The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover: a parable on the decline and fall of neoliberal British society and culture
Peter Greenaway, “The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover” (1989) Straight away viewers
Tag: Revenge Films
Festen: a rich film skewering Danish society and social hypocrisy, and delivering redemption
Thomas Vinterberg, “Festen” (1998) “Festen” remains the best-known and most mainstream of the various films
Dead Sushi: wacky comedy horror film takes pot-shots at corporate culture and greed, and food obsessions
Noboru Iguchi, “Dead Sushi” (2012) In the tradition of wacky Japanese comedy horror flicks comes
German and German-language Films
The American Friend: an investigation into the nature of individual and collective identity
Wim Wenders, “Der Amerikanische Freund / The American Friend” (1977) Based on the novel “Ripley’s
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Hollywood Goth drama undone by misanthropy and poor source material
Tim Burton, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007) US film director Tim
Pieta (dir. Kim Kiduk): a cruel and absurd grotesquery mocking the poor and the marginalised
Kim Kiduk, “Pieta” (2012) This tale of dark revenge centres around a class of people
The Virgin Spring: a profound and moving work on vengeance, justice and the remoteness of religion
Ingmar Bergman, “The Virgin Spring / Jungfrukällan” (1960) Perhaps not so celebrated as “The Seventh
Mixing samurai sword action, gore and political commentary on “Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance”
Toshiya Fujita, “Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance / Shurayukihime: Urami Renga” (1974) At the
Lady Snowblood: questioning the pursuit of vengeance in a society undergoing rapid social and economic change
Toshiya Fujita, “Lady Snowblood / Shurayukihime” (1973) Based on a manga and the inspiration for
Oldboy: arthouse film trappings cannot disguise a flimsy plot, flat characters and an empty message
Chanwook Park, “Oldboy” (2003) When I saw this film the first time over a decade