While his days of being more intentionally controversial are more contained to the earlier stages of his career, where he was seen as somewhere between an agent provocateur and wunderkind of contemporary European cinema, François Ozon still tends to make films that can cause quite a stir, even if they’re done in a way that…

There are so many layers to American Heart, that one can easily spend nearly the entire film trying to find the right entry-point into the world director Martin Bell presents us with. However, the most logical approach would simply be to drop anchor anywhere in the film, and allow yourself to just be immersed in…

Despite being one of the most celebrated filmmakers of his generation, to the point where he is considered a pioneer of an entire nation’s cinematic culture, Yasujirō Ozu has had a few films produced that are more obscure than others, regardless of the efforts many have put into preserving and distributing his work. For someone…

Like most Eastern European countries, Hungary was one of the many nations that attempted to fight against the encroaching danger of the Soviet Union, and in 1956 staged an uprising against the Communist government in an attempt to break free of the shackles that were gradually being placed on its people. These protests unfortunately failed…

I have nothing but the most sincere admiration for artists who can forego comfort for the sake of telling important stories. We often see many individuals use their creativity in a chosen medium to tackle subject matter that would otherwise not find a place had they not put in the effort, many of them drawing…

In the decades following the end of the Second World War, we saw countless examples of films that tackled the period, looking at different subjects that ultimately all lead back to the central issues that provoked the conflict. Whether it be the harrowing conditions for soldiers, or the more disconcerting situations that came about behind…

We live in a world that is very often mired in tragedy, one in which there is often a concerted effort from certain people to hurt each other, whether it be through war or individual attacks. Since the dawn of time, artists have been using their craft to tell stories of the human condition, which…

What is there to say that hasn’t already been said countless times before when it comes to All About Eve? The film, which is almost unanimously considered not only the personal best work of the brilliant Joseph L. Mankiewicz, but one of the most well-regarded and iconic pieces of cinema to ever be produced, has…

As the adage goes, desperate times breed desperate measures – and a group of filmmakers that implicitly understood this concept were those that worked under the umbrella of Italian neo-realism, the movement that emerged during the Second World War, and sought to describe the challenges faced by ordinary people that fell victim to the social…

When it comes to discussing art, there is a great deal of discourse surrounding the debate between style and substance, with many tending to view it as a binary system, and one that an artist (regardless of medium) can only employ individually. If there was ever someone who could be considered to have mastered both…