The Exquisite Balance of Action and Repose in Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida
TIFF 2014: Ida’s black and white imagery and heavy use of static shots might seem a little one-dimensional, but its simplicity is part of its charm.
The Irrepressible Spirit of Youth: Mark Cousins’ The First Movie
TIFF 2014: This is a film inspired by the irrepressible spirit of youth, a spirit unbowed by the horrific gas attacks suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein.
A Serenade for a Grinning Assassin with Saul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura
TIFF 2014: The national divide between two very different parts of one city, El Paso and Ciudad Juaréz, is the setting for this provocative documentary about the catastrophic ‘war on drugs’.
The Sixth Sense, Part III: Motifs and a Funeral
We conclude our in-depth analysis of M. Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece with a close look at motifs and structural aspects, concluding with a shot-by-shot commentary on the post-funeral sequence.
The Sixth Sense, Part II: Beginnings and Ends
A visual analysis of key scenes of M. Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece and his virtuoso use of motifs, staging and interconnectedness to achieve coherence and closure.
The Sixth Sense, Part I: Stature and Style
A stunning piece of high-precision filmmaking, formally inventive, thematically intelligent, emotionally gripping, a momentous commercial success, an almost perfect film.
Lady in the Water, Part II: Self-reflexivity and visual stylisation
A return to this severely under-appreciated film, for its discussion of storytelling, interpretation, film criticism, artificiality, stylisation, interconnectedness – and whether stories can become real.
Lady in the Water, Part I: A reappraisal
It was one of the most hated films of the 2000s, but with the trauma now at a distance, it is time to appreciate M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water for its very real qualities.
My Sweet, Frigid Little Girl: Some Thoughts on Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan
Ruminations on sex, narcissism, mirrors, thematic reflections, melodrama and patterns in Black Swan.