“The sad and lonely days of my youth come back to me as the autumn winds blow” The concept of autumn lingers very heavily throughout She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (Japanese: 野菊の如き君なりき), the fascinating account of a lost love, as curated by Keisuke Kinoshita, one of the most unheralded masters of early Japanese cinema….

When one thinks of Sir David Lean, we don’t normally associate him with breezy, lovable romantic comedies, despite the fact that he directed arguably the greatest screen romance ever committed to film in the form of Brief Encounter. Most of his career was defined by epic historical dramas and literary adaptations that were as lavish…

Somewhere deep in The World to Come, there is a great film, the problem is that it never manages to get to that point. Mona Fastvold, in her directorial debut, made a film that is visually astonishing, but narratively paltry, every emotion feeling empty and the structure seeming like an afterthought. Not a necessarily bad…

There’s a ferry heading from Greece to Italy, transporting citizens from both countries between them, as usual. On one particular trip, the ferry is servicing two specific individuals – Victor (Vasilis Magouliotis ), is a former professional diver who has grown too old and slightly unfit to be fully in control of his craft. Matthias…

As a film-going population, especially those of us who have a bit more of a critical eye when approaching art, cinema is most celebrated when it is ambitious and unexpected, showing an originality that allows it to stake its claim as something that has never been done before, or at least not done in that…

When it comes to Hollywood in the 1930s, any devotee is likely to have a good working knowledge of the Pre-Code era, the time between the peak of silent cinema and the introduction of the Hays Code, which sought to dictate what could be portrayed on screen, placing particular emphasis on stringent rules that prevented…

There are many lessons to be learned from The Bridges of Madison County – the miraculous nature of chance encounters, and the incredible challenges that come with bidding farewell to someone whose time in your life may be short, but their impact on it absolutely immeasurable. As one of the more unconventional films the oddly…

The promotional material for Pete ‘n’ Tillie, Martin Ritt’s ambitious adaptation of a short story by iconic provocateur Peter de Vries, stated boldly that “the honeymoon is over, time to get married”. There have not been many films that have been quite as sharp in exploring the trials and tribulations of a couple throughout their…

Cinema affords every viewer the opportunity to be both a time-traveller and a world explorer, giving us the chance to see different cultures through the lens of many notable artists from around the world. The process of experiencing something we have never seen before is incredible, especially when the film surrounding it is so strong….

Over the years, I’ve spoken openly about how certain female filmmakers were revolutionary, particularly those that worked in decades when film was even more dominated by men than it is today. Gender politics have been an enormous part of Hollywood culture, and it is an issue that is slowly being resolved, but not nearly fast…