Freaks: a sympathetic work that pleads on behalf of its performers and turns normality on its head
Todd Browning, “Freaks” (1932) A unique cult film of the kind that can be said to be the only film of its genre – outsider film,…
nausika
Australian and New Zealand Films
Chasing Asylum: an urgent film detailing the inhumanity and idiocy of Australian incarceration of refugees in overseas detention centres
Eva Orner, “Chasing Asylum” (2016) Finding information about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers kept in its detention centres on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru,…
Battleship Potemkin: a classic of drama, passion and the power of people to overturn injustice and oppression
Sergei Eisenstein, “Battleship Potemkin” (1925) Although this film was made over 90 years ago and is a silent black-and-white work, it still stands up well against…
British Films, North American Films
The Man Who Fell to Earth: a satire on US cut-throat capitalist society and how it alienates, controls and dehumanises people
Nicholas Roeg, “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976) For a film with hardly much plot and maybe too much soft-core pornography, “The Man who Fell…
Australian and New Zealand Films
The Sound of One Hand Clapping: retreating into blandness and relying on stereotypes and a banal plot-line
Richard Flanagan, “The Sound of One Hand Clapping” (1998) If there’s any value to this film at all, it is as an object lesson in how not…
Spirited Away: a lavish film representing the peak of Studio Ghibli’s creativity and the start of its decline
Hayao Miyazaki, “Spirited Away” (2001) In many ways, “Spirited Away” represents the peak of Studio Ghibli’s creativity and innovation, and the beginning of its decline as a creator…
French and French-language Films
Marguerite: a rich film of how loyalty, control and hypocrisy intersect with innocence and free spirit
Xavier Giannoli, “Marguerite” (2015) The inspiration for this film may have been the American socialite and amateur opera soprano Florence Foster Jenkins who was notorious for…
Italian and Italian-language Films
The Hawks and the Sparrows: a rambling road movie enquiry into the social and political conflicts of Italian society in the 1960s
Pier Paolo Pasolini, “The Hawks and the Sparrows / Uccellacci e Uccellini” (1966) A bit confusing and rambling, this road movie about a father and his…
Whistle: a bland and modest sci-fi thriller that saves its killer punch for the last
Duncan Jones, “Whistle” (2002) “Moon” director Duncan Jones’ first feature is a 29-minute short that initially looks bland and banal, and moves slowly in its first…
Moon: using familiar ideas and concepts to generate thinking about the nature of individuality and identity
Duncan Jones, “Moon” (2009) Like father, like son, no? … decades ago David Bowie sang songs of doomed astronaut Major Tom and in 2009 son Duncan…