If you were to list the directors whose work best reflects the intricacies of the human condition, you’d likely find Aki Kaurismäki appearing quite prominently. He is a director who has successfully turned his incredible empathy into a formidable career, crafting many charming, compelling films that are all distinct and cover different subjects but are…

Starting over is never easy, but it’s often something that needs to be done if someone wants to truly find happiness. There’s nothing quite as simultaneously exciting and terrifying as a fresh start, especially when it sees you venturing far beyond your comfort zone, willing to play yourself in a precarious position in which life…

The concept of soulmates has been around for about as long as the concept of being in love has existed, going back to the very origin of the antiquity. One of these beliefs that has always struck me as profoundly beautiful is that of the Ancient Greeks, who believed that every human was one-half of…

No one made films like Ernst Lubitsch, and there is a reason why he is considered the person who inspired many of our greatest directors, with the likes of Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges swearing allegiance to the legacy of this master of cinema. Choosing his signature work is extremely challenging, and almost impossible, since…

There is always something encouraging about an artist being plucked from obscurity and having their career reassessed. Sometimes, this only occurs decades after their passing, but it is better late than never when it comes to giving certain creative individuals the credit they deserve. Tay Garnett is not a name known to many of us,…

There are a few experiences that we can classify as being universal, and the desire to find someone with whom we can spend our lives is one of the most common, and alongside parenthood and death, has existed as a philosophical concept since the dawn of our consciousness. Yet, it isn’t always easy for some…

Outside of capturing a very particular side of the American Dream, there is something that both Loudon Wainwright III and Tennessee Williams have in common: they both created works that centre around the concept of a “slapstick tragedy”. There are a few examples of works that truly embody this seemingly contradictory concept, but not many…

We don’t always fall in love with the people we expect, and it is more common that we have a particular kind of person whom we pursue, which can sometimes be complicated when encountering someone who captures our heart, despite not being anyone that we would have expected to be the source of such emotions….

We often tend to think of the Golden Age of Hollywood as being quite a rigid era for filmmaking, where risks were not taken and films were made along very narrow guidelines, based on what could be shown on screen, as decided by the censors whose only reason for existence was to impinge on the…

Despite what the movies may want us to think, heartbreak is neither neat nor easy to endure – it’s a harrowing process that causes us to feel as if we have had our entire existence shaken, forced to confront the fact that life is not always particularly happy and that there are many unexpected surprises…