When it comes to determining the importance of making films, one has to sometimes wonder if it is occasionally enough to just record people in their natural habitat, and still find meaning in their everyday lives. Many filmmakers have endeavoured to answer this question, and one of the most recent examples of this theory in…

As one of the more fascinating cinematic movements of the 20th century, Italian neo-realism underwent quite a transformation over time, with some of the most effective works being produced in the years following the end of the Second World War, when the focus of many filmmakers shifted from passive views of the Italian way of…

There is something about John Irving’s books that are so profoundly cinematic, despite them being works that are often quite intimate and internal. He’s become quite a cherished writer in terms of putting together stories that are deeply sentimental, but still have a jagged edge to them, which hints at much deeper meaning lurking just…

Few directors have been able to produce work that feel as urgent as that of Sidney Lumet. Whether satirical or sobering, his films were always imbued with a sense of immediacy, which assisted massively in defining him as one of the great masters of the industry. In this regard, we can look towards The Verdict…

Appreciating and admiring an artist sometimes entails admitting that they too have their shortcomings, and not everything that they produce can be considered a masterpiece. This is unfortunately the case with Xavier Dolan, a filmmaker I hold a huge amount of reverence towards, with his films being some of the most extraordinary of the past…

At the time of its release, there were certain major film critics who called Carnal Knowledge the best film Mike Nichols had made to date – and mercifully, he would go on to have a decade that stretched into the 21st century, in which he would prove this to be quite far from the truth,…

Death has many purposes. Scientifically, it’s the ceasing of all biological functions. Philosophically, it is the process where we come to accept our inevitable fate. Socially, it is the chance for all those who knew us (whether lovers, friends or adversaries) to reflect on their relation with the deceased. These are all the primary tenets…

As arguably Japan’s foremost cultural critic, few filmmakers managed to as effectively explore the life and times of ordinary citizens quite as well as Yasujirō Ozu, whose work reflects a keen sense of interest in the human condition, which has fuelled so many of his incredible films. As is often the case with notoriously prolific…

When looking at the long career of Alfred Hitchcock, we can divide it into various distinct eras – there were the experimental 1970s, the provocative 1960s, the absolutely rivetting 1950s (his greatest decade) and the tumultuous 1940s. This decade in particular was notable for being the one that had some of the director’s most significant…

You can essentially divide Spike Lee’s career up into two broad groups – there are the unimpeachable classics, and then there are the films that are excellent, but have yet to receive the attention they deserve. Red Hook Summer certainly fits into the latter group, being the sixth entry into the Chronicles of Brooklyn, the…