By James Morrison. My films are meant as polemical statements against the American ‘barrel-down’ cinema and its dis-empowerment of the spectator. They are an appeal for a cinema of insistent questions instead of false (because too quick) answers, for clarifying distance instead of violating closeness, for provocation and dialogue instead […]
On the Brink of Obliteration: Black Dog (Gou Zhen, 2024)
By Yun-hua Chen. A portrait of a town on the brink of obliteration and a meditation on lives rendered powerless by political and socioeconomic currents….” A man and a dog in a small northwestern town in China’s Gobi Desert—this premise might sound like a minimalist bore, but not when the […]
The Slow Burn – The Rebirth of Suspense: Slowness and Atmosphere in Cinema
A Book Review by William Blick. A richly researched and detailed study that contributes original perspectives on an aspect of cinema that is often underrepresented….” Being a Gen-X kid, I was raised on Hollywood blockbusters of the 1980s. With a steady diet of films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, […]
VCU/University of Richmond French Film Festival | Richmond, Virginia, 27–29 March 2009
By Tim Palmer. For the contemporary cinephile – especially a lover of world cinema – the sight of 1800 people applauding a complex film adaptation of a Marguerite Duras novel, after a packed Saturday lunchtime screening, is real cause for optimism. On Saturday 28 March 2009, this lively scene was […]