“The artist is the medium between his fantasies and the rest of the world.” — Federico Fellini Scholars and film fans tend to divide the career of Federico Fellini, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year, into two periods. The first half is more influenced by the Italian neorealist movement that his mentor… Read more »
“Cinema has become my life. I don’t mean a parallel world, I mean my life itself. I sometimes have the impression that the daily reality is simply there to provide material for my next film.” — Pedro Almodóvar There are many things to admire in the films of acclaimed Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodóvar. There are… Read more »
“To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.” – Herman Melville “What interests me the most is human behavior.” – Neil Simon Director Robert Eggers has named many influences on his new nautical horror film The Lighthouse. They include filmmakers… Read more »
Agnès Varda’s legendary career was defined by many qualities, but two especially striking ones were playfulness and empathy. Her playful experiments with film form, including a blurring of the line between nonfiction and fiction, mark her as an innovator. At the same time, her empathy for whoever she is filming gives her films an emotional… Read more »
Warning: spoilers throughout! People all over the world recognize Rashōmon as an important film for many reasons. They acknowledge that it introduced legendary director Akira Kurosawa and his work to the West, that it was the first Japanese film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and, most famously, that it popularized… Read more »
There are many pleasures to be found in silent comedy. There’s the energy of the Keystone Kops, the mix of slapstick and emotion of Charlie Chaplin, and the stone-faced absurdity of Buster Keaton. But one of the most underrated pleasures in silent comedy can be found in the films of an underappreciated actor: the escalation… Read more »