From his earliest days as the irascible Tramp in his iconic silent films, to his evolution to one of the finest filmmakers to ever work in the medium, Charles Chaplin did everything he possibly could to imprint himself on the culture. He is most known for his astonishing work in the silent era, but his…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
One of the great joys about exploring film, and subsequently writing about it, is that not only do you get to experience unimpeachable masterpieces and contribute to the discourse, you also have the opportunity to rediscover films that were previously undervalued, or not given the love they deserved on their initial release. We’ve seen proverbially…
Behind the Mask (1932)
The Pre-Code era was a time when Hollywood genuinely believed that you could make a film about a police officer going undercover to investigate an illegal drug ring by putting a moustache and hat on him and convincing everyone around him that he is a different person. Yet, this kind of flawed logic is more…
Girl 6 (1996)
When you have had as prolific a career as Spike Lee, there are some films that tend to get lost in the shuffle of time, perhaps not fading into obscurity, but at the very least not being as well-known as some others. This is certainly the case for Girl 6, which occurred during Lee’s most…
Lake of the Dead (1958)
Some of the biggest surprises come in the smallest packages, which is almost universally applicable to any situation. However, who of us could’ve predicted one of the most unsettling horrors ever made would come in the form of a small, 73-minute long Norwegian film that is almost entirely obscure, being kept alive only by a…
The Ballad of Narayama (1958)
When it comes to the subject of global cinema, it’s not uncommon for those with a penchant for exploring the wider world of filmmaking to be asked why they enjoy looking beyond what’s directly around them. My reason, and one I believe is relatively common, is that seeing films made in different countries gives invaluable…
Marona’s Fantastic Tale (2020)
On occasion, we tend to encounter the kind of film that builds the viewer up to feel a happiness rarely experienced, and then subsequently dismantles all of it as we plunge into the depths of despair after having encountered a story that is as uplifting as it is deeply upsetting. There’s a reason why the…
Hamsun (1996)
Towards the end of Hamsun, the ambitious biographical drama of Knut Hamsun, an iconic Norwegian writer and early proponent of Adolf Hitler’s ideologies, a doctor remarks that he is looking forward to encountering “the anatomy of a poet”, through his continued observations of the titular character as part of state-mandated proceedings in the effort to…
The Salt of Tears (2021)
There’s something inherently fascinating about filmmakers from a very distinct period of time continuing to work into the contemporary era, since it creates a duality – the remnants of that period are still very much present in their distinct style, but the evolution of the art form has meant that they have very little choice…
Gentlemen of Fortune (1971)
A group of archaeologists are hammering away somewhere in Europe when they quite literally come across a treasure trove, which included a solid-gold helmet that they estimate belonged to Alexander the Great when he was on his campaign to conquer the entire world. Their history-making discovery is soon interrupted by the arrival of three criminals,…
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