Pusher III (2005)

By the third entry in the Pusher series, there’s an assumed narrative trajectory and familar story pattern: the camera follows the protagonist as they slowly start to get in over their heads with deals and debts. Yet it’s interesting across the three movies how the tone is still uniquely set by the lead character and […]

Rocco And His Brothers (1960)

Sometimes watching an old classic might feel like homework. A three hour black and white movie seems like a heavy undertaking. Then you watch a film of that length and vintage, and the time passes by quicker than you thought because you are deeply invested in the characters and storytelling. So it was with Luchino […]

Far From Men (2015)

Based on a short story by Albert Camus, Far From Men (2015; Loin des hommes) focuses on the inevitability of choice and of having to choose a side, particularly with its setting being the Algiers conflict in French-colonised North Africa during the 1950s. A former war veteran from World War 2, Daru (Viggo Mortensen) lives […]

Our Time (2018)

I took a chance on Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux mainly on the basis of the intriguing image of a red demon with horns moving through a living room. In the end, that was one surreal image included in a visually immersive arthouse drama about an upper class family and their workers in […]

Eureka (1983)

I remember stumbling across Nicolas Roeg’s film Eureka (1983) one late night on television and being blown away by the listed cast and the amazing first act documenting a prospector Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) searching for gold in the snowy mountains. I think I had to go to bed and missed out on the rest […]