Stanley Kubrick‘s first masterwork, an essential artistic consideration of the political nature of war. One of the defining performances of Kirk Douglas’s career. This is the execution scene, of three French soldiers during the First World War chosen at random, yet with bias, for trial on trumped up charges of cowardice because of the failure […]
CineFile: Elevator to the Gallows
What do you get when you put together Louis Malle, Miles Davis, Jeanne Moreau Maurice Ronet, Lino Ventura, film noir, the advent of the French New Wave, and the birth of the Cool? As this past week’s Jazz Is might have promised, even a trailer that is memorable. [ad#adsense] Related articles CineFile: The Birth of […]
CineFile: The Crowd
There had been signs of what we would later think of as modernity through much of the nineteenth century, and modernism was already a fully realized artistic development; still it is remarkable to witness this early vision of the mass metropolis, of teeming anonymity. Influenced by the great German films of the time, King Vidor‘s […]
CineFile: The Birth of Cool Hand
The emblematic performance of Paul Newman‘s career. The scene that gave the character his name. Too little recognized is Stuart Rosenberg‘s directing accomplishment, that gratifying work of assured artistry that only some journeymen get to achieve. Note here how the characters are arranged around the table, where and how Kennedy stands in relation to Newman, […]
How We Lived on It (27) – L’Eclisse
The ending of Michelangelo Antonioni‘s 1962 L’Eclisse. The two lovers do not come to each other in the end. New music: “Wavy Gravy” by DJ Sasha. Related articles Famous and Celebrity Birthdays for September 29, 2010 (blippitt.com) ‘Numbers’ adds up for helmer (variety.com) Five things to do today: January 21 (timeoutny.com)