Between Begone Dull Care, Neighbours, and this I’m willing to declare MacLaren a genius. Pas de Deux is hauntingly transcendental and indescribably beautiful. It’s built on such a hypnotic idea: people dancing in complete darkness with only their outlines visible, captured with high contrast film which is then exposed with an optical printer to give a multiplying effect. It’s like a lightshow but focused on bodies and their beauty. And the music… what a piece of art this whole thing…
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Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 1975
Jeanne Dielman aligns pretty well with the formation of the socialist Wages for Housework movement and of course with the feminist second wave. Akerman already treated a similar ground in short with a literal short, Saute ma ville (still my favorite), but this is a complete breakdown of capitalist patriarchy ending with a different angle from self-destruction. Although Akerman's main critique is directed at the patriarchy by bringing attention to lives of many women through a detailed exploration of one…
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Arctic 2018
Belief in human spirit and solidarity in the coldest and most isolated of environments. Penna’s film is minimalist as opposed to sensationalist survival but instead of a negative, introverted mood there is a strong positive and optimistic energy to it that is communicated through Mikkelsen’s connection to the unresponsive survivor. What brings the character even more humane qualities are the small moments of trial and error, despite his obvious expertise in a situation where most people would have very little…
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And I Will Rise, If Only To Hold You Down 2012
Another project I still haven’t finished but this is the one I’m most confident to eventually complete as opposed to my world cinema project, which has been embarrassing, or any director’s filmography.
There are so many great experimental works in this collection but from the outset this felt narratively the most interesting, despite having the most traditional approach to cinema. By that I solely mean it addresses things with words and character portraits instead of dance. I don't mean, however,…
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The Grand Budapest Hotel 2014
My 1000th log and approximately 250th review after 11 months on this site. The community has been such an inspiration for me in finding new movies to watch and how I perceive them. Every person I follow almost always writes something that resonates with me. I'm impressed how you find things I hadn't considered and your observations make me excited to discover new films and make this hobby last my whole life. During periods like these when I have very…
