Welcome to issue 46 of our journal! the editors March 2008 Editorial Film history is full of byways and back alleys, ‘little histories’ that weave their way on the margins and tributaries that traverse the canonised super-highways of film history. Leave the super-highway and...
M. Night Shyamalan: A Preliminary Report Lesley Brill March 2008 Feature Articles The director of The Sixth Sense and Lady in the Water has experienced the highs and lows of critical and box-office reception. Brill takes stock of his career through an impressively detailed analysis of his features to date.
Three Contemporary Spanish Films: Landscape, Recollection, Voice Linda C. Ehrlich March 2008 Feature Articles In this diary-essay, Linda Ehrlich offers some engaging impressions on three impressive films from Spain: El Cielo gira (2004), La Leyenda del tiempo (2006) and Unas Fotos … en la ciudad de Sylvia (2007).
Will the Real Revolution Please Stand Up: An Interview with Lech Kowalski Jennifer Jones March 2008 Feature Articles An in-depth discussion with the director of such cult-music era-defining documentaries as Hey is Dee Dee Home, Born to Lose and the ‘Sex Pistols in America’ movie D.O.A., together with outstanding films such as Hitler’s Highway and, most recently, Winners and Losers. Surprising revelations are to be found in what Kowalski has to say on all manner of subjects.
“… I’m Gone”; or Seven Characters in Search of an Exit: Some Reflections on Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There. Adrian Danks March 2008 Feature Articles One of the most discussed films on recent release. Is it a measure of the film’s qualities or a result of the enduring fascination with all things Dylan? Danks separates the substance from the hype.
The Power of Resistance: Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne Wheeler Winston Dixon March 2008 Feature Articles Wheeler Dixon provides a refreshing look at one of the enduring masterpieces of French cinema.
The Spirit of Oldenburg: The 14th Oldenburg Film Festival Brad Stevens March 2008 Festival Reports 12-16 September 2007 Oldenburg is lots of fun. I’ve been there twice, the first time on September 11, 2001. Torsten and his crew are really nice,...
Holding Up the Other Half of the Sky: The 26th Vancouver International Film Festival Bérénice Reynaud March 2008 Festival Reports 27 September-12 October 2007 The renewal of cinema sometimes comes from unexpected places. Who would have believed, a few years ago, in a Roman...
Underground/Overground: The 1st Sydney Underground Film Festival John Conomos March 2008 Festival Reports 7–10 September 2007 Last September, from the 7th to the 10th, the Sydney Underground Film Festival was staged at the Factory Theatre, Enmore....
The Political Matters. The Soul Does, Too. Wise Old Men Rule: The 64th Venice Film Festival Barbara Wurm March 2008 Festival Reports 29 August – 8 September 2007 Every big festival comprises a minimum of two festivals, no matter how you differ your own private cine-right fr...
A Secret Sun Shines: The 5th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival Ben Cho March 2008 Festival Reports 23 September – 10 October 2007 While I couldn’t make the trek to the 2007 Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), there were murmurs a...
From One Red Balloon to the Next: The 2007 AFI Fest/American Film Market Bérénice Reynaud March 2008 Festival Reports It is now a done deal: at the beginning of November, the American Film Institute Festival (1-11 November) and the American Film Market (31 Octo...
Why Women Rule: The 34th Telluride Film Festival Rob Phillips March 2008 Festival Reports 31 August – 3 September 2007 The 34th annual Telluride Film Festival concluded on Labor Day with a picnic on the lush, green lawn of Tellurid...
CineSuspense: Le Giornate del Cinema Muto: The 26th Pordenone Silent Film Festival Virginia Wright Wexman March 2008 Festival Reports 6-13 October 2007 Many of us who gathered in Pordenone this October for its annual festival of silent films, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, arr...
Adrift: The Experimenta Program at The Times BFI 51st London Film Festival Mark Harwood March 2008 Festival Reports 17 October – 1 November 2007 “We are an island drifting away from the BFI Southbank…” were the words curator Mark Webber used to describe the s...
Snow Drift: The 2007 Lucca Film Festival Maximilian Le Cain March 2008 Festival Reports 28 September – 6 October 2007 The Lucca Film Festival was set up in tribute to the late Italian critic Marco Melani. Run by a group of young ci...
Lost Poetics Past: The 50th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film Olaf Möller March 2008 Festival Reports 29 October – 4 November 2007 The main reason I went to the Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Films this year was the ...
Chaplin, Charles James L. Neibaur March 2008 Great Directors b. 16 April 1889, Walworth, London, England, UK d. 25 December 1977, Vevey, Switzerland Filmography Select Bibliography Articles in Senses We...
Born in Flames: Termite Dreams, Dialectical Fairy Tales, and Pop Apocalypses by Howard Hampton Patrick Ellis March 2008 Book Reviews Is there another American film critic as aggressive as Howard Hampton? In “Lynch Mob”, an article for Artforum that is indicative of Hampton’s tenor, ...
Dying to Belong: Gangster Movies in Hollywood and Hong Kong by Martha P. Nochimson Lindsay Coleman March 2008 Book Reviews Dying to Belong, the newest book by author Martha P. Nochimson, cannot be faulted for lack of ambition. Her stated intention is the symmetries and a...
Physical Evidence: Selected Film Criticism by Kent Jones John Fidler March 2008 Book Reviews The critic must have two things: personality and an ax to grind. – Eric Bentley, critic and playwright (1) In his review of Todd Haynes’ I’m Not The...
Josh Hartnett Definitely Wants to Do This…: True Stories from a Life in the Screen Trade by Bruce Beresford Tom Ryan March 2008 Book Reviews He didn’t know it at the time, but, in October 2003, Australian film director Bruce Beresford (The Adventures of Barry McKenzie , “Breaker” Morant , D...
A Partial World Viewed: Film Fables and The Future of the Image by Jacques Rancière Tony McKibbin March 2008 Book Reviews Jacques Rancière’s books, Film Fables and The Future of the Image, are really trying to do what his work in politics often does. If his collection of ...
The Cinema of Australia and New Zealand edited by Geoff Mayer and Keith Beattie Katherine Fry March 2008 Book Reviews For a reader like myself, The Cinema of Australia and New Zealand served as an opportunity to revisit films and filmmakers not thought of for some tim...
Histoire(s) du cinéma Alifeleti Brown March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988-1998 France/Switzerland 265 Mins) Program 1a: “Toutes les historie(s)” (“All the stories”) 51 mins; Program 1b: “Un...
Eaux d’Artifice: Wet Dreams and Water Sports in the Garden of Delights Deborah Allison March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Eaux d’Artifice (1953 Italy/USA 13 mins) Filmmaker: Kenneth Anger Cast: Carmilla Salvatorelli Eaux d’Artifice is arguably one of the simp...
Dance of the Vampires/The Fearless Vampire Killers Darragh O’Donoghue March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Dance of the Vampires/The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, but Your Teeth are in My Neck (1967 UK 107 mins) Prod Co: M-G-M/Cadre/Filmway...
A Woman of Paris James L. Neibaur March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film A Woman of Paris (1923 USA 93 mins) Prod, Dir, Scr: Charles Chaplin Phot: Roland Totheroh Ed: Monta Bell Art Dir: Arthur Stibolt Cast: Edna Purv...
Wild Night in El Reno Brian Darr March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Wild Night in El Reno (1977 USA 6 mins) Filmmaker: George Kuchar Storms have been a motif found throughout filmmaker George Kuchar’s work. W...
Painterly Moments in Roman Polanski’s Tess Arthur Rankin March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Tess (1979 France/UK 177 mins) Prod Co: Renn/Burrill Prod: Claude Berri Dir: Roman Polanski Scr: Roman Polanski, Gerard Brach, John Brownjohn b...
State Legislature John Fidler March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film State Legislature (2006 USA 217 mins) Prod Co: Zipporah Films, Inc. Prod, Dir, Ed, Sound: Frederick Wiseman Phot: John Davey Let us go then, y...
Russian Ark Pasquale Iannone March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Russian Ark/Russkiy kovcheg (2002 Russia 99 mins) Prod Co: Egoli Tossell Film/For a Film/The Hermitage Bridge Studio Prod: Andrei Deryabin, Jen...
Rosemary’s Baby Pedro Blas Gonzalez March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Rosemary’s Baby (1968 USA 136 mins) Prod Co: Paramount Prod: William Castle Dir: Roman Polanski Scr: Roman Polanski, based on the novel by Ira ...
Macbeth Martyn Bamber March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Macbeth (1971 UK/USA 140 mins) Prod Co: Playboy Productions/Columbia Pictures Prod: Andrew Braunsberg Dir: Roman Polanski Scr: Roman Polanski, ...
“You Press the Button, We Do the Rest”: Some Thoughts on Péter Forgács’ The Land of Nothing Adrian Danks March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film The Land of Nothing (1996 Hungary 62 mins) Dir, Ed, Research: Péter Forgács Phot: László Rátz, and other sources Mus: Tibor Szemzõ The events ...
Andrzej and Krystyna go Boating: Roman Polanski’s Knife in the Water Matthew Clayfield March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film Nóz w wodzie/Knife in the Water (1962 Poland 94 mins) Prod Co: Zespol Filmowy “Kamera” Prod: Stanislaw Zylewicz Dir: Roman Polanski Scr: Jerzy ...
The Godless Girl David Sanjek March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film The Godless Girl (1929 US 113 mins) Prod Co: C.B. DeMille Prod, Dir: Cecil B. DeMille Scr: Jeanie Macpherson Phot: J. Peverell Marley Ed: Anne ...
The End of St. Petersburg Robert Keser March 2008 CTEQ Annotations on Film The End of St. Petersburg/Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927 USSR 80 mins) Prod Co: Mezhrabpom-Rus Studio, Moscow Dir: Vsevolod Pudovkin Co-Dir: Mik...
Adieu, Eric Rohmer Rolando Caputo and Michelle Carey April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Co-editors’ introduction to this commemorative issue on Eric Rohmer.
When Rohmer Was Making ‘Silent Films’ Jackie Raynal with Berenice Reynaud April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Like many of his collaborators, filmmaker Jackie Raynal was present at the Cinémathèque Française’s memorial homage to Rohmer earlier this year. Sparked by the occasion, she looks back at her time with Rohmer in this heartfelt reminiscence.
New Interview with Eric Rohmer Pascal Bonitzer, Jean-Louis Comolli, Serge Daney and Jean Narboni April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers A landmark interview originally published in Cahiers du cinéma in 1970. The journal was in the midst of its Marxist/Leninist era, while Rohmer's Bazinian idealism was vindicated by the success of My Night at Maud’s. A fascinating joust between two entirely opposed views of the cinema
Eric Rohmer’s Place de l’Étoile Luc Moullet April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Fellow critic and filmmaker Luc Moullet gives due consideration to Rohmer’s sketch in Paris vu par… highlighting its fidelity to location.
Secrets and Lies: Three Documentaries About Eric Rohmer Bruce Perkins April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Rohmer was himself a private and reserved individual who, more often that not, shunned the spotlight. Bruce Perkins examines three documentaries on the filmmaker, and concludes that together they offer as vivid and multi-dimensional a portrait of Rohmer as we can wish for.
Eric Rohmer, Educator Alain Hertay April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Former pupil and author of a study on Rohmer, Alain Hertay, offers a reflection on the short films Rohmer made for educational television.
Cinema and the Classroom: Education in the Work of Eric Rohmer Darragh O’Donoghue April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers In both content and form, a strong pedagogical endeavour has informed the work of Rohmer throughout his career. Darragh O’Donoghue discusses this inclination, focusing on some of the earlier shorts and made-for-television documentaries.
The Sign of the Map: Cartographic Reading and Le signe du lion Roland-François Lack April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers The topographical tracings of Rohmer’s feature debut reveal a dual motif: the cartographic and the photographic. Roland-François Lack’s insightful essay meticulously traces the unfolding of this dual motif.
La collectionneuse: Dandies on the Côte d’Azur Jacob Leigh April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Jacob Leigh looks into both the production history and the general cultural influences that inform Rohmer’s first-produced but fourth listed of the feature length ‘Moral Tales’.
Night Moves Around Maud Bruce Jackson April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Arthur Penn’s 1975 detective thriller contains one of the most noted of references to My Night a Maud’s, but as Bruce Jackson argues, it is more than just a token nod.
Choice and Chance: A Dialectic of Morality and Romance in Eric Rohmer’s My Night at Maud’s Constantine Santas April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Love, morality, fidelity and chance crystallised around Pascal’s ‘wager’. Taken by many to be the key film of the ‘Six Moral Tales’ series, the fascination of this film has not receded with time. Constantine Santas unravels the film’s thematics.
The Roving ‘I’: Ambiguous Subjectivity in Eric Rohmer’s ‘Six Moral Tales’ Karen Goodman April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Karen Goodman examines the nature of desire and subjectivity, both male and female, in Rohmer’s first great series of films.
The Tale of Perceval le Gallois and the Young Althusserians Daniel Fairfax April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Infused with artifice, Rohmer’s remarkable adaptation of Chrétien de Troyes’ 12th-century verse poem marked a temporary radical shift in style for the filmmaker. But why? Daniel Fairfax looks for answers in the light of post-68 French film theory.
Love and Desire in Eric Rohmer’s ‘Comedies and Proverbs’ and ‘Tales of the Four Seasons’ Fiona Handyside April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers Much of Rohmer’s ‘80s and ‘90s work concerns the myriad of amorous choices his modern heroines face. Moreover, Fiona Handyside argues, they form a meta-text on the representation of love through the ages.
Following The Law of One’s Own Being: The Crying Woman in The Green Ray Tony McKibbin April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers A discursive exploration on the philosophic significance of the figure of ‘the crying woman’ in this most radiant of films.
Short Take Tributes on Rohmer Various. April 2010 Eric Rohmer Dossier, Feature Articles, Special Dossiers A selection of individual tributes and short essays by Terry Ballard, Adam Bingham, Conall Cash, John Conomos, David F. Coursen, Adrian Danks, Linda Ehrlich, and Wheeler Winston Dixon.
Reworking Romanticism: Paul Cox’s Man of Flowers Victoria Duckett December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers Let us not say, “If only the texts were richer, the witnesses more loquacious, the confessions more detailed!” Don’t we seem today to have everything ...
Paul Cox: An Appreciation Roger Ebert December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers I believe the first film by Paul Cox I saw was Man of Flowers (1983), at the 1984 Chicago Film Festival. The next year, My First Wife (1984). I heard ...
Ardea Paul Carter December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers Ardea cinerea is the scientific name of the Grey Heron found in Europe. In Human Touch (2004) a heron alights for a moment on a stone basin in the gar...
The Persistent Maverick Maria Stratford December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers “I find living itself quite difficult so you may as well make it more difficult by doing something crazy.” - Paul Cox (1) Paul Cox has been making...
A Collaboration Between Two Artists Asher Bilu December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers My work with Paul Cox as Production Designer has been successful, I believe, because we have much in common. On the surface, our backgrounds are simil...
Idiosyncrasy and Film Alexander Garcia Duttmann December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers 1. If I had to choose a motto for Paul Cox’s films, no motto would seem more appropriate to me than the phrase: “For people who like that sort of thin...
To the point on point Chris Haywood December 2009 Paul Cox Dossier, Special Dossiers “Paulus Henrikus Benidictus Cox”: the name triggers images of a character from some historical tale by Umberto Eco. From my experiences of collaborati...
On The Beach (Stanley Kramer, 1959, USA) Deane Williams September 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
Strike Me Lucky (Ken G. Hall, 1934) Lesley Speed September 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
Wolf Creek (Greg Mclean, 2005) William “Bill” Blick September 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
On the Home Front: Newsfront (Phillip Noyce, 1978) Adrian Danks September 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
Intervention: Katherine, NT (Julie Nimmo, 2008) Dugald Williamson September 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
Romper Stomper (Geoffrey Wright, 1992) Lucille Paterson September 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
“Take it all off baby, take it all off” – The Australian Kamasutra: Love Serenade (Shirley Barrett, 1996) Catherine Simpson August 2009 Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Special Dossiers
Moving through the Absence: Viviane Vagh’s Ground Zero NY, 2005 Diana Gonzalez July 2009 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Viviane Vagh From there, faced with these large frescoes, the feeling of the past being wiped away, of its disappearing and the impression of ruins: of traces of...
Notes on Free Women/Femmes libres Grant Wiedenfeld July 2009 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Viviane Vagh In a field dominated by intellectual showmanship and hermetic eccentricity, Viviane Vagh’s filmmaking speaks with a voice as familiar as it is poe...
Magical Transformations: A Conversation with Viviane Vagh Justine Gaunt July 2009 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Viviane Vagh “There are lots of different identities in my genes”, says Viviane Vagh. We speak on the ’phone, she in Paris, me in Yorkshire, but either of us c...
Viviane Vagh and the Poetics of Disappearance, Or: A Portrait of Cinema as a Young Girl Gabriela Trujillo July 2009 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Viviane Vagh A young girl on a sunny day. Gracefully, she comes and goes. Does she know she’s being filmed? Does she know that, as her image multiplies on the ...
Experimental Fusions: Viviane Vagh’s Beachcombers Installations Romy Sutherland July 2009 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Viviane Vagh Viviane Vagh’s absorbing installation series, “Beachcombers”, is a celebration of fusion. Vagh explores the meeting points of natural elements, su...
Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia John Hughes July 2009 MIFF Premiere Fund/Post-Punk Dossier, Special Dossiers The new feature documentary scheduled for release at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year, Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Austra...
Charles Bitsch’s Filmography and Publications Sally Shafto March 2008 Special Dossiers, The New Wave Remembered: Focus on Charles Bitsch Partial Filmography of Bitsch’s own films 1953 episode of Les Trois rendez-vous 1963 “Cher baiser”, sketch film in Les Baisers 1964 “Lucky la cha...
Interview with Orson Welles André Bazin and Charles Bitsch March 2008 Special Dossiers, The New Wave Remembered: Focus on Charles Bitsch In the first decade of the Cahiers era, Bitsch conducted many interviews with Hollywood directors. He has expressed great fondness for this particular one – because of Welles and in memory of his co-interviewer, the legendary André Bazin.
The House or the Chaos Luc Moullet March 2008 Special Dossiers, The New Wave Remembered: Focus on Charles Bitsch An elegant essay in praise of Bitsch’s films, written by fellow Cahiers du Cinéma critic and French New Wave director Luc Moullet.
Introduction to Dossier Sally Shafto March 2008 Special Dossiers, The New Wave Remembered: Focus on Charles Bitsch When exactly is the 50th anniversary of the French Nouvelle Vague? Sally Shafto provides a brief rationale.
Interview with Charles Bitsch Sally Shafto March 2008 Special Dossiers, The New Wave Remembered: Focus on Charles Bitsch Wide-ranging interview in which Bitsch discusses his youthful cinéphilia, his association with Cahiers du Cinéma, and his work with Jacques Rivette, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, et al. So evocative, one can almost relive history in the making through his words.
2007 World Poll – Part 2 Various February 2008 2007 World Poll John Gianvito Antony I. Ginnane Stephen Goddard Chiranjit Goswami Kharálampos Goyós Benjamin Halligan Lee Hill Peter Hourig...
2007 World Poll – Part 1 Various February 2008 2007 World Poll Acquarello Peg Aloi Geoff Andrew Sean Axmaker Martyn Bamber Michael Bartlett Paolo Bertolin Rochelle Boland Stephen Brow...
2007 World Poll – Part 3 Various February 2008 2007 World Poll Ioannis Mookas Bill Mousoulis James Naremore James L. Neibaur Darragh O’Donoghue John Orr Jit Phokaew Bérénice Reynaud M...
Nina Menkes: The Warrior and her Jiang Hu Bérénice Reynaud March 2008 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Nina Menkes An insightful analysis of Nina Menkes’ films and the many distinctive virtues they possess.
Interview with Nina Menkes David E. James March 2008 Special Dossiers, Spotlight on Nina Menkes Further illuminating insights come from the voice of the filmmaker herself, who was recently the subject of a retrospective at the 2007 VIENNALE.
Theoretical Perspectives on Expanded Cinema and the “Cruel” Performance Practice of Dirk de Bruyn Steven McIntyre March 2008 Australian Cinema This essay revisits the concept of ‘expanded cinema’ that was so central to 1960s experimental practices and examines its relevance to contemporary film/performance pieces.
Seeing in the Night: A Nocturne Fiona Villella March 2008 Australian Cinema Independent writer-director Bill Mousoulis’ new feature ventures into the heart of darkness and Villella finds much to appreciate in its mesmeric æsthetics.
“Am I crazy to make a film for only $100,000 or am I crazy not to?” Kriv Stenders goes Micro-budget Digital for Boxing Day Alex Munt March 2008 Australian Cinema Part-essay and part-interview, Munt documents the development of Stenders’ highly praised low-budget feature from script to screen.
Romulus, My Father (Madman Films) Fincina Hopgood March 2008 DVD Reviews Review of the recent DVD release of Richard Roxburgh’s début feature, an adaptation of Raimond Gaita’s acclaimed memoirs about his father.
