A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Eastern European Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Alexander Dovzhenko, “Arsenal” (1928) Notable for its skilful use of montages of images to create and build tension, excitement, urgency and other moods, “Arsenal” revolves around an incident…
Eastern European Films, French and French-language Films
René Laloux, “Fantastic Planet” / “La Planète Sauvage” (1973) A very absorbing animated science fiction film that superficially looks as if it might have been created…
Sergei Eisenstein, “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) Unashamedly patriotic and stirring action-movie propaganda for the masses and the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin at the time of release,…
Martin Scorsese, “Taxi Driver” (1976) As a character study of a lonely and alienated man whose mind collapses under the strain of the life he leads…
Andrei Tarkovsky, “Stalker” (1979) For Western audiences used to fast action science fiction movies, “Stalker” is a very slow-paced post-apocalyptic mover with a barebones plot that…
Eastern European Films, Northern European Films
Marek Pestrak, “Pilot Pirx’s Inquest” / “Test Pilota Pirxa” / “Doznanie Pilota Pirksa” (1979) A joint Polish-Estonian production, this low-budget movie about a space trip that nearly ends…
Sergei Parajanov and David Abashidze, “Ashik Kerib” (1988) The last completed film by Georgian / Armenian director Sergei Parajanov before his death in 1990, “Ashik Kerib”…
Carol Reed, “The Third Man” (1949) Here’s an excellent movie character study about the testing of loyalties and trust in a world that’s just come out…
Georgiy Kropachyov and Konstantin Yershov, “Viy” (1967) A rare 1960s Soviet film in the horror genre, “Viy” is more Gothic fairy tale than a straight horror…
Renny Harlin, “5 Days of War” aka “5 Days of August” (2011) Directed by Renny Harlin and financed by the Georgian government, this drama is a…