Contempt (1963)

Contempt (1963; Le Mepris) was a film that I admired or appreciated rather than loved. I’ve long read about it, seen it discussed by film critics and directors, and it did help to learn this was director Jean-Luc Godard’s only film financially backed by American film producers and that he didn’t like the filming experience. […]

Cleo From 5 To 7 (1962)

Only having seen One Sings, The Other Doesn’t, I was excited to explore further the career of director Agnes Varda. Taking advantage of the ‘Voila Varda’ section on the expanded Mubi library, I was finally able to watch her film, Cleo From 5 To 7 (1962; Cléo de 5 à 7), a classic of the […]

Red Desert (1964)

Michelangelo Antonioni is a divisive auteur and I can understand why some people don’t like him – wealthy people being bored in slow narratives where nothing much happens. But I really like L’Eclisse and The Passenger as absorbing portraits of alienation. Red Desert (1964; Il deserto rosso) was advertised as Antonioni’s first film in colour, […]

Sonatine (1993)

When violence occurs in Sonatine (1993), directed, written and starring Takeshi Kitano, it is sudden and shocking. Yet there’s also a blankness to it – gangsters fire their guns without emotion and react impassively to the blood. For a crime movie about the Yakuza, the lifestyle is not presented with any excitement or flashiness. Kitano […]

A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence (2014)

It’s sad that it’s taken me this long to watch a Roy Andersson film – I’d always been intrigued by Songs From The Second Floor when it came out. But life is sad, y’know, and why not start with the last of the ‘trilogy’ that includes Songs and You, The Living. From what I gather, […]