In my eyes, Pedro Costa is one of the most exciting, interesting, and important directors currently working. This is due to his principles as a storyteller and filmmaker, to which he adheres resolutely, making him a unique voice in cinematic history. Because of this I'm going to start off this review by explaining my fascination with his work in basic and broad terms.
An organic approach to stories. The stories Costa works with stem from lived experience, while not being…
Had to catch this as part of the ongoing Straub-Huillet retrospective on mubi. I tend to forget the experience of seeing a film by the duo, so each time I return I am overwhelmed by their work and by how efficient it is, it's really quite unlike watching films made by anyone else. There is, of course, the specific film and what it contains within itself. But more than that, it's the continuation of the highly distinctive style, perhaps the…
Thirty-sixth film from the cult film challenge
Upon starting this film on a tired Wednesday evening around ten or so at night, I figured perhaps I’d crack open a monster and use that to power through a late night film. Hindsight would judge this to be one of my more redundant decision as The Seventh Curse revealed itself to be… an espresso shot seems an apt analogy but somehow not satisfactory, so I’ll go with an adrenaline shot laced with amphetamine.…
Thirty-fifth film from the cult film challenge
The Coming of Sin, as opposed to the alternative, much more preferable, title Vice Makes a Visit, betrays the slightly pretentious intentions that the film wears on its sleeve. It is another example of instances in this challenge of a project that has a better alternate title, and it is another example of a film which incorporates as an overt reference Bergman’s Persona, with little bits of the individual essence exchanging through graceful silences…
Finally feeling somewhat on the same page as Antonioni, and that happens in a film where communication is it's most subversive element, the one that discloses the least about what is actually going on in the film. And there is clearly a disconnect between the director/writer and his characters here. While delving into fascinating psychoanalysis, the distance remains and much like Luigi Pirandello, Antonioni lets his characters roam free without doubting the primal forces that directs the film. As though…
First off thanks to Connor and Marcus for promptly guiding me to this immediately following my review of L'avventura and never has a recommendation felt so appropriate. Of course I loved it, as Antonioni's scenes become more layered in complexity, though the lifeless black-and-white has its charm, so does his narrative. And it is important to remember this complexity going in to this film, as interpretations often tend to err on the simplistic side. Still we explore the realm of…
