By William Repass. Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street begins with a simple equation: money is a drug. “Enough of this shit will make you invincible,” enthuses Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), as he leans in to snort a line of coke in extreme close-up, “you’ll be able to conquer the […]
Hollywood Exiles in Europe
February 3, 2014
A Book Review by Wheeler Winston Dixon. Let’s just start by saying that this is an excellent book. I get stacks of new titles every day from publishers, and it takes a lot for a book to really jump out of the pile and interest me, particularly on a topic […]
From Gangster to Master: the Forgotten Edward G. Robinson
January 29, 2014
By Matthew Sorrento. I. The Look Robinson’s legion of fans grew after the actor delivered an intense desperation as Rico Bandello in Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar (1931). A hood who embraces a Macbethian drive to kill and consume, Rico soon witnesses the betrayal of his sideman, then ponders his own […]
The Cinematic Palette from Feudal Japan – Gate of Hell
January 28, 2014
By Giuseppe Sedia. Beyond any artistic value or aesthetic significance, the critical response to Gate of Hell (1953) provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of cinematic taste in the Fifties. According to Jean Cocteau, who served as jury president at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival, Kinugasa’s visually flamboyant jidai-geki displayed […]
Rocky Balboa and the Politics of Urban Renewal
January 22, 2014
By Jon Kraszewski. Coming at the end of a film series that had degenerated into useless portraits of cartoonish characters and simplified visions of social issues, the 2006 film Rocky Balboa probably attracted very little attention from progressive film critics. I, admittedly, decided to watch it to indulge my fondness […]
The Conformists: Creativity and Decadence in the Bulgarian Cinema 1945-89 (2011)
January 21, 2014
A Book Review by Brandon Konecny. A full historical account of Bulgaria’s cinema under Communism—given the topic’s obscurity and the lack of translated resources in the West, such a venture seems to smack of futility. To even have hopes of pulling off a project of this sort, one would have […]
November Film Festivals in Berlin: Afrikamera, Interfilm, and Around the World in 14 Films
January 21, 2014
By Yun-Hua Chen. November in Berlin is a busy month for film buffs in the capital, as there are three major independent film festivals: Afrikamera, Interfilm, and Around the World in 14 Films. Among these, Afrikamera is organised by the nonprofit cultural association, Toucouleur e.V. It brings rarely screened African […]
The Mother’s Role in Bergman’s Persona
January 20, 2014
By Terence Diggory. CONTENTS The Critical Audience Dramatis Personae Child’s Play Alma Mater Sons and Lovers Fear of Lying Fear of Dying The Primary Audience The Critical Audience Ingmar Bergman saw the first hints of a new film as “a brightly colored thread sticking out of the dark sack of […]
Diva Directors Around the Globe: Spotlight on Caroline Link
January 17, 2014
By Anna Weinstein. Due to an error during printing one page of this interview was replaced by an ad when it was originally published in Film International 66, vol. 11, no. 6/2013. Therefore we have chosen to republish it here in its entirety. German director Caroline Link has written and directed for both television […]
Kiss the Water (2013)
January 17, 2014
By Cleaver Patterson. When someone is the subject matter of a film memoir, they must have a magical quality if they are never physically seen—either in person or in the form of archive footage—yet leave the viewer with the impression that they have met them and that their presence permeates […]