Hôtel du Nord is a film from the great French director Marcel Carné who, along with Jean Renoir and Jean Vigo, was one of key directors to come out of the Poetic Realism movement in French cinema in the '30s. It's a fascinating genre for a whole host of reasons: they are often crime films … Continue reading Hôtel du Nord – Blu-Ray Review
Orphans was actor Peter Mullan’s first film as a director—Mullan is best-known for his role as Swanney/Mother Superior in Trainspotting and for his title role in My Name is Joe, for which he won a Best Actor award at Cannes. It’s a very odd Scottish black comedy about three brothers and their disabled sister as … Continue reading Orphans – Blu-Ray Review
Black Angel is a little-known noir based on a Cornell Woolrich novel. Woolrich’s work was adapted for film a lot: Phantom Lady and Rear Window were two such adaptations, and even Truffaut made a couple of films based on Woolrich’s books. One of his short stories was used for the under-rated noir The Window, one … Continue reading Black Angel – Blu-Ray Review
Sanshō the Bailiff is a film by Kenji Mizoguchi, one of the most respected Japanese directors of all time. At the time, he was rated higher in France than Kurosawa, as he was seen as being more “Japanese” than Western. He made 90 films, but only lived to be 58—and was of course an influence on Kurosawa, … Continue reading Sansho the Bailiff – Blu-Ray Review
Cloak and Dagger is one of Fritz Lang’s anti-Nazi spy thrillers. It was also his first post-WW2 film, but it feels more like Man Hunt or Hangmen Also Die! than the fantastic string of noirs that he made not long after the war and on up to the mid '50s. Lang emigrated very soon after he had a meeting with … Continue reading Cloak and Dagger – Blu-Ray Review
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