City of God is a film about the favelas in a city in Rio de Janeiro, or more importantly the people that live there and survive the day to day strife of the neighbourhood. There is a mosaic of different stories, in different decades, spotlighting on different people. And each one of them has a piece of the narrative that unfolds in the film. Each person … Continue reading City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)
A small gathering of family and friends to celebrate a great achievement. Which descends into an entertainingly chaotic series of events full of unsuspected secrets flying out left, right and centre. This is The Party, directed by Sally Potter. There’s Janet who has just got a new high-powered job; Bill, her husband with devastating news; April ‘the realist’; Martha and Jinny the couple excitedly awaiting … Continue reading The Party (Sally Potter, 2017)
‘I Am Not a Witch’ is a harrowing yet hopeful piece of cinema that clearly symbolises the misogynistic society that surrounds women, no matter where we go in the world. The main expression of this to me is the cotton reels. The film – directed by Rungano Nyoni – explores the story of a young girl accused of witchcraft in a rural area of Zambia. … Continue reading I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)
Léon is an uncomfortable film. Everything about it is disruptive and chaotic. In fact, the first scene starts off with a multitude of extreme close ups, encompassing the restless atmosphere that surrounds Léon. For Leon is a hitman with the Italian mafia in New York in the 1990s. Such uncomfortableness resonates throughout the film, as his unhinged routine becomes disjointed when a smart, young girl, … Continue reading Léon (Luc Besson, 1994)
Pan’s Labyrinth allegorises the transformation of girl-hood into woman-hood. Guillermo del Toro includes such rich, fantastical imagery and symbolism to illustrate the story of a young, rebellious girl in a world in which everyone else is kowtowing to the fascist state. There are so many ways in which this plays out in the film, that it is hard to just pick one… but I will. … Continue reading Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
Toast is a film about a young boy’s journey through a normal life, emphasis on normal. He finds hardship and friendship in the strangest and most fleeting of places. The use of discontinuity editing at the beginning of the movie compared to the end illustrates cinematically that by the conclusion, Nigel has achieved what he was really looking for… normalcy. And even though he never … Continue reading Toast (S.J. Clarkson, 2010)
Godard’s editing in Breathless mirrors the relationship Michel has with life: quick, exciting and callous. The multiple jump cuts fragment the storyline. Godard leaves gaps in the continuity which makes it very hard for the audience to hold on to the film narrative and connect with the character Michel: accidental murderer. That is until we are introduced to Patricia: a wannabe journalist. And then meet … Continue reading Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
Detroit is a film about the 1967 race riots that has become known as the Detroit Rebellion. Director Kathryn Bigelow begins by setting the scene showing a police raid on an African-American speakeasy which escalates. The national guard and state troopers are called in to reinforce the Detroit police. We see a city under siege. Bigelow, however, concentrates on a specific horrific event, portraying a … Continue reading Detroit (Kathryn Bigelow, 2017)
‘The Killers’ is a love story… which doesn’t mean it’s not about the murder of ‘Swede’: just about how he could have avoided it. Anyone who has watched a film noir knows that you never fall for the femme fatale if you want to stay alive… obviously our victim has never watched one before! We know from the very start about his love for Kitty; … Continue reading The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
Christopher Nolan recently brought one of the smartest concepts to one of the most pivotal moments in history. In Dunkirk, Nolan ruptures the linear clock time of one of the most chaotic events we’ve ever been taught. The fact that there is no chronological order in this film gives it strange durations, that makes it a subjective experience where all sense of time is lost, … Continue reading Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)
somecinema 