Mania Akbari and some special Cambridge screenings

There is a scene in the film ONE.TWO.ONE which is so brilliant in its conception and execution that it takes my breath away. I wish that every film student would carefully examine its construction and try to understand how an apparently simple static camera shot can be so richly textured, so simple yet full of elegance and poetry. Mark Cousins …

The Temptation of St Tony

Here is my review of this film published in Take One magazine:- The deliciously intriguing, witty opening – a peculiar funeral procession which is rudely interrupted in a most unexpected manner – sets the tone for this Estonian curiosity. It’s the beginning of a bizarre story which follows Tony, a middle manager who seems in …

Bela Tarr, a brief retrospective

THE TURIN HORSE finally recieving it UK release a week or two back in London and is to be released in my favourite cinema - the Arts Picturehouse Cambridge - this Friday. To celebrate, here's my retrospective on Bela Tarr's films which was published in Take One:- Hungarian director Bela Tarr’s latest film, THE TURIN HORSE, …

The Turin Horse

An expanded version of my short review published online in One Hundred Words Magazine:- I feel very fortunate to live near such an inspirational cinema as the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge; a venue always keen to bring the best in cinema to its appreciative audience. As a huge (though not uncritical) fan of Bela Tarr, …

Too Many Cinematic Masterpieces?

This short piece by Geoff Andrew caught my eye: O masterpiece, where art thou? [no longer available]. Between a couple of Berlin’s press screenings, Nick James and I found ourselves discussing the overuse of ‘masterpiece’, a word apparently as vulnerable to abuse as ‘classic’. I felt uncomfortable on reading this, since I'm probably guilty of …

…eagerly awaiting the new Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Jostling for top position on my imaginary list of great living directors, with the likes of Bela Tarr, is the unique Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan. His latest film, Once Upon A Time In Anatolia, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes last year, is finally to be released in the UK next …