As much as we’d like to think cinema exists primarily to entertain or enlighten the viewer, some films are designed to deliberately make us uncomfortable. Whether this is to discuss some vitally important issue, or reflect some concepts that could not be conveyed through more gentle means, we all encounter examples of intentionally disturbing artworks…
Panique (1946)
As the great Thomas Pynchon once wrote, “paranoia is the garlic in life’s kitchen – you can never have too much”, and few films have been able to encapsulate this idea better than Panique, the fascinating character study brought to life but Julien Duvivier, who is adapting the novel Les Fiançailles de Monsieur Hire by…
The Eternal Daughter (2022)
Peddling in absolutes rarely results in good writing – but it can sometimes be necessary to dip into the pool of hyperbole on occasion, especially when it is on the subject of someone who deserves the attention. Joanna Hogg is truly one of our greatest working filmmakers, and her recent re-emergence through her remarkable The…
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
Few directors were capable of capturing the horrors of the post-war experience than those who hailed from Japan, with many of the greatest filmmakers to ever work in the medium being those who experienced the hardship caused to their country as a result of the Second World War, which wrought havoc on Japanese society in…
Zero Effect (1998)
Literature loves a good detective – from the earliest days of penny dreadfuls, to the low-quality pulp fiction novels sold at the corner store, to the modern era where everyone has some degree of interest in solving mysteries, we see so many stories of detectives, whether professional private investigators or those that treat it like…
Men (2022)
Men is a film that is about as subtle as its title suggests – however, if there is someone who knows about the virtue of ambition, it is Alex Garland, who has been one of the most fascinating voices in contemporary horror and science fiction for over two decades in his capacity as either a…
What’s Up, Doc? (1972)
There have been few directors who have managed to work so effectively across as diverse a range of genres as Peter Bogdanovich, who emerged as a rambunctious young filmmaker filled to the brim with ambition and a distinct point of view, and honed his artistic voice over several decades, each one of his films (even…
Lingui, the Sacred Bonds (2022)
Few modern filmmakers from within the continent have done more to bring Africa to a global stage than Mahamat Saleh Haroun, whose career is populated with many hard-hitting films that look at serious issues plaguing many communities on a continent that is rarely afforded many opportunities to be explored critically through film on many international…
The Madonna’s Secret (1946)
We’re not strangers to discussing film noir around these parts, and one of the more interesting ideas that come about when looking at this genre that has undergone so many different shifts in conventions and style over the decades is that there isn’t one singular formula that makes for a great entry, but rather a…
Official Competition (2022)
As is often the case with any medium, it was inevitable that cinema would get to the point where it started producing artworks that were self-reflective commentaries on its own existence. This happened almost immediately, with the advent of self-aware cinema occurring from the outset. There are a few subjects that filmmakers seem to adore…
The Postmodern Pelican 