Jean-Luc Godard began his career in the 1950s with the inspired idea of bringing French cinema into a new era; in the direction of becoming a higher art form. He was born in Switzerland but grew up in Paris where he developed a major interest in the films of his adopted country. The early years … Continue reading Godard et La Nouvelle Vague: A Collision of American and European Cultures
When examining the history of cinema and its road to where it is now, it can sometimes be illuminated by focusing on the huge role that Italy has played in it. Since the astonishingly filmed epic, Cabiria by Giovanni Pastrone from 1914, which Scorsese cites as one of the most important early films of cinema, … Continue reading The European Masterpieces Part 2: L’Avventura, La Notte and L’Eclisse
In an increasingly bewildering modern world, where any means of engagement with it likely leads to further bewilderment and short-term depression (possibly long-term too), the populist fervor for escape could not be greater. Whether that escape may be to sit by a babbling brook and read Fifty Shades of Grey, or to climb to the … Continue reading Escaping This World Through Film
Down under, there has been a growing voice towards the basic request to change the date of Australia/Invasion/Survival Day (which happens every January 26th) so as to not associate it with the arrival of the first fleet of white supremacists to the east coast - the same white supremacists who were intent on pushing out … Continue reading Survival Day: Reflections on Aboriginal Australia in Film
Burden of Dreams (1982 Les Blank) 'If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams and I don't want to live like that' - Werner Herzog I did speak at length about Herzog and his films last week but regardless, a list of documentaries concerning the making of films could not conscientiously … Continue reading Dreams and Madness: 6 Great Documentaries about Making Film
Momentary Cinema 