It’s difficult to think of a director better suited to tell the story of Benedetta Carlini, the 17th-century Italian nun who was reviled and nearly executed for her same-sex affair with one of her fellow sisters, than Paul Verhoeven, who has made something of a career out of controversial subjects. Benedetta’s decision to engage in…

Depending on how you look at it, life is a comedy masquerading as a tragedy, or vice versa. This is the foundation for Sawdust and Tinsel (Swedish: Gycklarnas afton), the ambitious character-driven drama that serves as an early entry into the long and prolific career of the iconic Ingmar Bergman, who may have still been…

One of the great marvels of modern cinema is how, despite having made his directorial debut over four decades ago, Pedro Almodóvar remains a trailblazer in his medium, an individual whose existential curiosity and unique approach to constructing art have made him one of the most celebrated filmmakers of any generation. There are far too…

Somewhere in residential, working-class Tokyo sits a power station – the community surrounding it have been engaging in a spirited debate about how many chimneys the factory has. The opening narration to Where Chimneys Are Seen (Japanese: 煙突の見える場所) states that it all depends on where you are standing – for some, only one chimney can…

The odd couple trope is one that has been done to death in fiction, but yet it still yields such positive results nearly every time, since audiences seem to adore seeing the contrast between two wildly different individuals that are placed in close proximity to one another, hilarity and heartfelt antics very likely pursuing as…

Death is a subject that has fascinated artists for centuries, with various works focusing on life’s most intimidating inevitability. The vast majority don’t question that it is going to happen to each one of us eventually, but rather the circumstances that surround it. Whether it be the actual process of coming to terms with one’s…

Paolo Sorrentino loves roads. In nearly every one of his films, characters undergo a variety of journeys, whether it be physical, mental or spiritual. There is something about the idea of undergoing a shift, either in location or mentality, that drives several of his films. As the ancient adage goes, “all roads lead to Rome”,…

There have been so many attempts at bringing the life and times of Diana, Princess of Wales to the screen – the ill-fated biographical drama starring Naomi Watts, the celebrated interpretation by Emma Corrin on the television serial The Crown, and even a stage musical that has become something of a minor sensation amongst those…

Throughout her fascinating drama that she adapted from her own semi-autobiographical novel, My Father Is an Airplane (Dutch: Mijn vader is een vliegtuig), director Antoinette Beumer tells quite a captivating story about the relationship between a daughter and her father, especially in the days after the death of another family member (specifically their mother and…

The trouble with notoriously prolific directors is that it’s often difficult to discern what their best film may be, since they usually direct at such a rapid pace, and end up producing many great films. However, when it comes to Yasujirō Ozu, it couldn’t be easier to answer this question. Tokyo Story (Japanese: 東京物語) is…