Un Chien Andalou: a special once-in-a-lifetime visual experience
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, “Un Chien Andalou” (1929) Famous surrealist film that never fails to shock and surprise despite having been made over 80 years,…
Romantic Comedies
Rich and Strange: romantic comedy needs Hitchcock’s obsessions to make it richer and stranger
Alfred Hitchcock, “Rich and Strange” aka “East of Shanghai” (1931) One of a group of films Hitchcock made in his lean early-1930’s period – the others include…
Waltzes from Vienna: Hitchcock ill at ease with musical comedy of Johann Strauss II
Alfred Hitchcock, “Waltzes from Vienna” (1934) What’s this? – a musical comedy about Johann Strauss II and his waltz “The Blue Danube” by Alfred Hitchcock? The…
French and French-language Films
Delicatessen: amusing dystopian black comedy that overdoes the oddball edge and comes out looking twee
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, “Delicatessen” (1991) How to describe this droll French movie that tackles cannibalism in a light-hearted manner? It’s at once a dystopian…
Early Summer: visually stunning film with message about effects of change on families
Yasujiro Ozu, “Early Summer” (1951) Calm and serene with a thin plot, “Early Summer” looks at a family and the changes it undergoes as a result…
The Man without a Past: heart-warming comedy about need for “identity” to survive in modern society
Aki Kaurismäki, “The Man without a Past” (2002) A heart-warming comedy about a man who is beaten up and left for dead but survives only to…
The 39 Steps (dir. Alfred Hitchcock): the movie with the secret code that cracked success for Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock, “The 39 Steps” (1935) Very loosely based on John Buchan’s novel “The Thirty-Nine Steps” – it’s best if you don’t read the novel first…
Love and Other Crimes: romantic comedy deals with love and change in a society caught between Communism and corporatism
Stefan Arsenijevic, “Love and other Crimes” (2008) For a romantic comedy, this film sure looks bleak with a bleary run-down urban setting of endless grey residential…
Citizen Dog: comedy with one-dimensional heroes and disappointing plot
Wisit Sasanatieng, “Citizen Dog” (2004) Living in Australia with its huge Hollywood fixation, even though Hollywood’s output of films has declined a lot since the Global…
To Catch A Thief: there’s fluff and then there’s fluff, Hitchcock-style
Alfred Hitchcock, “To Catch A Thief” (1955) A clever light-hearted comedy crime caper set in southern France, this was one of Grace Kelly’s last films before…