They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery – but for François Ozon, it has never only been about paying tribute to his artistic heroes, but infusing his films with a celebratory spirit that vividly praises their work, getting to the heart of what makes each one of them such important influences in…

It’s often been said that in order for a story to be effective, all one needs is a single location, a pair of good actors and a strong script that gives them something to do. It’s the foundation for a lot of theatre, and as a result has inevitably found its way into cinema as…

One of the more unique traits of being a director who is often defined by his prolific output is that you are often responsible for some of the greatest films ever made, as well as some of the worst, which is especially true when another distinctive quality is that they were driven by the desire…

There is such a narrow boundary between interest and infatuation, and no one knows this better than the protagonist of Love and Death on Long Island, which focuses on a few months in the life of a pedantic English writer who finds himself accidentally seeing a teen-oriented comedy, and by almost a serendipitous turn of…

At a cursory glance, Tender Mercies does not seem like a particularly noteworthy film – designed mainly as a vehicle for Robert Duvall, who was at the peak of his career as an actor, having been dominant in a range of films throughout the 1970s that made him one of the most sought-after actors working…

One of the first images we see in Alcarràs, the stunning sophomore effort by the talented Carla Simón, is that of a group of children playing in a car, which has been abandoned near a reservoir somewhere near their home, which sits at the heart of rural Catalonia, in the region that bears the title…

There was a period that lasted around a decade between the mid-2000s and the end of the 2010s, in which one of the most popular genres for films were those that centred on boxing – they weren’t confined to this period, but this is when they were arguably at their peak, each one seeming to…

For over half a century, Mike Leigh has defined the concept of radical cinema in both political and artistic terms. One of the most important stalwarts of the “angry young men” movement that was borne out of the rise of kitchen-sink realism, he has produced works that simmer with complexity and fury for the state…

There are few names as synonymous with the very definition of cinema like that of Steven Spielberg, who has become an institution unto himself, having spent over half a century crafting many wonderful films over a wide range of genres, often being at the forefront of pioneering new ways of filmmaking. He is also well-regarded…

There was a point in the 1990s when we saw an emerging trend in which an acting legend was paired with a young but also very strong performer, in a charming and insightful character-based drama, which often traded narrative complexity for warmth and comfort. Nick Cassavetes became quite good at these films, which is not…