Bacurau: A Community Fights Back
Brazilian film Bacurau is a hallucinatory revenge drama that successfully marries Hollywood thriller, western and horror conventions to deliver a story about a town besieged by a group of foreign killers.
Valparaiso: The Vertical City
Joris Ivens, the renowned Dutch documentary filmmaker, once said, “The film screen is not a window through which you look at the world, it is a world in itself.”
Last and First Men: An Essay in Myth
The German philosopher Ernst Bloch talked of the “ontology of not yet being” as the main philosophical idea of our time. Bloch sought to explore how history reflects lost opportunities as well as future possibilities. He wanted to understand why humankind has always dreamed of utopia.
Woman at War
“One of the first conditions of happiness,” wrote Leo Tolstoy, “is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.” Icelandic filmmaker Benedikt Erlingsson might have had this sentiment in mind when he made his latest film, Woman at War, an ecological thriller second to none.
Chris Marker: Unknown Cosmonaut
Sometimes you encounter a film that is so far removed from your experience that it takes your breath away. Chris Marker’s La Jetée is one such film. When I first saw it, it was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
The Masque of the Red Death: A Reminder of Our Mutual Interdependence
The Masque of the Red Death is one of Edgar Allen Poe’s finest short stories. Published in 1842, this terrifying tale relates the story of a medieval prince who retreats to his castle with his courtiers to avoid the horrific plague sweeping the land.
Road Movies: Journeys Rather Than Destinations
The enduring appeal of the road movie should come as no surprise. The films are centred on the contradictory possibilities offered by the open road. This can be a metaphor for freedom and adventure. Or a descent into danger and despair.
The American Dream: A Broken Promise
Al Capone, the notorious gangster of 1920s Prohibition-era Chicago, once said, “Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.” Organised crime has always represented the underbelly of the American Dream: the belief that anyone can achieve wealth and success, regardless of their background.