Category: Drama

  • Late Spring (1949)

    Late Spring (1949)

    Ozu – Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu – is a weighty name in arthouse auteur circles, often referenced by Paul Schrader, Mike Leigh, Jim Jarmusch, Claire Denis, Koganda, amongst others. A weighty name even though the reputation of his films is that they are quiet, patient, and delicate. I was intending to begin 2023 on a… Read.

  • Return To Seoul (2022)

    Return To Seoul (2022)

    A character study whose style mirrors the push-and-pull of its protagonist, Return To Seoul (2022) follows a young French woman, Freddie (Park Ji-Min), who was adopted from South Korea. Visiting the home of her birth parents on a spur-of-the-moment deal, she also decides to track them down, and is completely unprepared for the emotional consequences.… Read.

  • Stars At Noon (2022)

    Stars At Noon (2022)

    One thing I love about Claire Denis as a director is her relationship with the band Tindersticks – they score most of her movies. To the point that the two movies she directed in 2022 – Stars At Noon and Both Sides Of The Blade – both featured a similar moment in their trailers where… Read.

  • Radioactive Dreams (1985)

    Radioactive Dreams (1985)

    1980s VHS were a wasteland of ‘wasteland’ post-apocalyptic movies, particularly after the success of the Mad Max movies. Actors stumbling around desert locations, lonely roads and abandoned factories in countries near and far, standing in for the Year 3000 or whenever. Radioactive Dreams (1985) is a post-apocalyptic flick but straddling several other genres, namely film… Read.

  • Heartbreakers (1984)

    Heartbreakers (1984)

    With its Tangerine Dream synth-wave score and gliding Michael Ballhaus cinematography, Heartbreakers (1984) exudes considerable neon-noir energy. Yet the movie has nothing to do with the crime or thriller genre. Instead, all that neon and energy is just the palpable aesthetic for a drama about male friendships. The film’s title card frames the two men… Read.