From April! April! to Imitation of Life: The Films of Douglas Sirk, by Tom Ryan Bruce Hodsdon October 2019 Book Reviews The book length interview by Jon Halliday with Douglas Sirk published in 1971 was the catalyst for the reappraisal of his contributions to the cinema. In the interview he emerged as an intellectual with an unde...
On Paul Schrader’s “Rethinking Transcendental Style” Bruce Hodsdon October 2019 Feature Articles Transcendental style seeks to maximize the mystery of existence; it eschews all conventional interpretations of reality: realism, naturalism, psychologism, romanticism, expressionism, impressionism, and... rati...
An Essential Comeback : Jerzy Skolimowski’s 11 Minutes (2015) Bruce Hodsdon March 2017 Feature Articles The screening of Jerzy Skolimowski's seventeenth feature 11 Minutes (2015) at the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, reminded me of a provocation – Is Surrealism a Cure for Film Criticism? – which was ...
Bubbles in a Coffee Cup: The Film Criticism of John Flaus Bruce Hodsdon October 2014 John Flaus Dossier STANDARD GRAMMAR: CUT ON EYELINE Two glances meet – he looks down, to see Worlds emerging in a coffee cup. See: Deux ou trois choses que je sais d’elle (1967) (1) John Flaus introduced me to the word ...
Le Départ Bruce Hodsdon July 2014 2014 Melbourne International Film Festival Dossier Jerzy Skolimowski’s Le Départ (1967) was shot in three weeks on a budget of just $US100,000 – a low cost even in the mid-1960s (1). There was also a good deal of improvisation in this film, the first Skolimowsk...
Zéro de conduite Bruce Hodsdon December 2013 CTEQ Annotations on Film Jean Vigo’s place in cinema history is grounded in less than 170 minutes of screen time: Á propos de Nice (1930), Zéro de conduite (1933) and L’Atalante (1934), films which at the time found no favour with revi...
Mamma Roma and the Conflicted Passions of Pier Paolo Pasolini Bruce Hodsdon September 2013 CTEQ Annotations on Film “I love life so fiercely, so desperately, that nothing good can come of it.” - Pier Paolo Pasolini (1960) (1) “Pasolini (in his death) has successfully evaded the mortal synthesis, and reproposes around his c...
The Crowd Bruce Hodsdon August 2013 CTEQ Annotations on Film The Crowd (1928) was both a groundbreaking and courageous film for a major director to initiate at MGM in the pre-Depression era – a big budget production without major stars, almost plotless, lacking in dramat...
Four Nights with Anna Bruce Hodsdon July 2009 CTEQ Annotations on Film Cztery noce z Anna/Four Nights with Anna (2008 Poland/France 87 mins) Prod Co: Alfama Films/Skopia Film Prod: Paulo Branco, Jerzy Skolimowski Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski Scr: Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska...
Carlton + Godard = Cinema Bruce Hodsdon May 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Carlton + Godard = Cinema (2003 Australia 145 mins) Prod Co: Sunshine Picture Co. Prod, Dir, Sc: Nigel Buesst Leaving aside Giorgio Mangiamele’s singular pioneering films of the early ‘60s celebrated...
Notes From the Edge: The 16th Brisbane International Film Festival Bruce Hodsdon November 2007 Festival Reports 2-12 August 2007 In the first days of the Festival news came through in quick succession of the deaths of Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni which resulted in an outbreak of nostalgia by those who...
Surrealist Documentary: Reviewing the Real Bruce Hodsdon October 2005 Feature Articles Famously, L'Âge d'or opens with a documentary on scorpions. The film was first screened publicly in Paris in November 1930. In honour of its 75th anniversary year, this article provides a critical overview of Surrealist uses and abuses of the documentary form.
Skolimowski, Jerzy Bruce Hodsdon July 2003 Great Directors b. May 5, 1938, Lódz, Poland filmography bibliography web resources Eyes Wide Open Jerzy Skolimowski has said that he makes films to please himself. (1) Between 1964 and 1984 he completed six semi-au...
A Film Culture Forum Geoff Gardner, Bruce Hodsdon and Jim Knox July 2002 Feature Articles Reflecting on what film culture means to them, these writers raise important questions and reveal significant gaps in terms of the local film cultural landscape.
Budd Boetticher and the Westerns of Ranown Bruce Hodsdon July 2001 Revisiting Budd Boetticher The legend of Boetticher here paid tribute.