Blind, elderly Gumar Abatcha cannot believe his ears as he, along with 16-year-old grandson Atim, listens to the announcement on the radio that “criminals” from Chad’s forty-year civil war have been granted amnesty. Gumar’s son was murdered by Nassara, who is among those covered by this amnesty. Gumar sets Atim off to find Nassara and […]
Daily Archives: November 21, 2008
Ten different Japanese filmmakers contribute short films to Yume jû-ya. One is master Kon Ichikawa, whose contribution is his penultimate piece of work. The “second night of dream” is a miniature marvel—more evidence that Ichikawa is, following Ozu, the greatest Japanese filmmaker. There are two male characters, one of whom is middle-aged, the other perhaps […]
A reactionary is not the sort of person well suited to directing Shakespeare’s plays, including the comedies, and Franco Zeffirelli was even more clueless than his Petruchio as to how the play’s marital action resolves itself in The Taming of the Shrew. The title is ironical; Katharina isn’t “tamed” but finds a way around Petruchio’s […]
Dennis Grunes 