One Man & His Drone – Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running
It is widely noted that Silent Running was effects guru turned director Douglas Trumbull’s professional reaction to his time working on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The story of a group of scientists attempting to maintain plant life in outer space may seem hokey and unusual, but it’s one that would prove the ideal … Read more
Redmond’s Odyssey – Barry Lyndon
In the wake a trilogy of films set in the future, Stanley Kubrick turned to the 1750’s for his tenth feature film. Barry Lyndon tells the story of Redmond Barry, the man who, through some mixed fortune and good luck, would one day become the eponymous “hero” Barry Lyndon. Kubrick adopts a structure not entirely … Read more
Hegemonic readjustment of preference and desire – A Clockwork Orange
I have dedicated a healthy proportion of my recent film viewing to filling in the gaps of my filmic knowledge. At times it seems as though I’m trying to use Polyfilla to plug up some gaps, before realising the whole wall needs replastering. The more blank spots I cover, the more I realise I … Read more
“Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos” – Apocalypse Now
What can be said of Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary war film that hasn’t already? The films infamous shoot has been covered to death, the imagery itself has been analysed by the strongest voices in film theory and criticism, and the films reputation as a solid-gold classic firmly established. Thanks to a recent restoration overseen by … Read more
Parallels, Pimps and Politicians – The 35th Anniversary of Taxi Driver
Much has been written of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, a film that is very much a part of Hollywood canon, in spite of the rebellious streak with which the filmmaker brought the work to fruition. With the recent restoration in celebration of the films 35th anniversary, the opportunity for re-evaluating this landmark work has arisen. … Read more
Trench Coats and Trilbies – Le Cercle Rouge
Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970. FRANCE. Le Cercle Rouge starts as it means to go on. Opening with a philosophical scroll, claiming to be the words of the Buddha, yet it is completely made up. Melville plays on the expectations of his audience to spin a yarn that is both ground in reality (in the sense that … Read more
Pretenseless Detection; Arthur Penn’s Night Moves
Arthur Penn, 1975. US Invited to a screening of Eric Rohmer’s My Night At Maud’s, the protagonist of Arthur Penn’s Night Moves Harry Moseby retorts “I saw a Rohmer film once. It was like watching paint dry”. This no-nonsense approach to the cinema sums up not only Moseby straight-down-the-line approach to his work, but Penn’s … Read more
Depression, Suspicion & Mistrust; The King Of Marvin Gardens
Bob Rafelson, 1972. US. The King Of Marvin Gardens opens in a remarkable fashion. A monologue discusses what appears to be his past. In reality it’s a semi-hypothetical story adapted from an incident of his youth, in which the character, David Staebler reimagines the tale of his fathers death. The scene highlights Jacob Brackman’s wonderful … Read more
On DRIVE, HE SAID and basketball in the movies
Jack Nicholson, 1971. US. Appropriate viewing following Olivier Assayas’s Carlos, Jack Nicholson’s debut work as a director tells the story of a college basketball player as his life is inspired by the revolutionary politics of those around him. Set within the campus revolutions of the early 1970’s, Drive, He Said is a hidden gem from … Read more
Thoughts on The Deer Hunter (1978)
The Deer Hunter, 1978. Michael Cimino. USA. Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter rests on an axis. A film of two halves, with the action split between the home life of a group of blue-collar American workers and as a charting of said American blue-collar workers time at war in Vietnam. Alongside this balance of narrative, … Read more
