By Dávid Szőke. Eerily beautiful in recapturing the early Gothic film.” Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Bon-Bon” (1832) is a grotesque retelling of man’s futile endeavor to tempt immortality by making a Faustian contract with the devil. Set in a French wine cellar, the original story pulls the reader into […]
A Dramatic Tribute to a Lost Reality: The Silent Enemy (1930)
By Jeremy Carr. Apparently supporting the film’s well-intentioned attempt at accuracy, Chief Chauncey Yellow Robe, in a sound prologue to this otherwise silent 1930 film, thus urges viewers to not see those performing in the film as actors, but to consider that what is shown ‘is as it always has […]
A Culture of Violence, with Questions Unanswered: Teodora Ana Miha’s La Civil
By Yun-hua Chen. A compelling portrait of not only a society plagued by violence, and one that conditions its members to be indifferent, irresponsive, and numb.” In Northern Mexico, Cielo’s (Arcelia Ramírez) day starts like any mundane morning. Her daughter Laura lovingly makes her up, jokingly self-compliments their beauty (“like […]
Stirring, if Incomplete: Patricio Guzman’s My Imaginary Country
By Anees Aref. Even if doesn’t quite cover the full breadth of recent Chilean history, Patricio Guzman’s My Imaginary Country does powerfully capture the yearning and communal passion that drives the revolution to this day.” Released in the fall of 2022 and now available on DVD, My Imaginary Country is […]
“Starting with a Lie to Gather Unity” – Abbas Kiarostami: Interviews
A Book Review by Ali Moosavi. The collection, edited by Monika Raesch, is really two books under one cover – an extensive critical introduction to Kiarostami, authored by Raesch, and roughly 100 pages of interviews in which the filmmaker proves to be surprisingly open and eminently quotable.” Though the renowned […]
Gentle Mary: Michelle Garza Cervera’s Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022)
By Thomas M. Puhr. The scariest thing in Huesera is not the ghostly bone woman, but the all-too-real fear that one may choose the wrong path when faced with one of life’s many forked roads.” Among a throng of worshippers, a young woman climbs the stone steps leading to a […]
Family Dynamics: Corey Deshon’s Daughter (2022)
By Jeremy Carr. It’s a pressure cooker scenario executed by debuting writer-director Corey Deshon with an acute tonal balance, and Vivien Ngô’s performance, in the title role, is the obvious catalyst for Daughter’s swift narrative momentum.” A young woman flees through a desolate landscape, pursued by two individuals. They’re first […]
Hell is Other People’s Kids: Roxanne Benjamin’s There’s Something Wrong with the Children (2023)
By Thomas M. Puhr. [While] the narrative structure proves flimsy…. it’s an admirable effort, and the film’s underlying commentary on parenthood separates Benjamin’s film from some of its lazier competitors.” Children often seem to exist in a world few adults can access. They develop their own sort of language: a […]
Adolescent Hell: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Beautiful Beings (2022)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Different doesn’t always mean good, and while I admire the many risks Beautiful Beings takes, I walked away from it with a shrug of indifference.” Everyone at Balli’s school seems to have agreed he’s the designated punching bag. In class, the girl next to him skooches […]
Lost Time: Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun (2022)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Debuting filmmaker Charlotte Wells isn’t a promising new writer-director with an emerging voice; her voice is already there, crystal clear.” Time dilates when you’re on vacation. Days spent lounging at the pool and wandering around the hotel become pleasantly lethargic. You can almost trick yourself into […]