John Schlesinger had a way with humanity. In all of his films, he demonstrated how he had a firm pulse on the nature of existence, an intricate understanding of the human condition that very few filmmakers, even those who dedicated their entire lives to realism, were ever able to convey. While remembered mainly for Midnight…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
A New Leaf (1971)
When it comes to being rich without any effort, no one is better than Henry Graham (Walter Matthau), a very wealthy man who has never worked a day in his life, living off his vast inheritance and wasting his fortune through his excessive tendencies. However, this can’t go on for much longer, as he soon…
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) is a young man living in a small town in working-class Texas. He’s a quiet boy, normally spending his days driving his pickup truck, attending school, playing sport and finding solace in one of three local institutions that become like home to him – a pool-hall run by the enigmatic but sympathetic…
Parasite (2019)
Bong Joon-ho continues to push the boundaries of cinema, with every new production becoming an event all on its own. His career has consisted of a few films in which he has consistently challenged what we perceive narrative fiction to be, taking on various subjects through his own unflinching commitment to representing a different side…
Late Night (2019)
Late Night is a dreadfully derivative and perfectly pleasant experience, a film that may be composed of commonplace fluff with a few good ideas scattered here and there for good measure, but one that doesn’t necessarily leave much of an imprint, other than through being just a diversion from more serious matters. However, what Late…
Under the Sand (2000)
Marie (Charlotte Rampling) is an English teacher who goes on holiday with her intellectual husband, Jean (Bernard Cremer). While she sunbathes, he goes for a swim – and never returns. Suddenly confronted by his mysterious disappearance, Marie is thrown into a quandary, where she wonders whether he drowned by accident, committed suicide, or left her…
Joker (2019)
Joker is the rare kind of film that wasn’t supposed to work. There were so many elements that went into the making of this film that would’ve suggested that it was heading for failure – in all honesty, who of us were expecting the director of The Hangover and its contemptable sequels to succeed in…
The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972)
If there is one way to describe The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (German: Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter), it would be as a film the perpetually occurs at intersections – whether being constructed at the crossroads of genre, narrative conventions or nation, this is a film that borrows heavily from a variety…
Images (1972)
Cathryn (Susannah York) is a reclusive author of children’s books who is currently struggling to finish her latest work. This is mainly the result of her declining mental state, where she starts to see and hear voices that heighten her paranoia. In an attempt to liberate herself from the angst-filled city, she convinces her husband,…
My Childhood (1972)
The experience of growing up is one that has been represented on countless occasions across all forms of artistry, with many launching themselves into the past to creatively comment on some of the intricacies of our formative years. Bill Douglas was one of the many filmmakers who set forth to explore his own childhood through…
The Postmodern Pelican 