Un Chien Andalou: a special once-in-a-lifetime visual experience
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, “Un Chien Andalou” (1929) Famous surrealist film that never fails to shock and surprise despite having been made over 80 years,…
nausika
French and French-language Films
Blood of the Beasts: horror, death, poetry and beauty co-exist in slaughterhouse
Georges Franju, “Le sang des bêtes” / “Blood of the Beasts” (1949) An amazing if very graphic realist film documentary of the work done in abbatoirs…
Human Resources: documentary on mind control is mind-exploding
Scott Noble, “Human Resources” (2010) What can I say? This two-hour documentary on the history of government and elite attempts to control human behaviour and direct…
Silmido: excellent film about a series of incidents in South Korean history that has a universal resonance
Kang Woosuk, “Silmido” (2003) Apparently based on actual incidents, this epic film ought to have been just a straightforward “Dirty Dozen” action film with a sketchy…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Fallujah, the Hidden Massacre: documentary makes case for war crime but provides no context for attack
Sigfrido Ranucci and Maurizio Torrealta, “Fallujah, the Hidden Massacre” (2005) This 27-minute film plays like an extended news or current affairs report: it originally aired on…
If only more BBC music documentaries were like “The Outsider: the Story of Harry Partch” …
Where Evil Dwells: superficially slight and crude slasher flick packs a heavyweight wallop
David Wojnarowicz and Tommy Turner, “Where Evil Dwells” (1985) Loosely based on an actual American court case in which 17 year old youth Ricky Kasso killed…
French and French-language Films
Pierre Henry, or the Art of Sounds: subjective documentary says nothing about pioneer’s place in experimental music
Eric Darmon, Franck Mallet, “Pierre Henry, or the Art of Sounds” (2006) A so-so documentary about the French experimental music pioneer, Pierre Henry, who with his mentor…
The show goes on in “Queen: Days of our Lives (Part 2)”
Matt O’Casey, “Queen: Days of our Lives (Part 2)” Contrary to my expectations, knowing something of the band’s history, I found the second part of the…
Just another ordinary rock music documentary in “Queen: Days of our Lives (Part 1)”
Matt O’Casey, “Queen: Days of our Lives (Part 1)” (2011) To mark the 40th anniversary of a beloved British rock music institution, the BBC made this…