When exploring large, thematically complicated filmographies I often feel inclined to find which film is the "key" to unlocking the director's body of work, but instead Zhang Yimou has one lock. That lock is The Curse of the Golden Flower; immediately a work of opulence and beauty, but under which is his most elusive subtextual offering to date. I can't imagine getting much from this besides some great entertainment without first examining the political underpinnings of Zhang's 80s and 90s…
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The Woman Who Ran 2020
Life is ephemeral and not for the first time this year a film has left me thinking of Yasujirō Ozu. There are several words I can think of that accurately convey what I find so affecting about his films: it’s the familiarity, delicacy, universality, and the utter immediacy of his works. I don’t think many of these are qualities unique to him but it’s hard to argue against his films being the epitome of them across the medium. I am…
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The Limey 1999
I haven’t seen a film in a month, and technically that drought has now come to an end, but The Limey is never really much of a film anyways, instead it’s almost too much of a vibe. I’m not entirely sure whether it’s too skeletal for its own good or if that’s precisely why it just about works in spite of its reluctant attitude towards character and plotting, either why it’s simultaneously frustrating and fascinating to watch until it reaches a final moment of catharsis. A lot of ingredients are here for Soderbergh to cook but the taste is more faint than truly ambitious.
