In the vast, carved landscapes of Anatolia lies a hotel embedded into the very rock of the land itself. Inside it are people and debates that show the fractured relationships of the creative and the giving, the emotional and the distanced. They are speaking a mixture of words by director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, his wife and screenwriter, Ebru, and the great Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. … Continue reading Winter Sleep (2014) – Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
When watching Nigel Kneale’s infinitely weird TV series, Beasts (1976), there’s a great sense of underlying currents behind what appear to be strange amalgamations of the everyday with something of the Other. Though the links between the episodes are often animalistic, ranging the ghost of a dolphin in Buddyboy to the hoards of rats in During Barty’s Party, the majority of the episodes all, at … Continue reading Hysteria and Curses in Nigel Kneale’s Baby (Beasts, 1976).
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Human Interaction With The Landscape And Its Soundscape. “The wind was bitter from the north, but was at his back when he set out for the Globe. He quickly rattled and clashed through the shingle and gained the sand, upon which, but for the groynes which had to be got over every few yards, the … Continue reading The Aural Aesthetics of Ghosts in BBC Ghost Stories – Part 6 (Excavation).
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Conclusions. The auteristic traits of any director can have a strong, almost unstoppable effect on a film and its subject matter. This often ranges from stylistic visual aestheticism to more thematic trends in a director’s body of work. For this case study of the work of Ken Russell, this … Continue reading A Musicological Study of Ken Russell’s Composer Films – Part 9 (Conclusions).
With a Bressonian flair and palpable tragedy, Diego Quemada-Díez’s The Golden Dream (2013) is a refreshing experience. The film deals with the journeys of three young people from Guatemala trying desperately to reach north America, drenched very clearly in some misleading propaganda surrounding the American Dream. The issue presented in the film isn’t simply one of escape but of false hopes and the eventual betrayal … Continue reading The Golden Dream (2013) – Diego Quemada-Díez.
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Natural Diegesis And Aural Interaction With Landscape. One of M.R. James’ most recognisable writing traits is his emphasis on rural settings. From his own personal experience, of both exploring the churches of France on holiday bike-rides and living and holidaying in Suffolk and Norfolk, the rural landscape became almost as much of a story trope as the … Continue reading The Aural Aesthetics of Ghosts in BBC Ghost Stories – Part 5 (Landscape).
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Lizstomania and the effect of Rock Aesthetics on Classical Reception. After making Tommy, Russell clearly felt as if there was still new territory to be explored. The last of his composer films would not simply be a final whimper in the delving into a musical and cultural history, but an all-out … Continue reading A Musicological Study of Ken Russell’s Composer Films – Part 8 (Lisztomania).
Viewing several films by Walerian Borowczyk allows certain traits and patterns to form in regard to his filmmaking. From the extreme polar ends of Blanche (1971) to The Beast (1975), he’s a difficult to pin-down creator, though the man’s style has several factors that appear to gradually come into play. Goto, Isle of Love (1969) already conjures images simply from its title though it’s doubtful … Continue reading Goto, Isle of Love (1969) – Walerian Borowczyk (Arrow Video).
This article contains plot spoilers. Innovation lies at the heart of Marcel Carné’s fifth film, Le Jour Se Léve (Daybreak, 1939). The innovation of narrative and how to visually interpret it; the innovation of provocative material and how to deal with it; and the innovation of producing creatively expressive work in a time where expression was the enemy of the regime. Carné’s film isn’t simply a … Continue reading Le Jour Se Léve (1939) – Marcel Carné (Studio Canal).
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Nondiegetic Musical Themes And Textures. “Indeed, the celestial voices of film music do resemble a phantom in several significant ways. They are ephemeral, they are not ‘substantial’ or do not constitute part of what audiences cognise as important in the film, and have an effect that is not apparent.” – Donnelly (p.8, 2005). Though looking at nondiegetic scores for … Continue reading The Aural Aesthetics of Ghosts in BBC Ghost Stories – Part 4 (Music).
Celluloid Wicker Man 