A socialist revolutionary parable and story of Buddhist compassion in “Yuki: Snow Fairy”
Tadashi Imai, “Yuki: Snow Fairy” (1981) In the hands of Tadashi Imai, notable as a director of social realist films in Japan in the 1950s /…
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British Films, French and French-language Films
A trite plot and character stereotyping can’t lift “Paris 2054: Renaissance” from bland SF thriller genre
Christian Volckman, “Paris 2054: Renaissance” (2006) A glossy animated style of minimal black-and-white presentation, emphasising detail, mood and atmosphere in a future Paris governed by corporations…
Essays, Multi-media Presentations
Vladimir Putin’s Valdai Speech (2016): shaping the world of tomorrow needs mutual understanding and co-operation, not lies, propaganda and destruction
Vladimir Putin’s Valdai Speech at the XIII Meeting (Final Plenary Session) of the Valdai International Discussion Club (Sochi, October 2016) As is his usual custom, Russian…
Breaking the Waves: a study of religious hypocrisy and oppression, and its effects on a naive woman, with a hollow heart
Lars von Trier, “Breaking the Waves” (1996) For the most part this often nihilistic film is excruciating in its slow and exacting pace, and its drama…
Middle Eastern Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Channel 24 (Russia) Interview with First Lady of Syria Asma al Assad: a riveting conversation with a classy lady
Channel 24 (Russia) Interview with First Lady of Syria Asma al Assad (18 October 2016) In contrast to so many female politicians and spouses of world leaders, the wife of…
Portrait of a major 20th-century literary icon and his impact on Western culture in “William Burroughs: Man Within”
Yony Leyser, “William Burroughs: Man Within” (2010) An obvious labour of love for Yony Leyser, this documentary on subversive US experimental novelist and artist William S…
Onibaba: a psychological horror study with an anti-war theme
Kaneto Shindo, “Onibaba” (1964) An old Japanese Buddhist tale of a woman who uses a mask to frighten her daughter from visiting a temple becomes in…
French and French-language Films
Supervenus: a 3-minute critique on Western standards of female pulchritude and the damage they cause
Frédéric Doazan, “Supervenus” (2013) This 3-minute debut effort for writer / director Frédéric Doazan is a devastatingly critical comment on modern standards of female beauty as they have…
My Winnipeg: an intriguing blend of memoir, documentary and surreal dark fantasy in a paean to a little city on the prairie
Guy Maddin, “My Winnipeg” (2007) An unusual blend of memoir, documentary and dark fantasy, Guy Maddin’s “My Winnipeg” probably does more to promote his home city,…
French and French-language Films, Japanese Films
The Red Turtle: a pretty and glossy package with a conservative and banal message
Michaël Dudok de Wiet, “The Red Turtle” (2016) God save us all from pretty packages with lots of high gloss finish and finicky attention to detail…