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Friday, July 04, 2025

Best Films of the 1940s

Safe to say, the world had more serious matters to consider in the 1940s. Yet, somehow this decade resulted in two films that have dominated the Best Films of All Time list for the longest time – Casablanca and Citizen Kane. In addition, a shining example of Neorealism cinema debuted in this decade with Bicycle Thieves. Plus, quite a few 1940s noir films still top many all time film noir lists.

As WWII was fought mostly in Europe and some parts of Asis and North Africa, it isn’t surprising that majority of this list is made up of American films (6/10 films). The 4 non-American films in the list were released in 1945 or after, which makes sense with the end of WWII and the post-war recovery.

Top 10 Films of the 1940s (roughly in order of preference):

1. Citizen Kane (1941,USA, Orson Welles)

2. Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy, Vittorio De Sica)

3. Rome: Open City (1945, Italy, Roberto Rossellini)

4. Double Indemnity (1944, USA, Billy Wilder)

5. Casablanca (1994, USA, Michael Curtiz)

6. Sullivan’s Travels (1941, USA, Preston Sturges)

7. The Great Dictator (1940, USA, Charles Chaplin)

8. The Third Man (1949, UK, Carol Reed)

9. Late Spring (1949, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)

10. I Walked with a Zombie (1943, USA, Jacques Tourneur)

Honourable mentions:

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949, UK, Robert Hamer)

The Lady Eve (1941, USA, Preston Sturges)

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Best Films of the 1930s

While the 1920s produced a wealth of cinematic riches, that decade also marked the final flourish of silent cinema. The 1930s were characterized by the advent of “talkies” or sound films, which changed the cinematic landscape and how people perceived cinema. Hollywood studios began the shift away from silent films but the 1930s still had a good amount of silent cinema to choose from, especially from Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu who released a handful of silent cinema at the start of the decade.

Top 10 Films of the 1930s:

1. Modern Times (1936, USA, Charles Chaplin)

2. M (1931, Germany, Fritz Lang)

3. L'Âge d'or (1930, France, Luis Buñuel)

4. The Rules of the Game (1939, France, Jean Renoir)

5. I Was Born, But… (1932, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)

6. Duck Soup (1933, USA, Leo McCarey)

7. City Lights (1931, USA, Charles Chaplin)

8. Bringing Up Baby (1938, USA, Howard Hawks)

9. The Blood of a Poet (1932, France, Jean Cocteau)

10. Earth (1930, Soviet Union, Aleksandr Dovzhenko)

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Best Films of 2024

My previous comments about the broken film distribution model still stands for 2024. What I didn’t expect was that this broken distribution model and its needlessly delayed timeline of seeing films 1-1.5 years after their Cannes debut would impact my perception of a film. This is because the world was in different place in May 2024 (Cannes) compared to the first few months of 2025, which is when I saw a handful of the award-winning Cannes 2024 titles. Films such as Anora (Palme D’or), All We Imagine as Light (Grand Prix), Emilia Pérez (Jury Prize), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Prix Special) paled in comparison to the chaotic drama that the world was thrown into. Perhaps, the warm weather at Cannes played a part in the glowing reception of these films but in the harsh reality of the cruel world, these films shrunk in stature. I like to think this isn’t a purely subjective take. Films such as Universal Language, Grand Tour and Misericordia also debuted at Cannes yet their artistic merit shone through. I may be picking on a few Cannes titles but this view also applied to other award winning festival films (Berlin, Sundance) so much so that for the first time in more than two decades, I cannot put together a list of 10 films.

My year-end list will only consist of 7 titles with 3 of those films being documentaries and 3 others that borrow heavily from documentaries. Three Documentaries in my end-of-the-year list is also another rare occurrence but all three films are timely. There are still a few 2024 films that I am waiting to see so perhaps by the end of 2025, I may be able to finally have a proper 10.

Best Films of 2024

1. No Other Land (Palestine co-production, Yuval Abraham/Basel Adra/Hamdan Ballal/Rachel Szor)

Easily the most relevant film of 2024! It is amazing that this film exists at all. This isn’t the first time theft of Palestinian land is shown on camera. Pomegranates and Myrrh (2008) showed how the Israeli army uses a pretext of security to annex a Palestinian family’s home. That 2008 fictional film, albeit based on real-life scenarios, was ignored. No Other Land shows this very topic in a documentary format and it has gotten some attention. The Academy Award for Best Documentary also helped gain distribution but people will see the film and nothing will change. In fact, the land grab and stealing has been increasing after this film came out. At least, this film documents what happens and in the future, it will be evidence that the world did nothing and watched it all happen.

2. Santosh (UK/Germany/India/France, Sandhya Suri)

The core topic of the film isn’t new as many films have depicted how corruption and abuse of power allows crimes against girls/women to go unchecked. Yet, since this isn’t an Indian production, it lends an outsider observational perspective that is focused on tiny details often neglected by Indian films. Director Sandhya Suri’s previous work on documentaries is also another reason those details help in giving this film a realistic feel. In addition, there is a new angle to observe the events from women. The film is shown from the perspective of a female police officer who is wearing the uniform but who is still a civilian at heart, due to how she got the job in the first place. That allows her to straddle the line between the two worlds while still maintaining her humanity.

The two performances by Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar are top-notch.

3. Soundtrack for a Coup D’état (Belgium/France/Holland, Johan Grimonprez)

Another film that takes a topic covered before but adds a new entry point which allows things to be considered in a new light. The assassination of Patrice Lumumba has been shown on film before but the association with jazz music and the incorporation of Khrushchev’s words give plenty of food for thought. This film will always be relevant because the cycle of events that this assassination started is still impacting our world.

4. Dahomey (France/Senegal/Benin/Singapore, Mati Diop)

The film focuses on the specific return of 26 artifacts to Benin but opens up what should be a universal debate about the fate of looted property across Latin America, Africa and Asia. Highly relevant and essential viewing.

5. Grand Tour (Portugal/Italy/France/Germany/Japan/China, Miguel Gomes)

The film lives up to the title yet being playful. A woman is abandoned by her fiancée who runs away yet she doesn’t give up. She follows him around the world, picking up on clues. A leisurely chase.

6. Misericordia (France/Spain/Portugal, Alain Guiraudie)

One of the most creative murder investigation films that plays with genre and expectations. There is a very subtle deadpan layer to the film which becomes apparent once the strangeness of the scenarios increases.

7. Universal Language (Canada, Matthew Rankin)

Matthew Rankin showed his creative talent with The 20th Century. This time he raises the creativity bar a few more notches with a reimagined version of Canada where Farsi-French are the two official languages and people confuse Manitoba with Alberta (entirely believable from a Toronto perspective).

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Best Films of the 1920s

This Best of Decades list is inspired by the recent Decades Countdown at Wonders in the Dark. Also, the idea of looking back at Cinema made 100 years ago was appealing. Silent Cinema through the 1910s produced many worthy gems but the 1920s saw a jump in film production both in terms of quantity and quality. The “Roaring 20s” meant that Hollywood studio system was properly established along with the current star system. Notable directors also made their first films such as Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Sergei Eisenstein. In the case of Chaplin and Keaton, their style and notable signature was established in the 1920s including the releasing of many iconic films. Half of this top 10 could easily be filled with films from Chaplin and Keaton. Films of many genres were released not only in US but across Europe as well. Many of the films that have become part of the Essential Cinema canon came out in this decade as well, such as Sunrise (1927, F.W. Murnau), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene), Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang), Battleship Potemkin (1925, Sergei Eisenstein), Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau), Greed (1924, Erich von Stroheim), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, Carl Theodor Dreyer) plus a handful of Chaplin (The Kid, The Gold Rush) and Keaton (Sherlock Jr., The General) titles.

Top 10 films of the 1920s:

1. Metropolis (1927, Germany, Fritz Lang)

2. The Gold Rush (1925, USA, Charles Chaplin)

3. The Crowd (1928, USA, King Vidor)

4. Battleship Potemkin (1925, Soviet Union, Sergei Eisenstein)

5. The General (1926, USA, Clyde Bruckman / Buster Keaton)

6. Man with a Movie Camera (1929, Soviet Union, Dziga Vertov)

7. Nosferatu (1922, Germany, F.W. Murnau)

8. Pandora’s Box (1929, Germany, G. W. Pabst)

9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, France, Carl Theodor Dreyer)

10. Napolean (1927, France, Abel Gance)

Honourable mentions:

The Kid (1921, USA, Charles Chaplin)

The Cameraman (1928, USA, Edward Sedgwick / Buster Keaton)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Germany, Robert Wiene)

Un chein Andalou (1929, France, Luis Buñuel)

Top 10 by Country

Germany and US are tied with 3 films each in the top 10. France and Soviet Union have 2 films each. The top 10 ended up being more spread-out than I had anticipated. Of course, there are still a lot of films from many international nations that are either lost or not widely available, which means this list will change over the years.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Best Films of the 1950s

The Best Films of the 1950s list is inspired by the Decades list countdown at Wonders in the Dark. I will duly post the previous decades list (1920s-40s) over the next few weeks but I will start with the 1950s.

As per Sam Juliano's ask, we are allowed up to 30 titles. It is quite hard to narrow the list down to 30 films and this list has changed quite a bit over the last few decades. There are a handful of titles that were not in this list 5 years ago. For now, here goes.

Best Films of the 1950s (roughly in order of preference):

1. Apur Sansar (1959, India, Satyajit Ray)

2. Pickpocket (1959, France, Robert Bresson)

3. Ikiru (1952, Japan, Akira Kurosawa)

4. Tokyo Story (1953, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)

5. The Wages of Fear (1953, France/Italy, Henri-Georges Clouzot)

6. Seven Samurai (1954, Japan, Akira Kurosawa)

7. The Seventh Seal (1957, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)

8. Rear Window (1954, USA, Alfred Hitchcock)

9. Ashes and Diamonds (1958, Poland,  Andrzej Wajda)

10. Pyaasa (1957, India, Guru Dutt)

11. Rashomon (1950, Japan, Akira Kurosawa)

12. Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit Ray)

13. La Strada (1954, Italy, Federico Fellini)

14. Kaagaz ke Phool (1959, India, Guru Dutt)

15. Vertigo (1958, USA, Alfred Hitchcock)

16. Sweet Smell of Success (1957, USA, Alexander Mackendrick)

17. Umberto D. (1952, Italy, Vittorio De Sica)

18. Godzilla (1954, Japan, Ishirô Honda)

19. Death of a Cyclist (1955, Spain, Juan Antonio Bardem)

20. 12 Angry Men (1957, USA, Sidney Lumet)

21. Roman Holiday (1953, USA, William Wyler)

22. The Red Balloon (1956, France, Albert Lamorisse)

23. The 400 Blows (1959, France, François Truffaut)

24. Orpheus (1950, France, JeanCocteau)

25. Rififi (1955, France, Jules Dassin)

26. Los Olvidados (1950, Mexico, Luis Buñuel)

27. The Gunfighter (1950, USA, Henry King)

28. Hiroshima mon Amour (1959, France, Alain Resnais)

29. Fires on the Plain (1959, Japan, Kon Ichikawa)

30. Ace in the Hole (1951, USA, Billy Wilder)

Sunday, June 01, 2025

Steven Soderbergh Double-bill

Notes on two recent Steven Soderbergh films:

Presence (2024)

Black Bag (2025)

Very few directors can boast the career arc of Steven Soderbergh. His feature debut film is the stuff of Cinematic dreams. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, won the audience award and then went on to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Winning the Palme d’Or at the first time of asking and at the age of 26 is an incredible feat, especially for an independent film. Soderbergh then made the jump to commercial cinema yet still finding a way to incorporate artistic indie film elements. Films such as Out of Sight (1998), Ocean’s Eleven, (2001) have a cool seductive feel and it is safe to say that in the hands of another director would have turned into mindless action films. Soderbergh directed many notable films such as Erin Brockovich (2000), Traffic (2000), Che (2008), Contagion (2011). That is why his 2011 announcement that he would retire from filmmaking was a shock. Later on, as more details emerged, he expressed his reasons related for that retirement and his return to filmmaking with a new distribution model. He has certainly re-emerged with a new prolific creativity that has filtered into both films and TV series. Case in point, his recent double: Presence (2024) and Black Bag (2025).

Both Presence and Black Bag refine genre (horror and spy thriller respectively) through an independent film’s sensibilities such as singular location and limited cast. The end result are highly creative engaging films.

The idea behind Presence is electric: a horror film where the entire perspective is seen via the eyes of the spirit with the camera doubling as the spirit’s eyes. The hovering camera is a technical joy to behold and also lends a levity to the film as the camera floats from room to room. There are no conventional jump scares in the film but still some hair-raising moments. Due to the spirit’s POV, the entire film is confined to the house the spirit occupies. The confined house location along with a very tight script and running time of just 84 minutes ensures the film is engaging from start to finish.

Black Bag is equally efficient with his running time of 93 minutes and film is bookended with scenes in a house’s dining room. These dining room scenes feature smart probing dialogues laced with alcohol or drugs (at film’s start) which ensure brutal honest jabs. The camera does leave the house and follows the characters to their place of work and outdoor locations to show agents at work in the field or making deals/exchanging information. A spy thriller wouldn’t be complete without blood, explosions and backstabbing, all three of which are present in the film but in unconventional forms. The film’s lighting and cinematography is more akin to a small indie film and add to the film’s atmosphere. Black Bag looks and feels like an indie spy thriller but one that features Hollywood recognizable stars.

It is safe to say that Soderbergh wouldn’t have been able to make films such as Presence and Black Bag prior to his retirement. However, since Logan Lucky (2017), Soderbergh has been releasing such creative films. Presence and Black Bag form a nice trilogy along with 2022’s Kimi as Soderberg worked with writer David Koepp on all 3. Soderberg and Koepp have certainly formed a nice combination and it will be interesting to see if the two combine for more films.

Saturday, May 24, 2025

Kiyoshi Kurosawa Spotlight

The multi-genre bending world of Kiyoshi Kurosawa

One’s view of Kiyoshi Kurosawa will vary depending on which film of his one comes across. He has directed various genre features ranging from horror (including ghost), crime (serial killer, yakuza), thriller, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi or pure drama (family, supernatural, historical). Take a few steps back and one can see threads of family/relationships running through his films and even romance, the everlasting kind that lingers after death. In fact, many of his features are hard to classify under one genre. Given his comfort with all genres, aspects of various genres blend into one film and for good reason. In Kurosawa’s films, genre is part of the film’s framework and helps bolster the overall story and social commentary on the human condition.  For example, a film like Pulse falls under horror category but blends mystery, sci-fi and is a smart commentary on the human condition and loneliness. 

Even though he has directed multiple genre films, he has still carved out his distinctive signature because all his films are anchored with a strong narrative-character framework. This spotlight focuses on 10 of his films across these different genres to get a true flavour of his work.

Notes on 10 films of Kiyoshi Kurasawa:

Cure (1997)

Serpent’s Path (1998)

License to Live (1998)

Pulse (2001)

Doppelganger (2003)

Tokyo Sonata (2008)

Journey to the Shore (2015)

Daguerrotype (2016)

Before We Vanish (2017)

Wife of a Spy (2020)

Crime without evidence

Multiple gruesome murders are committed in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure but it is not a single killer that performs the acts. Instead, loved ones or people close to the victims do the killing. Yet, the killers are not aware of their crimes as they are remotely driven by an unknown man.

The topography of Cure feels like that of a serial killer investigation film yet Kurosawa's film immediately stands apart because of the hands-off approach of the instigator who never really gets his own hands bloody. Yet, if one could open his brain, then one would see the images of blood that are being projected onto innocent would be killers. Also, another interesting layer added to the film is the weakening health of the lead police officer's wife, resulting in the killer exploiting the officer's mental state. Reality is toyed with especially in a case when the killer never has to kill a victim himself, which does raise some questions related to the true perpetrator of crimes.

Note: Kurosawa’s film predates both Bong Joon-Ho’s Memories of Murder (2003) and David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007), two stand-out murder investigation films.

Drama sprinkled with genre

Given that Kiyoshi Kurosawa made his name with horror and crime films, it is a huge surprise to see him change gears completely with the beautiful Tokyo Sonata which depicts the breakdown of a family and eventual rebirth. Ryuhei (Teruyuki Kagawa) loses his job and instead of telling his wife Megumi (Kyoko Koizumi), he continues to leave home everyday dressed for work while spending time on the streets or at a free soup kitchen. Megumi is slowly inching her way to independence but yearns for full freedom. Their elder son Takashi (Yu Koyanagi) is disenchanted with his life and believes his life would be better served by joining the American military. The youngest son Kenji (Kai Inowaki) also rebels against his parents by skipping school and using the money from his school fees to pay for secret piano lessons knowing full well that his father is against him learning music. Each character goes through a transformation after reaching a breaking point before awakening to a new dawn. Some of the family’s tender moments and even tensions share a bond with the cinema of Ozu.

Multiple Kiyoshi Kurosawa films can fall under the drama category but with unique variations that make the film hard to classify. For example, Journey to the Shore has the feel of a romantic drama about a married couple’s relationship except for a small caveat that the husband is actually dead and is a spirit who has returned to tie up a few loose threads with his wife. Wife of a Spy is dressed as a historical drama but leans heavily into a spy thriller framework but without the chases, explosions one would expect from a spy thriller. Then there is Daguerrotype which is a sumptuous fantasy drama where a daguerreotype photographer is obsessed with creating the perfect art form at the expense of his daughter’s health. However, a ghost haunts the frame and the house. In addition, the entire setting of the film in France and overall set design invokes early 19th century even though the film is set in contemporary France.

The most straightforward drama film in this Spotlight is Kurosawa’s 1998 feature License to Live which centers around Yoshi (Hidetoshi Nishijima) who tries to rebuild his life after waking up from a 10-year coma. The film is drizzled with enough comedic elements which match the tone of the concept. The film also features an early look at actors who have become more popular over the decades. Hidetoshi Nishijima got plenty of recognition with Drive My Car (2021) but his character of Yoshi is one of his earliest feature roles; Kôji Yakusho has featured prominently in many Kurosawa films but this film along with Cure was his early collaboration with the director; Shô Aikawa found fame in Takashi Miike’s Dead or Alive films and one can get an early look at his distinctive style here; plus roles for Shun Sugata (Tokyo Vice) and also for Kôsuke Toyohara (Tokyo Vice, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah). On another note, the feel of License to Live has shades of Lee Chang-dong’s Green Fish (1997) which came out a year earlier.

Horror, Crime, Sci-Fi with some helping of dark comedy

Pulse is the most well-known horror film from Kurosawa’s filmography and like his other films, it isn’t confined to the horror genre. On the surface, Pulse belongs to same type of horror category as Ringu (1998) two films where technology is the medium for horror to be unleashed. However, Pulse then combines horror with sci-fi elements and a smart social commentary about loneliness and human connection. Pulse came out just as the internet was becoming commonplace and the horror in the film is transmitted to anyone whose computer is connected to the internet via a dial-up modem. In the film, people are starting to form connections only virtually and losing face-to-face social connections. An observation from a character in the film is that everyone is sitting lifelessly in front of their computer and she notes that it is hard to tell if those people are already dead or still alive. In a way, Pulse was decades ahead of its time and came out long before smart phones, laptops and other devices allowed people to be constantly connected on the internet. The loneliness and erosion of community that Pulse raises has increased substantially over the last two decades.

Like Pulse, Doppleganger is another film that was well ahead of its time. The film raises questions about Robots, Engineering and the race to harness such technology first. The core concept in the film centers around people’s doubles who mysteriously start appearing. This sci-fi scenario raises questions about who is the authentic person and who can be expendable, which in turn can be extended to apply to our contemporary world where AI is replacing the work of humans. In the film, the doubles gradually replace the main character as someone in the film notes that the original and copy can’t co-exist. However, the exception is the robot inventor Hayasaki (played by Kurosawa regular Kôji Yakusho) who learns to share work and responsibilities with his double as both are different personalities. In a way, Hayasaki’s double is akin to a Hayasaki robot, same look but none of the emotional weakness of Hayasaki. The film starts off with deaths that feel like an extension of Pulse but the film quickly changes tone to sci-fi and then comedy, both dark and slapstick. The film was clearly decades ahead of Hollywood’s AI/robot fantasies.

Before We Vanish is unlike any other alien invasion film. It starts off with gory blood before layering the material with some absurd humour before giving into its sci-fi elements. With this film, Kurosawa again shows his artistry in creating a multi-layered film. The film also has oodles of humour but in unexpected ways.

Some traces of humour can be found in Serpent’s Path although those aren’t as apparent as the film is a crime thriller. The location of a warehouse and two men threatening criminals reminds of Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs but without any of the punchy dialogue of Tarantino’s film. Serpent’s Path falls under the V-Cinema category which means straight to video and that is apparent from the film’s lower production value compared to other Kurosawa films.

Overall comments

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is not related to Japanese legend Akira Kurosawa, who is easily one of World Cinema’s most celebrated directors. While the same last name may have brought some pressure, Kiyoshi has carved out his own unique place in both Japanese and World cinema. Kiyoshi’s name is most associated with horror cinema but he has shown his talents in a variety of genres. More importantly, his films have predicated the future by accurately taking the pulse of new technology and extrapolating them to show scenarios which may have seemed unrealistic two decades ago but have come to fruition. This is why I am looking forward to seeing his newest film Cloud (2024) to see how he has built on what Pulse showed. Also, I want to view his new Serpent’s Path (2024) which transports the 1998 film story to France and is an updated remake. With a mixed French-Japanese cast and more budget, it will be interesting to see how Kurosawa has updated the material from the original V-Cinema film.

Ranking all 10 films in this Spotlight:

1. Tokyo Sonata (2008)

2. Cure (1997)

3. Pulse (2001)

4. Wife of a Spy (2020)

5. Doppelganger (2003)

6. Before We Vanish (2017)

7. Journey to the Shore (2015)

8. Daguerrotype (2016)

9. License to Live (1998)

10. Serpent’s Path (1998)

Monday, May 19, 2025

Bruno Dumont's L’ Empire

 L’Empire (The Empire, 2024, Bruno Dumont)

L'Empire © Tessalit Productions

Bruno Dumont’s newest feature L’Empire falls firmly in the director’s 2.0 phase outlined in a previous post 4 years ago. As per this categorization, I placed his original films such as La vie de Jésus (1997), Humanity (1999), Twentynine Palms (2003), Flanders (2006) and Hadewijch (2009) in Phase 1.0, films which depicted harsh reality lived by its characters in the French countryside. Phase 2.0 started with the arrival of Li'l Quinquin (2014) and continued with Slack Bay (2016), Coincoin and the Extra-Humans (2018), films which incorporated a comedic framework and absurd scenarios while still set in the French countryside as Dumont’s earlier films.

L'Empire continues a story started in Li'l Quinquin (2014) and then expanded upon in Coincoin and the Extra-Humans (2018). The three films are tied via the presence of Commandant Van der Weyden (Bernard Pruvost) and Lieutenant Carpentier (Philippe Jore), two detectives attempting to solve strange occurrences. In Li'l Quinquin (2014), their scope is limited to solving murder investigations. In Coincoin, the duo start to feel like there is an alien presence involved.

Li'l Quinquin

That alien presence is expanded upon in L’Empire where we do learn that the French countryside, and by extension Earth, are in the middle of a cosmic battle between 1’s and 0’s, who are stand-ins for good vs evil battle. For the most part, average humans aren’t aware that these aliens walk amongst them and even come to occupy a body of someone they have known since childhood.

Captain Van der Weyden and Lieutenant Carpentier have a minor role in L'Empire compared to the previous two films. They only arrive after an incident has occurred and have to make sense of what they are viewing. Their presence adds to the absurdity of the situation, not that the film is short on absurd scenarios. Similar to Coincoin, L’Empire has plenty of winks and nods towards other films in the sci-fi genre with Star Wars being the most apparent one. Yes, that means there are lightsabers. But since this is a French film and not Hollywood, that means there is sex and nudity also. The sex leads to an interesting twist in the cosmic battle.

It is clear that Bruno Dumont is having fun with this material and L’Empire lovingly builds on material depicted in Li'l Quinquin  and Coincoin. There is a quick resolution at the end of L’Empire but also opens a door for a future film.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Top Films from Cannes Film Festival 2020-2024

With Cannes 2025 officially underway, I am taking inspiration from The Disapproving Swede to revisit the past few years to make a Top 10 list of my favourite Cannes films from 2020 – 2024. Of course, this list isn’t a proper reflection of 5 normal years of film selections. There was no physical Cannes Film Festival edition in 2020 so that likely impacted the distribution of many 2020 selections. In turn, the deferred 2020 edition also likely ensured that 2021 and 2022 consisted of many more worthy films. There are also quite a few 2024 films that I need to view so in essence, this list is mostly made of 2021 – 2023 titles. Plus, I have decided to incorporate all the different Cannes sections, including Critics’ Week and Directors’ Fortnight.

Top 10 Films from Cannes 2020 – 2024

1. Pacification (2022, Alberta Serra): Competition

2. La chimera  (2023, Alice Rohrwacher): Competition

3. Drive my Car (2021, Ryusuke Hamaguchi): Competition

4. Return to Seoul (2022, Davy Chou): Un Certain Regard

5. Aftersun (2022, Charlotte Wells): Critics' Week

6. The Taste of Things (2023, Tran Anh Hung): Competition

7. A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021, Payal Kapadia): Directors' Fortnight

8. Close Your Eyes (2023, Víctor Erice): Cannes Premiere

9. Eureka (2023, Lisandro Alonso): Cannes Premiere

10. Grand Tour (2024, Miguel Gomes): Competition

Honourable Mentions (in no order):

Memoria (2021, Apichatpong Weerasethakul): Competition

My Imaginary Country (2022, Patricio Guzmán): Special Screenings

The Delinquents (2023, Rodrigo Moreno): Un Certain Regard

How to Have Sex (2023, Molly Manning Walker): Un Certain Regard

Universal Language (2024, Matthew Rankin): Directors' Fortnight

Top 10 Films by Year & %

2021: 2, 20%

2022: 3, 30%

2023: 4, 40%

2024: 1, 10%

As expected, no 2020 films made the cut and only one from 2024.

Top 10 Films by Cannes Category:

Competition: 5, 50%

Un Certain Regard: 1, 10%

Critics’ Week: 1, 10%

Directors' Fortnight: 1, 10%

Cannes Premiere: 2, 20%

I am surprised to find that half of my Top 10 consists of films in the Official Competition category. In the past, I have been more partial to those in Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight categories. Although, I do believe that Cannes Premiere category has taken away films that would have been in Critics’ Week or Directors’ Fortnight.

Top 15 Films by Year:

2021: 3, 20%

2022: 4, 27%

2023: 6, 40%

2024: 2, 13%

The overall % increase in Top 15 is closely proportional to those in the Top 10.

Top 15 Films by Cannes Category:

Competition: 6, 40%

Un Certain Regard: 3, 20%

Critics’ Week: 1, 7%

Directors' Fortnight: 2, 13%

Cannes Premiere: 2, 13%

Special Screenings: 1, 7%

Monday, May 05, 2025

The Films of Lee Chang-dong

Notes on all six of Lee Chang-dong’s directed features up to date:

Green Fish (1997)

Peppermint Candy (1999)

Oasis (2002)

Secret Sunshine (2007)

Poetry (2010)

Burning (2018)

Similar to many contemporary directorial spotlights, I started in the middle. The first Lee Chang-dong film I saw was his 4th, Secret Sunshine, at the Vancouver International Film Festival. I then viewed his next two films in order, Poetry (2010) and Burning (2018). Given that Lee Chang-dong has only directed 6 features, a spotlight of seeing his first three features and revisiting the next 3 felt feasible and much needed.

Cinematic Novels

I labeled Lee Chang-dong’s films as cinematic novels even before I was aware that he had written two novels. Considering his films via the lens of a novel makes a lot more sense now as his films have an emotional depth akin to a novel. In addition, his films are propelled by a strong narrative and the emotional punch arrives via the consequences of the characters’ actions. The characters in his films aren’t clean cut and are emotional, flawed and messy individuals with baggage of their own. In contrast, many other Korean contemporary directors, including Bong Jong-ho and Park Chan-wook, use genre to propel the story forward and thriller/mystery elements to heighten emotional impact. On the other hand, the emotional punch in Lee Chang-dong's films arrives from the harsh reality his characters find themselves in.

Films such as Poetry, Oasis and Secret Sunshine are freed from any genre pretense and presented as harsh realities and result in emotions hitting harder. The final moments of Poetry (including that last frame) is such as example. Burning uses a mystery framework but even then, Lee Chang-dong retools the film in a different manner from a conventional genre treatment. It isn’t a surprise that a retrospective of his films was called “Cinema of Trauma”by MoMA.

Big Four

Lee Chang-dong has won plenty of awards for his films. However, it feels like he isn’t as celebrated compared to Bong Jong-ho, Park Chan-wook or even Hong Sang-soo. The limited output of 6 features has certainly played a part and the story of his films such as Oasis and Secret Sunshine aren’t going to draw crowds in. Secret Sunshine remains the only film that I have seen in a cinema where an audience member had such a visceral reaction to the film that she showed the finger at the screen and walked off in anger. 

Burning has an easier entry point for audience compared to his other features. Burning should have made the final cut for the Academy Award Foreign Film Category but it fell short and a year later, Parasite made history for Korean cinema. In a way, this highlights the difference in perception for Lee Chang-dong. Bong Joon-Ho crossed over the threshold globally at the Academy Awards and Cannes while Park Chan-wook has a cult following due to his Vengeance trilogy and Hong Sang-soo has a collected devotion of fans and gets awards on a regular basis. Lee Chang-dong has won awards right from his first film but his films (with exception of Burning) aren't as frequently cited in conversations related to contemporary Korean Cinema.

This spotlight has changed my perception of his films though. Out of these four Korean directors, Bong Joon Ho, Park chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo, Lee Chang-dong, I would place Lee Chang-dong well ahead of Hong Sang-soo and Park Chan-wook and tied with Bong Joon-ho in terms of cinematic power. When it comes to a powerful story, I would easily place Lee Chang-dong ahead of the other 3 while Bong Jong-ho would come out on top when it comes to a polished end product that combines social commentary with genre.

Ranking Lee Chang-dong’s 6 features (in order of preference)

As it turns out, the ranking is close to the order of their release as well

1. Burning (2018)

2. Poetry (2010)

3. Secret Sunshine (2007)

4. Oasis (2002)

5. Green Fish (1997)

6. Peppermint Candy (1999)

Peppermint Candy unfolds like a novel with each chapter highlighting key moments in the character’s journey. Not all the chapters are powerful enough, which is why this film gets to the bottom of the list. Green Fish made me think of early cinema of Hou Hsiao-hsien while the gangster element in that film and the volatile nature of main character in Oasis recalled Kim Ki-duk’s older films (especially Bad Guy) but those similarities are only on the surface. Interestingly, topic of Poetry reminded a bit of Bong Jong-ho’s Mother (2009) and both films were a year apart. However, the difference in execution and finale of both films highlights how the two directors approach their work.

Other reading

Dennis Lim's article on Lee Chang-dong is excellent and worthy reading.

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Paolo Sorrentino's Naples

A double-bill of Paolo Sorrentino's first and newest features:

One Man Up (2001)

Parthenope (2024)

Soccer and Women

Tell me someone is an Italian filmmaker without telling me someone is an Italian filmmaker.

The presence of Soccer and Women in these two films emphasizes Paolo Sorrentino’s Italian credentials even though both aren’t present in all his films.

One Man Up and Parthenope are set in Sorrentino's birthplace of Naples, which since the late 1980s has been associated with soccer after Diego Maradona’s arrival in 1984 to play for Napoli. Therefore, it isn’t a surprise that soccer features in Sorrentino’s first and newest film. In addition, Sorrentino’s 2021 film Hand of God is named after Diego’s infamous 1986 handball goal against England in the World Cup. Soccer is absent in Parthenope until the finale when the film ends with Napoli’s 2023 title celebrations to emphasize a magical finale to the film and the soccer team’s fairytale title.

Soccer is front and center in One Man Up, a tale of two men who share the same name, Antonio Pisapia, and an unlucky fate. The two Antonios live different lives and have different careers but their paths intersect slightly when both their lives are in a state of decline. One Antonio (Tony played by Sorrentino regular Toni Servillo) is a pop singer who is still living on past fortunes despite having his reputation in tatters after a sex scandal. The other Antonio (Andrea Renzi) is a professional soccer player who career is ended early after injury. Since Antonio has only ever known soccer, he tries to become a soccer coach and has some new innovative tactical ideas but he soon learns how talent and a reputation aren’t enough to open all doors for him. Meanwhile, Tony is used to having all doors open for him all his life but soon finds out that those doors aren’t opening like they used to.

It is refreshing to see that Sorrentino once made a film like One Man Up as the film is devoid of any glossy visuals like those in his subsequent films, such as Il Divo (2008), The Great Beauty (2013). Also, unlike those other films, One Man Up is narrative and acting driven. The film also contains the most soccer related content than any of his other films.

The Male Gaze

The male gaze has featured in a few of of Sorrentino’s films especially Youth (2015) where the two elder characters (played by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel) watch all the female characters with lustful eyes. That same male gaze is prominent in Parthenope, which covers a timeline from the birth of the titular character until her retirement. The film shows Parthenope’s birth in water and then the next time we see her, she is an 18-year-old (played by Celeste Dalla Porta) emerging from the water in a bikini while Sandri (Dario Aita) is in awe of her beauty. Sandri isn’t the only one taken by Parthenope but so is Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo). Raimondo is Parthenope’s brother and his inability to be with her is given a Greek tragedy treatment, a tragedy that hovers over the entire film.

The film jumps in time and depicts fragments of Parthenope’s life as she grows up, completes her education and pursues her career. A constant throughout her life is that men are bewitched by her beauty. This includes writers (with a cameo by Gary Oldman playing John Cheever), actors, producers, professors, politicians and priests. They all want her and she obliges and gives them a few moments of attention but no one can truly have her.

Of course, since this is a Sorrentino film, there is beauty to be found in each frame. One particular segment shows Naples on a hot sultry day, which allows audience to witness all the beauties of the city (both men and women), cat walking through the streets while the camera slows down. This slo-mo music video treatment recalls The Great Beauty and even Il Divo, a Sorrentino signature.

In the hands of another director Parthenope would have been a different film, one that would have given the material an actual narrative and emotional core. In Sorrentino’s hands, the film’s beauty is only on the surface. There is nothing beneath the surface but that isn’t anything new with his films. Films such as Il Divo, The Great Beauty and now Parthenope are visual eye candy made as extended music videos with some dialogues. In the case of The Great Beauty, that treatment worked wonders but doesn’t do justice to Parthenope.

Sunday, April 06, 2025

Top 10 Japanese Films of All Time

Japan has one of the richest cinematic histories in the world, which is why it is very hard to make a Top 10 Film list. Even though many Japanese classic movies are readily available, there are many that never got a proper release. That means, this list will change over the years as I come across previously unseen films. As it is, this list has changed many times over the last few decades. There was a time when Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon was in the Top 3 and Kenji Mizoguchi’s films were in the Top 10.

This Top 10 could easily be filled with films from Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi. However, this list has now a handful of genre films in the Top 10 such as Kaiju (Gojira), thriller (Black Test Car) and crime (Kinji Fukasaku’s masterpiece). All these films are there on merit. Plus, I have cheated slightly and incorporated all three Human Condition parts and all five volumes of Battles Without Honor and Humanity.

Top 10 Japanese Films of all time:

1. Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujirô Ozu)

2. Ikiru (1952, Akira Kurosawa)

3. Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa)

4. Godzilla (1954, Ishirô Honda)

5. Tampopo (185, Jûzô Itami)

6. Black Test Car (1962, Yasuzô Masumura)

7. The Human Condition Parts 1-3 (1959-61, Masaki Kobayashi)

8. Fires on the Plain (1959, Kon Ichikawa)

9. Battles Without Honor and Humanity vol 1-5 (1973-74, Kinji Fukasaku)

10. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960, Mikio Naruse)

Honourable Mentions (in order of preference):

High and Low (1963, Akira Kurosawa)

Woman in the Dunes (1964, Hiroshi Teshigahara)

Like Father, Like Son (2013, Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Happy Hour (2015, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)

My Neighbour Totoro (1988, Hayao Miyazaki)