This review contains various thematic spoilers but only vague allusions to plot spoilers. Read at your discretion.
A Brighter Summer Day is a truth epic, a four hour journey into the abyss of teenage disillusionment. It's about the reality of growing up and the consequences of an aimless life. It's a quiet movie, of people kissing in the dark, with conversations happening between people offscreen, of themes muted in favour of shapeless ideas. It's paced like life itself, with threads…
Werckmeister Harmonies is a film of constant symbolism and allegory. It is the greatest philosophical and political allegory since Sátántangó, another film by master auteur Béla Tarr. Werckmeister Harmonies is Tarr's most exciting film (although Sátántangó remains his best) because it's the most brimming with ideas. Adapting the novel The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai, Werckmeister Harmonies more than matches the quality of the masterful original text. The film is more implicit in some ways, taking the dense metaphorical nature of the novel but…
From the creators of Loving Vincent comes The Peasants, and I find myself uncertain in how I feel about these films. The fact that every frame is so carefully painted makes these films extraordinary and singular. However the stories being told strike me as unpleasant and ultimately incongruous with the beauty of the art.
The Peasants is a much richer film than Loving Vincent, since it has far more depth to its story. It is a film of love, community,…
The Brigand of Kandahar is both frustrating and surprisingly solid. Compared to some other Hammer films from the same era, this one has quite a strong story. It deals with divided loyalties, moral uncertainty, betrayal, and vengeance. Yet simultaneously the film is an entry in the canon of British cinema which uses the empire as a backdrop and relies on problematic tropes. To the film's credit, the British military is depicted as cruel and racist, but the Indians are depicted…
Bad people are complicated. There is something dark at the centre of The Lost Daughter, a film which viciously tears apart the idealism we often have about motherhood. It is a film of mothers, but not one of love. Instead we see a rot, mothers who find children a burden. The Lost Daughter is an uncomfortable movie, with a constant unease and sense of dread. We wait to be given answers, for characters to be uncovered and exposed, and yet…
Dear Mum,
I never said "I love you" enough. I always meant to, but I never knew how to express my emotions. As a child I didn't understand, as an adult I don't have the humility to admit my many emotional failings. With dad being how he is, and me being me, I wonder if you ever heard it enough. But know this now, I love you. You are the reason for my every success.
As a child I didn't…
