The Beautiful Leukanida: early animated fable of love, jealousy, war and annihilation in an insect universe
Wladyslaw Starewicz, “The Beautiful Leukanida / Prekrasnaya Lyukanida” (1912) In a long career spanning some
Tag: Fantasy
French and French-language Films
The Mascot: a puppet dog’s mission of self-sacrifice results in an amazing masterpiece of stop-motion animation
Wladyslaw Starewicz, “The Mascot / Fétiche Mascotte ” (1933) An amazing and brilliant short work
Tales from Earthsea: a fantasy film lacking in sparkle and wonder
Goro Miyazaki, “Tales from Earthsea / Gedo senki” (2006) Watching this film, gorgeous as it
Over Your Dead Body: an extreme, almost cartoon-ish horror ghost film homage where life imitates art
Takashi Miike, “Over Your Dead Body” (2014) From the incredibly prolific director Takashi Miike, who
Steppenwolf: a stodgy and soporific adaptation of a cult counter-culture novel
Fred Haines, “Steppenwolf” (1974) There was a period in the 1960s when this 1927 novel
Formulaic coming-of-age heroic fantasy blends with Thai Buddhist beliefs in “The Legend of Muay Thai: 9 Satra”
Pongsa Kornsri, Gun Phansuwon, Nat Yoswatananont, “The Legend of Muay Thai: 9 Satra” (2018) Not
Your Name: teenage romance comedy drama comes with an unexpected twist sending it into disaster sci-fi fantasy
Makoto Shinkai, “Your Name” (2016) At first this teenage romance drama seems to be just
On Body and Soul: a quiet and quirky character study / romance drama founders on a thin and manipulative plot
Ildiko Endelyi, “On Body and Soul / Teströl és lélekröl ” (2017) A quirky romance drama on
German and German-language Films
Faust: a visually stunning film with many magnificent scenes – but a thin story weakens it
F W Murnau, “Faust” (1926) Visually powerful and stunning, with an incredible opening scene of
The Shape of Water: a magic realist mash-up of several genres lays on the identity politics and self-indulgence thickly
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water” (2017) Inspired by the famous Hollywood classic “The