A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
British Films, French and French-language Films
Roman Polanski, “The Ghost Writer” (2009) Circumstances surrounding this film were peculiar enough in themselves: in travelling to the Zurich Film Festival as a special guest…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Laputa, Castle in the Sky / Tenko no shiro Ryaputa” (1986) One of Studio Ghibli’s great joys, this film has everything you could possibly…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Kaze no tani no Naushika” (1984) Based on his own manga of the same name, Miyazaki’s…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Jeni Clevers (producer), “The Big Blue” (2006) There’s an area in the Southern Ocean just south of South Australia and south-eastern Australia near Tasmania where every…
British Films, French and French-language Films
Terence Young, “Mayerling” (1968) Better known perhaps for directing three James Bond films in the 1960s, the British director Terence Young turned his hand to making…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Klaus Toft, “Killers in Eden” (2004) Made for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, this television documentary explores an intriguing partnership forged between humans and wild animals that…
Hiroshi Inagaki, “The 47 Ronin / Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki” (1962) The tale of the 47 masterless samurai who avenged their lord’s forced…
Pablo Berger, “Blancanieves” (2012) In the style of old 1920s expressionist silent films, Berger’s “Blancanieves” is a witty, layered and lavish Gothic retelling of the fairy-tale…
WHAT’S TO BE DONE WITH CHECHNYA? Chechnya: a Troubled Region After the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013, and the arrest of suspect bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev…
Eastern European Films, North American Films
Joshua Marston, “The Forgiveness of Blood / Falja e Gjakut” (2010) Hard to believe that even in Europe there are societies where the very new and…