A quick glance at the overall premise of Society of the Snow (Spanish: La sociedad de la nieve) may mislead you into thinking that this is a very conventional story of survival. However, as we have come to learn, J.A. Bayona does not make conventional films, so when he sought to tackle the story of…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Birth (2004)
Jonathan Glazer has always been something of an enigma when it comes to looking at his artistry – a director who has mastered the art of short-form filmmaking who moves into directing longer projects, but who takes considerable breaks between films, making him one of the more elusive directors of his generation. In nearly a…
The Delinquents (2023)
Freedom is one of those concepts that seems easy to define, but the moment one starts to offer a thorough explanation, it becomes clear it is much more difficult to pinpoint exactly what it entails since it is often a cyclical concept that is singularly impossible to entirely comprehend coherently. This is what director Rodrigo…
Lost in La Mancha (2002)
There is such a narrow boundary between tenacity and being annoyingly persistent – when it comes to Terry Gilliam, figuring out which one best describes his journey to making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the distinction between the two is not easy to make out, and really depends on who you speak to, since…
Scrapper (2023)
We have all at some point encountered Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ theory of the Five Stages of Grief, the self-explanatory belief that every individual will undergo a few different psychological experiences after an immense loss. It’s formed the foundation for a lot of therapy towards those during the mourning period – but like all of psychology, it…
Blame It on Rio (1984)
Seeing any great actor or director fall from grace in such a way that questions their entire artistic integrity is never a particularly entertaining experience, especially when they are making something that seems to have good intentions. In the case of Blame It on Rio, we have an example of both an actor (Michael Caine)…
Orion and the Dark (2024)
We all know that familiar feeling – the sun sets, and we make our way to bed. We struggle to fall asleep, wondering what is lurking in the shadows that surround us. The fear of the dark is one of the most common childhood experiences, and the anxiety that comes with the idea that something…
Ravenous (1999)
While most filmmakers will usually tend to craft stories around subjects that are accessible and not too overly disturbing, there are a few that will intentionally push boundaries, perhaps not to court controversy but rather to establish a more challenging style of storytelling, or simply to provoke some kind of a reaction. Antonia Bird certainly…
Argylle (2024)
We live in a cinematic landscape where profitability supersedes originality, and studios tend to go for what is tried and tested more than platforming exciting new stories or concepts that have never been done before, under the misguided belief that audiences only appreciate what is familiar to them. A filmmaker who has worked relatively hard…
The Pledge (2001)
When we were children, many of us were taught the importance of a promise – the unbreakable, infallible pledge to someone that could not be challenged or destroyed, regardless of whatever obstacles stand in our way. As we grow up, the importance of a promise begins to waver, and they are soon used as tools…
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