A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Italian and Italian-language Films
Luchino Visconti, “Il Gattopardo / The Leopard” (1963) A sumptuous film even by the glamorous standards of its time – and the 1960s did see a…
German and German-language Films
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, “Der Amerikanische Soldat / The American Soldier” (1970) A loosely stitched pastiche of elements borrowed from old Hollywood and French New Wave film…
German and German-language Films
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, “Götter der Pest / Gods of the Plague” (1970) Following on from “Love is Colder than Death” in R W Fassbinder’s trilogy of…
“Coffee and Papers with The Sydney Morning Herald, Jeremy Scahill and Antony Loewenstein,” Sydney Writers Festival (The Bar at the End of the Wharf, Sydney Theatre…
John Frankenheimer, “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962) At some point during the Korean War in 1952, a platoon of American soldiers is betrayed by their Korean interpreter who…
German and German-language Films
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, “Liebe ist kälter als der Tod / Love is Colder than Death” (1969) Gangster films might be an unusual choice for film-makers to…
David Ritter and Will Potter, “Ag-Gag Laws: The Bid to Silence Animal Advocates”, Voiceless 2014 Animal Law Lecture Series, Corrs Westgarth offices, Sydney, 2 May 2014…
Northern European Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Alexander Gaponenko, “Aliens” (2014) In August 1991, the Soviet Union broke up after a failed coup d’état and 15 new countries arose from its remains. Latvia…
Errol Morris, “The Thin Blue Line” (1988) Originally intended to be a documentary about another person who appears briefly in the film, “The Thin Blue Line”…
North American Films, Northern European Films
Lars von Trier, “Manderlay” (2005) The sequel to “Dogville” is an interesting philosophical if rather slower and less action-packed inquiry on the nature of freedom and democracy…