War is hell, and sometimes war is hell and prostitutes. The East is a Dutch-language film by writer/director Jim Taihuttu. Along with fellow writer Mustafa Guygulu, Taihuttu created a film that follows the life of Dutch soldier, Johan De Vries...
In Desert One, acclaimed documentarian Barbara Kopple employs the talents of animator Zartosht Soltani, who has worked with Michael Moore on multiple occasions. Moore tends to use animation to make his simplified arguments digestible but Kopple allows Soltani to shine....
Before Václav Marhoul’s The Painted Bird (an adaptation of Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel) is ten minutes old, our young protagonist (Petr Kotlár) has had his pet stolen from him and burned alive, been beaten, discovered the corpse of his abusive...
Title: Legend of a Duel to the Death Year: 1963 Director: Keisuke Kinoshita Cast: Shima Iwashita, Mariko Kaga, Bunta Sugawara, Kinuyo Tanaka Synopsis: Toward the end of WWII, the Sonobe family is relocated from Tokyo to a farming village on...
With the release of Václav Marhoul’s punishing adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird on the horizon, I’ve been thinking of the all too common problem of celebrated novels becoming cinematic misfires. I haven’t read Kosinski’s book so I can’t...
When you think of the dominant aesthetic of the Soviet Union, whether it be film, art from the Russian avant-garde and from socialist realists or even propaganda posters, you probably conjure up sharp lines, severe angles and figures in three-quarter...
Title: The Damned Year: 1969 Director: Luchino Visconti Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Charlotte Rampling, Helmut Griem, Helmut Berger Synopsis: The Essenbeck family hits a tumultuous decline once they get into business with the Nazi party and their precipitating downfall...
Elem Klimov’s 1985 masterpiece Come and See, a new restoration of which opens Friday at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, seems to have anticipated a 2010s trend by adopting the very hip 1.37:1 aspect ratio. But being...
Title: Camp de Thiaroye Year: 1988 Director: Ousmene Sembene, Thierno Faty Sow Cast: Sidiki Bakaba, Ibrahim Sane, Hamed Camara, Phillipe Chamelat Synopsis: Camp de Thiaroye is a fact-inspired narrative recounting the events leading up to the massacre at Camp Thiaroye,...
