“He looks like a normal person. If we met in a café, I’d never suspect it” The person being described here is Amadeo (José Isbert), a humble old man who is on his way to retirement after years of service to his craft. What most people don’t realize when they see him walking through the…
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)
When you’ve made arguably one of the greatest films of all time, a director is normally allowed to do anything he or she decides is worth their time, granted its within reasonable limits, and maintains some kind of artistic integrity. Vittorio De Sica is the mind behind Bicycle Thieves, a film that not only stands…
Hallelujah the Hills (1963)
In 1963, two works of fiction were released that stand independent of each other, but are inextricably linked in numerous ways. The first was V, the debut novel by Thomas Pynchon, who would go on to become one of the late twentieth-century’s most important writers. The second was Hallelujah the Hills, the first major work…
Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (1963)
Olya (Olga Yukina) is a mild-mannered girl living in a big Russian city. She spends her time gallivanting with her motley crew of friends, finding new ways to cause mischief and pass the time. When she’s caught sneaking into the cinema (which was at the time forbidden to anyone under the age of sixteen), she…
The Servant (1963)
“He may be a servant, but he’s also a human” These words occur at a crucial moment in The Servant, the first of three collaborations between acclaimed playwright Harold Pinter and exiled American director Joseph Losey. They may appear to be an obvious, perhaps even painfully gauche, sentiment – but they happen almost concurrently to…
Vera Drake (2004)
The cinema of Mike Leigh has always been something I’ve been so deeply fascinated by, with his work being pivotal in my development to truly appreciate the art of filmmaking. One of the first encounters I had with Leigh was when I stumbled upon Vera Drake just after its initial release. Too young to fully…
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
2020 has been a year in which not a lot has made much sense, based on a variety of events that have caused our collective species to come to a grinding halt and reconsider even the most essential components of our existence – yet, in a time when nothing is what it seems, one film…
Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Here are a few things I know to be true: firstly, the Japanese New Wave is one of the most sorely underrepresented of all film movements, with many of its works being tragically ignored in favour of others, which is truly shameful since some of the most inventive films ever made were produced by this…
Red Desert (1964)
Nestled comfortably in Northern Italy is the industrial town of Ravenna, which is home to many factories and large-scale businesses, all of which take advantage of whatever natural resources they can get from this region, which they feel compelled to exploit as far as they can. The wife of one of the managers is Giuliana…
Nothing But a Man (1964)
Duff (Ivan Dixon) is a young railroad labourer whose line of work has prevented him from settling in any one place for too long, which has made him something of an enigma for the people who encounter him over the years. However, he’s growing disillusioned with his chosen career, with the idea of being a…
The Postmodern Pelican 