A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 2)” (RT.com, 23 November 2013) Broadcast on the 50th anniversary of the assassination…
Masaki Kobayashi, “Kwaidan” (1964) Often billed as a horror film, “Kwaidan” is in fact a quartet of fantasy stories of which three were based on traditional…
Shohei Imamura, “The Eel / Unagi” (1997) Japan’s boys in blue have an enviable record in obtaining a near 100% rate of criminal convictions and never…
Seijun Suzuki, “A Tattooed Life / Irezumi Ichidai” (1965) A surprisingly touching and quite emotional drama, told in a traditional way, this is an underrated yakuza…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 4)” (RT.com, December 2013) In this episode, the Galloways enquire into institutional racism…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 3)” (RT.com, November 2013) In addition to representing Bradford West in the British…
Hiroyuki Yamaga, “Royal Space Force – the Wings of Honnêamise / Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa” (1987) A very visually handsome and often stunning film to…
Katsuhiro Otomo, “Steamboy / Suchimoboi” (2004) A decade in the making, Katsuhiro Otomo’s second full-length film is an epic cyberpunk fantasy that carries a message about…
Sion Sono, “Suicide Club / Jisatsu Sakuru” (2002) Famous for its controversial premise, full-on gory presentation and an arresting opening sequence of 54 school-girls jumping off…
German and German-language Films, Middle Eastern Films
Herbert Ostwald, “Wild Iran” (2011) This documentary follows the Iranian-German wildlife photographer and environmentalist Benny Rebel on a 6-week journey across Iran taking photographs and videos…