Caught by the Tides is like nothing you’ve seen. On paper, there’s similarity, after all it is a yearning love story told over a long period of time. This kind of story, of the arc of a relationship positioned over a backdrop of social change, is hardly original. The execution, though, and the very form of this film is utterly unique.
The huge caveat is that this film is really only for those already enamoured with the…
There’s a directness to Whitehead’s novel. His prose feels specific and often declarative. Ultimately, it’s a story about reporting the facts and revealing truths, and there’s a journalistic rigour to the way the words convey this. Though RaMell Ross’ adaptation leans further into something experiential, this essence of the material is still retained. There are now these poetic, Malickean compositions but the rhythm of the edit is so precise. Each image becomes a denotative block, speaking with clarity and purpose. …
It’s certainly very cool that this exists but that doesn’t mean it overly works. It’s a new anthology in the style of the classic and is inherently less impressive by being so. Also, seeing the possibilities of traditional animation is less impressive in 1999 than in 1940. It is still impressive, though.
The shorts are weaker than last time, outside of a couple which are very impressive. The final number has something of the impact of the final one in…
The kind of audacious work of cinema that can only come from a particular time. It reminds me of why I adore early silent shorts, in that this is a work where the language of the medium hasn’t yet been defined.
Fantasia presents animation as a way to take in alternative cinematic experiences, rather than just conventional ones. It sees it as a sea of untapped imagery that can bring things to life that live action cannot. The film’s goal…
Soren Kirkergaard wrote that 'life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards'. Aftersun is an impressionistic portrait of this truism, an intricate web of framing devices that comes across as effortless.
In fact, describing Aftersun makes it sound so much more complicated than it is. The film presents three narrative perspectives, all adopting the lens of Sophie (Frankie Corio), the daughter of Calum (Paul Mescal) (the father and daughter relationship that the film entirely revolves around).…
I like to think that if this was released now, it would be torn apart by audiences, rather than just a few critics. I like to think it would be roundly rejected and would inspire frequent think pieces that were also full of recommendations of what you should watch instead.
But then I remember Green Book won best picture and that this film’s overt popularity is because it gives the people what they want. It gives them the stereotype of…
