Farewell My Concubine (Chinese: 霸王別姬) is one of those films that has been consolidated as such a masterpiece of arthouse cinema, it’s almost a rite of passage to eventually watch it. Chen Kaige’s exploration of Chinese culture in the early 20th century has received its fair share of acclaim and adulation throughout the years, and…

If you knew your death was only a moment away, what would your final thoughts be in that brief space between life and demise? This is the fundamental concept explored in Ambrose Bierce’s classic short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, which was adapted into an incredible film by Robert Enrico, who captured the…

The work of Yasujirō Ozu continues to stand as some of the most impressive in the history of cinema – who else can profess to having as prolific a career as him, and possibly never having produced a film that anyone can call poorly-made? Towards the end of his career, he made a series of…

I’ve written quite a bit about theatre over the past few weeks – screen adaptation of the works of Tennessee Williams, William Gibson and Eugene O’Neill were all subjects of recent conversations, mostly since I’ve been covering years where these kinds of films were in vogue, with nearly every work of major American theatre getting…

It’s been noted that when making La Fille aux yeux d’or, Jean-Gabriel Albicocco was producing a film that existed more on the margins of late-period Italian neo-realism than the French New Wave, a movement he is often considered to be an early pioneer of, albeit one that isn’t particularly celebrated outside of a few films…

It would appear that third time was not the charm for Charlie Kaufman, since his most recent directorial effort was an attempt to adapt Iain Reid’s impenetrable I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a novel that seemed even too abstract for someone who has been making a career out of his penchant for the bizarre side…

Prick Up Your Ears begins with a murder, and ends in a suicide – and for the two hours in between, we’re presented with a wildly complex character study that traverses many different ideas, such as identity and sexuality, the importance of art, and the cultural perceptions of certain issues that tend to carry immense…

Throughout her life, Mother Theresa made many profound statements, but one of the most striking was “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”, which is a stark reminder of how money is so actively pursued by the vast majority of us, often at the favour of the more important things…

“Ugliness is a kind of death. As long as I’m beautiful, I’m even more alive than the others” The importance of Cléo from 5 to 7 (French: Cléo de 5 à 7 ) should not be underestimated in any way. Agnès Varda was a filmmaker whose work has always meant the world to me as…

Chance Wayne (Paul Newman) is a young drifter who may or may not dabble as an escort. His most consistent client is Alexandra del Lago (Geraldine Page), an ageing actress who yearns for her glory days as a young, desirable starlet. She spends her days engaged in various vices, whether feeding her alcoholism or satiating…