Editorial

Features

We Are the World Cinema: Chacun son cinéma, ou, Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s’éteint et que le film commence by Nicholas de Villiers

Commissioned to celebrate the 60^th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, this article reflects on the relative merits of the many short films contributed by noted international filmmakers such as Wong Kar-wai, David Cronenberg, Roman Polanski, Jane Campion and Tsai Ming-liang.

Curse of the Demon: Of Evil, Myth and Reason by Pedro Blas Gonzalez

A cult film, and arguably Jacques Tourneur’s last great metaphysical gem in his long and distinguished B-grade career.

Fast Worker: The Films of Sam Newfield by Wheeler Winston Dixon

Through meticulous research, Wheeler Winston Dixon brings to light the fascinating career of one of the forgotten figures working on the margins of Hollywood’s quota-quickie industry.

Chains of Dreams: Carl Th. Dreyer by Tag Gallagher

“Are the characters responsible for the emotions which destroy them? This is a secret that belongs to the heart and is the constant wonder of Day of Wrath.” With remarkable precision, Tag Gallagher extracts the passions that lie at the heart of Dreyer’s films.

The Treasures and the Fakes: The Last Films of Orson Welles by Benjamin Kerstein

Post-Citizen Kane: a career in ascent or decline? The question still divides Welles scholars. This essay appraises the latter stage of Welles’ majestic career.

Paul Thomas Anderson: Tracking through a Fantastic Reality by André Crous

André Crous argues the case for P. T. Anderson as the finest contemporary exponent of the tracking shot in all its varying glory and complexity.

Beautiful Trash: Agnès Varda’s Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse by Virginia Bonner

An insightful analysis of Varda’s use of the documentary form in this much acclaimed film.

From Auto-ethnography to Autobiography: Representations of the Past in Contemporary Chinese Cinema by Jie Li

This article examines the representation of history in ‘Fifth’ and ‘Sixth’ generation Chinese cinema, in particular that of Zhang Yimou’s To Live and Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine in contradistinction to Jiang Wen’s In the Heat of the Sun and Jia Zhangke’s Platform.

Tendentious Innocence: Chaplin’s Use of Doubling in City Lights and The Idle Class by Arthur Rankin

Insightful reading of Chaplin’s cinema in the light of Freud’s ideas in his Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious.

Australian Cinema

ReViewing Jimmie: The Critical Reception of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Glen Donnar

How much did Pauline Kael’s 1980 New Yorker review of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith have to do with establishing director Fred Schepisi’s name outside the confines of Australia? This article looks at the ways critics shape and reshape the reputation of a film.

The Many Faces of Disinclination: Australian Feminist/Post-Colonialist Reflections in Flirting by Lorrie Palmer

Following the acclaimed The Year My Voice Broke, Flirting was John Duigan’s second instalment in a proposed trilogy featuring Noah Taylor in the role of Danny Embling. It also stars Nicole Kidman and has much to say about gender, race and colonial attitudes.

The Cultural ‘Traumascape’: Look Both Ways, Railways Accidents and Trauma by David Carlin

For some time, much film scholarship has been interested in what can broadly be termed ‘trauma theory’. David Carlin applies the ideas to this recent Australian film dealing with train accidents.

DVD Reviews

The Documentaries of Louis Malle (Criterion box set) review by Peter Hourigan

Avant-Garde 2: Experimental Cinema 1928-1954 (Kino International) review by Adrian Danks

Festival Reports

Notes From the Edge: The 16^th Brisbane International Film Festival by Bruce Hodsdon

A World of Wounds: The 18^th Human Rights Watch International Film Festival by Ioannis Mookas

Assembly Required: Technique, Style and Story: The 2007 Melbourne International Animation Festival by Kate Matthews

Cinema Without Borders: The 56^th Melbourne International Film Festival by Matthew Clayfield

Cinema and Beyond: The 53^rd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen by George Clark

10 Years Young: The Shanghai International Film Festival by Chris Berry

A Promising Start to a Rejuvenated Festival: The 54^th Sydney Film Festival by Hamish Ford

The Responsibilities of Power: The 32^nd Toronto International Film Festival by Dan Sallitt

Cinema. A Stream: The 9^th Udine Far East Film Festival by Olaf Möller

Treasure-Hunting: The 11^th Views from the Avant-Garde: A Special Showcase of the 45^th New York Film Festival by Patrick Friel

Observation in Progress: The 11^th Views from the Avant-Garde: A Special Showcase of the 45^th New York Film Festival by Genevieve Yue

The Blurring of Boundaries: The 15^th Vila do Conde Short Film Festival by Bárbara Barroso and Daniel Ribas

Book Reviews

America First: Naming the Nation in US Film edited by Mandy Merck review by John Fidler

Rising in the East? Playing to the World’s Biggest Audience: the Globalization of Chinese Film and TV by Michael Curtin review by Ramon Lobato

Sensations of Cinema: Deleuze, Altered States and Film by Anna Powell review by David Martin-Jones

“Cinema as I see-I hear-I feel”: The Material Image: Art and the Real in Film by Brigitte Peucker review by Saige Walton

Passionate Encounters with Jane Campion’s “Cinematic Consciousness”: Jane Campion by Kathleen McHugh and The Piano by Gail Jones review by Lisa French

Also new this issue

1 profile has been added to the Great Directors critical database:
Sofia Coppola

14 new annotations have been added to the Cinémathèque Annotations on Film section:
Bitter Springs • The Bridge • Dead Heart • The Hour of the Furnaces • Der Verlorene
Lee Marvin: The Big Red One (2 articles) • Emperor of the North (2 articles) • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (2 articles) • Point Blank • The Professionals • The Wild One