Category Archives: film

film: Bauer: Умиращия лебед / The Dying Swan (1917)

july 8 07 Despite his short career, Bauer is supposed to rank up there with Griffith and Demille, but his work reminds me much more of Wegener in not only the dark subject matter, but also the emphasis on facial expressions. What this has which the others lack is a profound sense of beauty, theContinue reading “film: Bauer: Умиращия лебед / The Dying Swan (1917)”

Maxwell: The Married Virgin (1918)

Almost immediately this film breaks boundaries of the other films I’ve watched so far–this is more certainly Cinema than anything I’ve seen yet. Many reasons come to mind. The credits, so it introduces the characters one by one, little insights into their personalities, but the method of doing so in this film is different inContinue reading “Maxwell: The Married Virgin (1918)”

film: McG: Charlie et ses drôles de dames (2000)

That’s how they translate “Charlie’s Angels” in France…isn’t that funny? I can’t figure out how it translates, actually. Charlie and his funny ladies? Charlie and Some Funny Ladies of His. Whatever, I saw it in French, and I loved every moment of it, though I had to shout “what’s happening!?” a whole bunch when thingsContinue reading “film: McG: Charlie et ses drôles de dames (2000)”

film: Mullan: The Magdalene Sisters (2002)…a second try.

It was in an unctious fit that I wrote last night’s comments on this film. In bed, some hours later, I could not close my eyes without the horrors seeping in through every crevice, as if fools themselves, to think that the moment one’s eyes are closed one is wholly insensitive. Which, I suppose, whenContinue reading “film: Mullan: The Magdalene Sisters (2002)…a second try.”

film: Edwards – Victor/Victoria (1982)

I generally don’t like movies whose central theme is sexuality; they always somehow fall short. My parents wouldn’t let me see Rocky Horror when I was young, but when they went out of town I watched it and had the same reaction I do now: sleepiness. Perhaps I’ll just never understand what it is toContinue reading “film: Edwards – Victor/Victoria (1982)”

film: Nichols: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

I read this in one sitting. Back when I had concentration. It was brutal, I didn’t like it one bit, and I followed it up with a good dinner, having spent the afternoon sitting in a cafeteria corner flipping pages. The film–even more brutal, like a series of terrible volleys, leaving me unable to breathe,Continue reading “film: Nichols: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)”

film: Dieterle: The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941).

The Devil and Daniel Webster reminded me of Carol Reed’s cinematography–noir in very bright, open spaces, gothic proportions in the meanest of hovels, and the difference between good and evil is thus made clear in imagery alone, and from traditional, well-lit shots of smiling families, the picture blurs, the camera angles are strange, everything isContinue reading “film: Dieterle: The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941).”

film: Truffaut: Jules et Jim (1962)

Jules et Jim. It’s too great for me to speak of. When I first saw it I was sitting in an uncomfortable chair at a desk in a basement. I thought “what’s so great about this film–there’s nothing special about it.” Perhaps you cannot recognize greatness in anything until you’ve witnessed the vastness of mediocrityContinue reading “film: Truffaut: Jules et Jim (1962)”