Jean Cocteau was an artist whose name immediately brings one of two projects to mind – we immediately associate him with either the gorgeous 1945 version of Beauty and the Beast (the finest version of that story told until Angela Carter reconfigured it many decades later), or his Orphic Trilogy (consisting of Orpheus, The Blood…

Nothing has been more actively explored in the history of literature quite as much as the concept of love. Whether it be on stage or the printed page, or delivered by way of images on screen or sounds that come from musical instruments, the elusive idea of romance has been the primary theme for countless…

While his career was cut tragically short as a result of his untimely death, Aleksei Balabanov was a relatively prolific director, having made nearly two dozen films over the course of his career. The ones he is most fondly remembered for are his more abstract works, like Happy Days and Of Freaks and Men, both…

By all accounts, Dédée d’Anvers is a deeply conventional film. It takes the form of a run-of-the-mill melodrama about a lonely and depressed sex worker who is under the ferocious control of her cruelly abusive husband, and who dreams of escape, which comes in the form of a dashing and valiant seaman that literally sails…

One of the great qualities of iconic writers is that their work is not only fertile ground for interpretation, but can also lend themselves to a number of captivating works, whereby several artists have taken it upon themselves to retell a classic work of literature in a way that suits their particular style. Few writers…

Every artist tends to view the world slightly differently, which is always reflected in their art – some are more cynical than others, while others are more dedicated to capturing the intricate beauty of everyday life. Jane Austen occupies the latter category, and there is certainly very little doubt that she warrants every bit of…

Claire Denis is one of our greatest living filmmakers, which is partially the result of her versatility and ability to tell a range of stories that transcend genre and convention, but keep the same fascinating spirit that makes her one of contemporary cinema’s greatest revolutionaries, even several decades into her filmmaking career. However, one subject…

One of the great joys of the Golden Age of Hollywood is that filmmakers were able to make a romantic comedy about absolutely anything, regardless of the cultural or moral standards that they may have challenged. Only under this system could a film like Love Before Breakfast be made, whereby the story centres on a…

When one thinks of Sam Mendes, we normally associate him with more large-scale filmmaking that is produced on a much larger scope than many of his peers, whether it be multiple entries into a beloved spy action franchise, or his forays into the world of war in a couple of well-received films that made him…

Not since Robert Bresson defined realist cinema with his masterful Au Hasard Balthasar has a film about the friendship between a human and a donkey been as moving as My Donkey, My Lover & I (French: Antoinette dans les Cévennes), a film that celebrates love just as much as it does evoke a lot of…