French and French-language Films
Last Year at Marienbad: a comic and often repetitive satire on the empty lives of the wealthy
Alain Resnais, “Last Year at Marienbad / L’Année dernière à Marienbad” (1961) At times hilarious,
Tag: Romantic Comedies
Dark Horse: a bleak and surreal comedy satire on dysfunctional middle class suburban families
Todd Solondz, “Dark Horse” (2011) A bleak comedy expressing despair over the human condition, “Dark
Modern Times: sympathy for the underdog and horror at a machine society enforcing conformity and repression
Charlie Chaplin, “Modern Times” (1936) In its own way, “Modern Times” is significant as an
The Gold Rush: a fun and clever film of comedy, drama, romance, horror and thriller elements
Charles Chaplin, “The Gold Rush” (1925, revised 1942) In reality, the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush
Kakekomi: historical soap opera drama labouring under several sub-plots to tackle serious social issues
Masato Harada, “Kakekomi Onna to Kakedashi Otoko” (2015) A light-hearted historical drama set in Japan
The Makioka Sisters: a flat commentary on tradition and modernisation alike through a soap opera plot
Kon Ichikawa, “The Makioka Sisters” (1983) Admittedly this is a beautifully shot film and its
The Eel: tale of redemption labouring under too many complex abstract themes
Shohei Imamura, “The Eel / Unagi” (1997) Japan’s boys in blue have an enviable record
Hitchcock: offering banal fluff about Hitch’s marriage, ignoring complexities behind the making of “Psycho”
Sacha Gervasi, “Hitchcock” (2012) Fifty years after Alfred Hitchcock released his film “Psycho”, both director
Frida: conservative bio-pic turns artist Frida Kahlo’s life into unfunny and crude soap opera melodrama
Julie Taymor, “Frida” (2001) A very pretty and colourful film on the life of Mexican
Hysteria (dir. Tanya Wexler): a light-hearted giggle that riffs on women’s oppression and choosing between principle and respectability
Tanya Wexler, “Hysteria” (2011) A romantic comedy very loosely based on historical fact, “Hysteria” purports