Characters and plot are as flat and blank as snowscapes in “Fargo”
Joel Coen, “Fargo” (1996) A kidnap plot cooked up to save a car salesman’s hide going awry through sheer bad luck, incompetence and stupidity is the…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Princess Iron Fan: first Asian full-length animated movie is an overstretched “short cartoon”
Wan Guchan and Wan Laiming, “Princess Iron Fan” / “Tian Shan Gong Zhu” (1941) This retelling of a Chinese folk tale “Journey to the West” featuring…
The Andromeda Nebula: the Soviet Star Trek that was never to be in spite of impressive visual style
Yevgeny Sherstobitov, “The Andromeda Nebula” (1967) Based on a novel “Andromeda: a Space-Age Tale” by Ivan Efremov, this is a very visually striking film about the…
Klute: crime thriller / psychological character study about personal control, paranoia and saving face
Alan J Pakula, “Klute” (1971) Ostensibly a crime thriller about a prostitute who assists a small-town private investigator in a missing-person case, this film is better…
Ikarie XB-1: an early 1960’s space travel movie that boldly went where no space travel movie went before
Jindrích Polák, “Ikarie XB-1” (1963) A compelling early 1960’s science fiction gem from the old Czechoslovakia is this lavish effort by Polák that details the day-to-day…
French and French-language Films
Paris qui dort: amusing and light-hearted short film about human nature and Paris as a fantasy city
René Clair, “Paris qui dort” (1925) An amusing and light-hearted moral fable about what would happen if individuals suddenly had unfettered freedom to do what they…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Exiled: gangster movie about honour, loyalty and brotherhood celebrates life in the face of a chaotic and indifferent universe
Johnnie To, “Exiled” aka “Fong Juk” (2006) Set in Macau territory just before its return by Portugal to China in 1998, this gangster film is a…
French and French-language Films
La Jetée: a brave experiment in film-making about the nature of time and memory as it depicts a tragic romance
Chris Marker, “La Jetée” aka “The Jetty’ (1962) Unusual in its use of still black-and-white photography to tell its story of time travel, this short movie…
The Planet of Storms: lowbrow 1960’s Soviet sci-fi film with high production values and slight subtext
Pavel Klushantsev, “Planeta Bur’ ” aka “The Planet of Storms” (1962) In the early 1960’s Soviet space exploration was focussed on sending probes and eventually manned…
Midnight Cowboy: satirical character study of two men pursuing their particular American Dreams
John Schlesinger, “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) Over forty years ago when this movie was released, it was seen as gritty and ground-breaking but these days “Midnight Cowboy”…