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Archive for the 'DVDs' Category

VIOLENCE AT HIGH NOON

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Based on the true story of the rapist and serial murderer Eisuke, Violence at High Noon is a detached and disturbing portrait of post-war Japan that owes much to the films of Alain Resnais and Robert Bresson in terms of its non-linear structure and its fascination with the amoral activity of the social outsider.
Review by John Berra

CHRYSALIS

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Imagine a time in the near future when memories could be transplanted to another human brain, or removed entirely. That simple premise is the key idea behind Chrysalis, the directorial debut from Julien Leclercq.
Review by Martin Cleary

ZIZEK!

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Astra Taylor’s spot-on profile shows the extent to which Žižek is both intimidated by the responsibility his celebrity brings and irked by the impact it has on his intellectual standing.
Review by Pamela Jahn

SPACE IS THE PLACE

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

The idea behind the film was to create a cinematic vehicle for Sun Ra’s mythology, linking the extra-terrestrial theme with the erudite Egyptian alchemy that played such an important role in the musician’s philosophy.
Review by Celluloid Liberation Front

EYES WITHOUT A FACE

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Beastliness and clinical horror cohabit in Georges Franju’s wonderful Gothic fairy tale.
Review by Stephen Thomson

THE SUN’S BURIAL

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Nagisa Oshima’s 1960 The Sun’s Burial is a radically nihilistic portrayal of post-war Japanese youth.
Review by Sarah Cronin

NIGHT AND FOG IN JAPAN

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

While it might be considered less important or engaging than Nagisa Oshima’s later work, Night and Fog in Japan is a fascinating reflection on the dynamics of political movements in 1950s Japan.
Review by Martin Cleary

COUP DE TORCHON

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Bertrand Tavernier’s transposition of Jim Thompson’s disillusioned chronicle of Southern corruption to the moral quagmire of colonial Africa was an inspired choice.
Review by Paul Huckerby

MOTHER JOAN OF ANGELS

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

In April, the Polish film festival Kinoteka paid tribute to the recently deceased Polish master Jerzy Kawalerowicz, screening three of his films, including the acclaimed Mother Joan of Angels, a feverish exploration of sexual repression and religious fanaticism.
Review by Stephen Thomson

PARANOIA AGENT

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

The ground-breaking animé series Paranoia Agent first aired on Japanese TV in the spring of 2004 and has recently been re-released in a beautifully packaged thin box-set. Written and directed by Satoshi Kon, the man behind Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent focuses on a seemingly random set of attacks by a mysterious skater armed with a golden baseball bat.
Review by Alex Fitch and Virginie Sélavy