By Yun-hua Chen. That’s why I chose MMA fights and combat sports. It’s all about being in a cage. Women’s MMA fights have this expectation that they must look sexy, and it’s about this strange desire of Sarah’s to return to the cage. Meanwhile, the girls in the film want […]
The Substance is a Documentary
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. As far as emotional fidelity is concerned, The Substance is a documentary. No other film I have ever seen so perfectly captures my subjective experience of the culturally enforced dissociation that happens en masse when, as a woman, your body starts to age.” I recently turned 50. […]
In a Motley Assortment: On Filmmaker Joanna Hogg
By Shonni Enelow. Hogg’s films present rich and compelling psychological characters while eschewing that legibility of motive.” Hogg’s films capture the tones and rhythms of contemporary relation quite differently from other historical realisms. The half-spoken, half-interrupted speech of her characters, the way they repeat themselves, revise their words, in conjunction […]
Danse Macabre: Filmmaker Karen Arthur on The Mafu Cage (1978)
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. I find that there is an emotional energy in a theater piece [the basis for The Mafu Cage] and that the relationships are so much stronger and more connected. I always use the concept that you have to see in film and so therefore I took the […]
Beauty Surrounding Us: Elene Naveriani on Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
By Yun-hua Chen. I believe that all characters possess innate sensibility, which surfaces when given a chance.” —Elene Naveriani “Do you realize how much beauty surrounds us? I wish to be alone, to do what I want, how I like, and when I like,” declares Etero, a 48-year-old woman from […]
On an “Interior” Documentary: Filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed on A Photographic Memory
By M. Sellers Johnson. I loved the idea that I could convey the interior of my imagination in my documentary and that it could be anything, like a narrative film, because no one can argue with your imagination. And yet, it’s really my story, and these are real people.” Documentarian […]
Forgiveness of the Frontier: An Interview with Viggo Mortensen on Directing The Dead Don’t Hurt
By Yun-hua Chen. I think that, in some sense, forgiveness is more important than revenge. There’s a desire for revenge…. That’s sort of instant gratification for certain kinds of movie fans, but it’s not very interesting or realistic.” The Dead Don’t Hurt, a unique Western imbued with Viggo Mortensen’s distinct […]
Laughter over Comedy: from the Introduction to Death by Laughter: Female Hysteria in Early Cinema
By Maggie Hennefeld. Imagine being so hilarious that your jokes, impressions, or other repartee literally caused someone to laugh themselves to death.1 —“Does Your Stand-Up Act Need Death by Laughter Insurance?,” Trusted Choice, insurance web advertisement, August 10, 2019 Imagine being so wild and free that your laughter literally killed […]
It’s Alive (and Horny)! Zelda Williams’ Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Newton really shines and has a funny swagger about her. It’s too bad the surrounding film never quite matches this winning performance.” Lisa is lonely. Her widower father, who has promptly remarried and moved in with Lisa’s new stepmother and stepsister out in the candy-colored suburbs, […]
Outsiders on the Frontier: Kitty Green on The Royal Hotel
By Ali Moosavi. I knew that I didn’t want to see violence. I feel like I’ve seen enough sexual violence in cinema…. I was like how can we make a movie about the threat of that. And the threat of that should be enough to feel scared.” The young Australian […]