Ikiru (Japanese: 生きる) isn’t a film so much as it is a deeply moving voyage to the heart of the human condition, told through a fervent form of compassion rarely found in even the most empathetic works of cinema. Praising Akira Kurosawa for being a gifted filmmaker is the same as calling Mozart a talented…

Paddy Considine is one of those actors who many of us recognize, and whose presence we often appreciate, even if he’s not someone whose name we immediately can recall. However, he has proven himself to be a very gifted artist on countless occasions, to the point where his first attempt at stepping behind the camera…

The reappraisal of Ryūsuke Hamaguchi as not only one of the most interesting directors working in his native Japan, but one of the most important artists of the current generation on a global scale has been wonderful. He has been working steadily for over a decade, but has only recently managed to achieve a level…

Age has always been a fascinating theme when it comes to art, with the dynamic between those of different generations being the source of many interesting stories, several of them being quite touching. The problem with these stories is that not only do they sometimes veer towards controversy (especially when some of them dare to…

Many critics and viewers consider the peak of Yasujirō Ozu’s career to be Tokyo Story, an opinion that is difficult to go against, with the general consensus being that not only is this one of the prolific Japanese master’s finest works, but it is also one of the greatest films ever made. However, Ozu was…

One of the facts that we all have to accept at some point is that life just sometimes isn’t fair – and few stories portray this more vividly than that of Sandra Massart, the 7-year-old Belgian girl who was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called metachromatic leukodystrophy (also known as MLD), a brain condition…

Without any hesitation or sense of hyperbole, I can boldly proclaim that Vittorio de Sica made what I consider to be the greatest film of all time, the absolutely stunning and deeply captivating Bicycle Thieves, a cinematic marvel that never fails to make an impact when I revisit it and see how the director managed…

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…