Somewhere in Northern England, the doorbell rings; a visitor has come to view the room that’s to let. All seems well until suddenly he stops at the foot of the stairs, turns sharply and stares at one of the inhabitants, his ink-black eyes expressionless. All at once we know: this penguin can’t be trusted. The […]
Space Oddity: ‘Dune’ (1984)
Is David Lynch’s Dune an incomprehensible mess, a misunderstood masterpiece or somewhere in between? In setting out to adapt Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel for the screen, Lynch ventured where few other filmmakers dared to tread—with decidedly mixed results. We begin with a woman’s face projected against a field of stars. She is Princess Irulan […]
Powell Before Pressburger: ‘Rynox’ (1931), ‘Hotel Splendide’ (1932), ‘Red Ensign’ (1934) and ‘The Phantom Light’ (1935)
One of the manifold joys of Cinema Unbound, the landmark Powell and Pressburger series that ran this summer at the Museum of Modern Art, was the opportunity to see some of Michael Powell’s earliest work as a director. Between 1931 and 1936, Powell directed nearly two dozen films, the majority of them ‘quota quickies’: cheaply […]
In the Bleak Midwinter: ‘Christmas Holiday’ (1944)
Imagine the plot of Christmas Holiday, a film starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. Did you think of a jolly musical with yuletide trimmings? Well, scrap all of that. Directed by Robert Siodmak and inspired by W. Somerset Maugham’s novel of the same name, Christmas Holiday is a film noir as bleak as a barren […]
Birds, Bees and Educated Fleas: ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ (2000)
On paper, Kenneth Branagh’s Love’s Labour’s Lost sounds inspired: take one of Shakespeare’s least-known plays, adapt it for the screen for the first time and transform it into a frothy musical to make it more accessible. Would that it t’were so simple. The King of Navarre (Alessandro Nivola) decides that he and three of his […]
Angel in the House: ‘The Sign of the Ram’ (1948)
As far as 1940s Hollywood was concerned, Cornwall was a death trap. Stray across its borders and you risked being menaced by ghosts (The Uninvited, 1944), terrorised by homicidal housekeepers (Rebecca, 1940) or trapped in a funhouse version of reality, doubting your own sanity (My Name is Julia Ross, 1945). In the opening minutes of […]
The Feather on the Scales: ‘Defending Your Life’ (1991)
Defending Your Life is a comedy, but this doesn’t mean it should be taken lightly. A vision of the afterlife that ponders the nature of existence and what the sum of all our days might finally amount to, it suggests there is a fate even worse than death: never having truly lived. Daniel Miller (Albert […]
After the End: ‘Panic in Year Zero!’ (1962)
In January, the Doomsday Clock remained set at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever come to tolling the hour of the apocalypse. From climate change to global conflict, unregulated AI and predictions of the next pandemic, the world is teetering on the brink. A film like Panic in Year Zero!, which imagines […]
The Good Life: ‘The Barefoot Contessa’ (1954)
The Barefoot Contessa seems to exist for three reasons: to expose the vapidity of Hollywood; to give a good cast some great dialogue; and to serve as a testament to the beauty of Ava Gardner. It succeeds in all of these endeavours, but moves at such a glacial pace, you begin to wonder if the whole business is worth the time.
We’re Jungle Creatures: ‘The Lion in Winter’ (1968)
Christmas, season of peace and good will to all men, when families congregate by the hearth to eat, drink and rejoice in the warmth of each other’s company. Unless you’re a Plantagenet, in which case you’d best keep your wits sharp and a blade handy. It’s December 1183 and Henry II (Peter O’Toole), King of […]
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