A tremendous work whose greatness steadily accumulates, Vladimir Khotinenko’s Muslim (Musulmanin) embraces the complexity of both familial and village life, and places these in an urgent moral context. Its protagonist is Nikolai (“Kolya”) Ivanov, who has returned to his rural home a hero, having spent seven years as a prisoner-of-war in Afghanistan. While in captivity, […]
Monthly Archives: May 2007
The principal attraction of Thierry Michel’s Belgian documentary about the despot born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, co-written by Lye Mudaba Yoka, Professor of Literature at the University of Kinshasa, is the riveting nature of the man’s story—and its Shakespearean dimensions. Born in the colonized Belgian Congo, Mobutu grew up continually humiliated, and smart. In 1949, he was […]
Jaws, which inaugurated the “summer blockbuster,” is an enormously popular thriller-adventure that meshes reality and fantasy. The “reality” is a coastal resort town, Amity Island, that’s open for summer business and is determined to remain open for business. The “fantasy” is a primordial sea beast—the “Great White Shark”—that’s snapping at swimmers in the ocean. The […]
As bad as it is, Mexican director Alfonso Arau’s A Walk in the Clouds is required viewing for those with an interest in the history of cinema. For Arau’s first Hollywood film remakes a minor classic, a formative work of Italian neorealism, Alessandro Blasetti’s Four Steps in the Clouds (Quattro passi fra le nuvole, 1942; […]
Trans is yet another example of a fine first feature by a well-trained young American film artist. Julian Goldberger has made a couple of features since (A Thousand Guns and The Eulipion Chronicles, 2002 and 2003), which I haven’t seen, but Trans marks him as a promising filmmaker. Shot on 16mm stock, it’s about a […]
Dennis Grunes 