In the middle of life, guided by his inspiration, Aleksandr Sokurov has pilgrimaged to a masterpiece, a transparent, massively moving work that, for me, is the most transcendent film of the 1990s. And more: the most humane film in more than thirty years—to be exact, since Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Gertrud (1964), whose quietude and nobility […]
Daily Archives: September 15, 2007
The following is one of the entries from my 100 Greatest Films list, which I invite you to visit on this site if you haven’t already done so. — Dennis From a novel by Rabindranath Tagore, Ghare-Baire is Satyajit Ray’s most majestic and splendiferous film. The protagonist is Bimala Choudhury, who recalls her marriage in […]
Written by lawyer Krzysztof Piesiewicz and the director, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s ten-hour Dekalog consists of ten episodes, each of which reflects on one of the Ten Commandments. The action involves residents in a Warsaw apartment complex; another point of unity is a sad, silent observer who, appearing in most episodes, suggests a surrogate for Kieślowski or […]
The following is one of the entries from my 100 Greatest Films list, which I invite you to visit on this site if you haven’t already done so. — Dennis The conclusion of Lars von Trier’s stunning “European trilogy” that began with The Elements of Crime (1984) and Epidemic (1988), Europa is like some ghastly […]
The following is one of the entries from my 100 Greatest Films list, which I invite you to visit on this site if you haven’t already done so. — Dennis Ulrike Koch’s Die Salzmänner von Tibet documents elemental, nomadic existence. Four tribal men—Old Mother, Old Father, Lord of the Animals, the Novice—journey to a lake […]