A solitary man rides the train, watching the surroundings change as he slowly drifts to sleep. He’s awoken by a beguiling young woman who offers her astute observations about someone who she claims is a stranger, but yet one she somehow knows so well. Our protagonist slowly begins to fall deep into a state of…
Tag: film
Saturday Night (2024)
In 1975, on a chilly October evening, just a few minutes before midnight, viewers across the United States encountered an unfamiliar image – a pair of relatively unknown comedians appeared on their screen in a sketch based around an English tutor and his student of indiscernible origins. A couple of minutes of surreal banter was…
I’m Still Here (2024)
There is a moment towards the end of I’m Still Here (Portuguese: Ainda Estou Aqui) where the older Eunice Paiva sits at a table at what appears to be an informal family celebration – the rest of the room is lively, while she sits in pleasant silence, observing her children and grandchildren. Yet, no one…
The Bellboy (1960)
There has never been someone like Jerry Lewis, someone whose contributions to the world of entertainment are so immense, he is often viewed as one of the pioneers of modern American humour, a figure that helped bring to life a very specific kind of storytelling that was built on the collision of many different styles….
Sebastian (2024)
Nearly half a century ago, Derek Jarman made Sebastiane, an experimental masterpiece that looked at the trials and tribulations of the titular saint as he underwent persecution for his homosexuality and refusal to abide by the social convention in Ancient Rome, which resulted in his martyrdom that many still view as a tragic demise for…
The Other Way Around (2024)
Life is filled with events that we celebrate – births, marriages, birthdays and anniversaries, and there are even cultures where it is tradition to turn a funeral into a festive occasion, paying tribute to the dearly departed. Yet, there are a few moments in life that are rarely celebrated, at least in the conventional sense,…
An Angel at My Table (1990)
While it is logically implausible (since everyone needs to start somewhere), it has always seemed like Dame Jane Campion has been considered one of our finest filmmakers regardless of what stage of her career we are looking at – so imagining her being a young, rambunctious director that wasn’t the celebrated artist she is today…
The Piano Lesson (2024)
Few playwrights evoke such passionate discourse and praise when their names are mentioned, with this status being reserved for a select few artists who changed the way theatre functions, either narratively, in form or as a combination of both. August Wilson lived a comparatively short life when we look at it from a distance, but…
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
When an artist has been in the industry for long enough, it’s a challenge to not divide their career into different chapters, especially when their style and approach to filmmaking shifts over time. Not necessarily aligned with quality, but more in how they develop their ideas and the kinds of subjects that they pursue at…
A Day in the Country (1946)
After having quite a prolific career in both Europe and the United States, and having made films quite late into his life, it’s tough to imagine that Jean Renoir, one of cinema’s finest directors, had many instances of projects that didn’t manifest as he intended them to, most of his work being well-crafted and very…
The Postmodern Pelican 