Through the Olive Trees and The Wind Will Carry Us by Stephen Bransford As several critics have noted, the films of Abbas Kiarostami are characterised by a complex interplay between documentary and fiction. This in-depth essay seeks a fuller understanding of this interplay through an analysis of how space and place are articulated in three of his films. Cacti Blossom in a Desert: Some Short Films of Abbas Kiarostami by Jim Knox Kiarostami's government-sponsored educational shorts have gained attention thanks to his later, acclaimed features; pointing to their example, Knox argues that some of the most rewarding cinema lies far outside the world of officially recognised "art". Five to Ten: Five Reflections on Abbas Kiarostami's 10 by Rolando Caputo Ten Utilising a prism-like structure, Caputo arrives at a range of observations and conclusions about Kiarostami's latest feature, Ten, his cinematic style in general and digital cinema today. Features Hurlevent: Jacques Rivette's Adaptation of Wuthering Heights by Valérie Hazette One of the least-discussed films by this often-elusive master, Hurlevent has recently been released on DVD. In this rare English-language interview, Rivette talks about the challenges he faced in planning and shooting his own version of Emily Bronte's novel – with some sidelights on his most recent project. Chinese Roulette Dreams of Fassbinder: An Interview with Juliane Lorenz by Maximilian Le Cain & Chris Neill A distinguished film editor, Juliane Lorenz was closely associated with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the final years of his life. She shares some memories of working with this "extraordinary" genius. Goodbye City, Goodbye Cinema: Nostalgia in Tsai Ming-liang's The Skywalk is Gone by Brian Hu Serial alienation in the modern city: a discussion of the multiple "lost objects" of mourning in Tsai Ming-liang's recent short film, ranging from bygone eras of Chinese and Taiwanese cinema to Tsai's own previous features. More Sinned Against than Sinning: The Fabrications of "Pre-Code Cinema" by Richard Maltby Revisionist history in action, this essay calls into question prevailing perceptions of pre-Code and Code Hollywood cinema, arguing for a more accurate and considered understanding of how the entertainment industry worked in the '30s and how it was influenced by a variety of factors.  Love and Diane Tony's Options: The Sopranos and the Televisuality of the Gangster Genre by Martha P. Nochimson Arguing against the proposition that television should be more like film, Nochimson shows how TV's The Sopranos transforms gangster film conventions through serial narrative patterning unique to the medium. Jennifer Dworkin Interviewed by Jared Rapfogel In this conversational yet rigorous interview, Dworkin discusses the techniques and overall experience of working on Love and Diane, a landmark in contemporary documentary that, in the tradition of Wiseman, reveals the workings of social structures from the point of view of human experience. Film Factories?: A Review of Genre and Contemporary Hollywood, edited by Steve Neale by Robert Briggs What is a "genre", anyway? This review essay asks whether current film scholarship has gone too far in focusing on questions of political economy at the expense of aesthetics. Blight On the Street where You Live: The Films of John Smith by Adrian Danks An overview of the work of filmmaker John Smith, and an appreciation of its humble, earthly qualities, its fine-tuned probing of the "local" world, the artist's relationship to this world and the film form itself. Hong Kong Horror - The '90s and Beyond by Grady Hendrix Back from the dead? Despite prophecies of doom, the Hong Kong film industry is now stronger than ever, with horror films a speciality. Hendrix provides all the gory details in this blow-by-blow account. Monkey Screwball: MGM's Afrikareise and Other Observations by Maximilian Le Cain A personal reflection on how one relates to and remembers cinema, Le Cain re-discovers the early MGM Tarzan movies, finding therein a complex interplay of social values and an innocence not found in contemporary cinema. Rear Window Recuperation and Rear Window by Murray Pomerance James Stewart in Rear Window is convalescent, not mentally disturbed, argues Pomerance – whose own experience of immobilising injury gave him a chance to see this Hitchcock classic from a new angle. Book Reviews  Jet Li in Tai Chi Master The Matrix of Visual Culture - Working with Deleuze in Film Theory by Patricia Pisters by Patricia MacCormack Kung Fu Cult Masters - From Bruce Lee To Crouching Tiger by Leon Hunt by Peter Gravestock The Emergence of Cinematic Time: Modernity, Contingency, the Archive by Mary Ann Doane by Meredith Morse A City of Sadness A City of Sadness by Bérénice Reynaud by Stephen Teo You can order these books directly from Film Festivals Who Killed Bambi? at Toronto FF  The Curator and the Critic at Vancouver 2003 - A Report by Bérénice Reynaud Report on the 22nd Pordenone Silent Film Festival by Jay Weissberg My Own Private Toronto: The 2003 Toronto Film Festival by Dan Sallitt Leeds International Film Festival, 2003 by Benjamin Halligan After the Storm - the Pusan International Film Festival by Jungyeob Ji Vibrator at Vancouver IFF New York Film Festival 2003 - A Report by Jared Rapfogel Rescuing the Image: The 5th Ibero-American Film Festival, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia by David M. J. Wood Cinémathèque Annotations on Film The following are annotations for films screening at the Melbourne Cinémathèque on Wednesdays during November and December. Hold Your Man Editorial Click here for information on the editors of the annotations, the Melbourne Cinémathèque and queries regarding contribution. Betty in Blunderland by Paul Verhoeven Gold Diggers of 1933   Laughing Gas: The Dentist by Darragh O'Donoghue The Devil Strikes at Night by Bernard Hemingway Ex-Lady by Kendahl Cruver Five Star Final by Brian Darr Grit 'n' Glitz: Gold Diggers of 1933 by Peter Kemp Hold Your Man by David Boxwell King Kong by John McGowan-Hartmann The Public Enemy by Richard Maltby The Stranger by J.D. Lafrance Huffing and Puffing about Three Little Pigs by Adrian Danks