One of the powerhouses of the 1950s, Time Without Pity is the first film that Joseph Losey signed with his own name after being blacklisted and fleeing the U.S. In effect, it’s the film in which Losey proclaimed himself a Brit, as eager and willing to skewer the establishment there as he had done on […]
Daily Archives: May 3, 2007
I am sometimes accused of not sufficiently appreciating films made to entertain, although of course I think the exact opposite. Unlike those who rank entertainment above art or can’t even tell the difference between them, I appreciate the precise measure of merit that the former kind of film is entitled to claim. This frees me […]
I have now seen Argentinian director Alejandro Agresti’s The Lake House and the 2000 South Korean film on which it is based, Siworae or Il Mare—pick whichever title you prefer—by Lee Hyun-seung, and I have some difficulty following the convoluted, time-challenged plot in either version. (A second viewing of Agresti’s film finds everything a lot […]
Edward Zwick is a filmmaker who trivializes serious subjects by relegating them to backdrop or by coming at them at a commercial angle. He is also technically incompetent, never knowing where a camera should be placed or when it ought to be moved, and how it ought to be moved. Zwick is responsible for such […]
I wrote about Marooned in Iraq (Gomgashtei dar Aragh) that it is “one of the most dazzlingly brilliant films I have seen about the impact of war on civilian populations,” “a comedy, robust, energetic and humane, in the great tradition of ‘road films,’ that veers seamlessly into a depiction of war’s horror and attendant grief.” […]
Dennis Grunes 