A manhunt in a period film: Hideo Gosha’s Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
The recent discovery of Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron (Kumokiri Nizaemon, 1978), a film that I had never seen before, has…
Recent Posts
Facing the uncanny: Conor McPherson’s The Eclipse
A man is driving home at night in the Irish countryside when suddenly the ghostly figure of his father-in-law (Jim…
The inner chaos of adolescent life: Sion Sono’s Love Exposure
In Sion Sono’s Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008), 17-year-old Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) struggles with his sexual awakening. Sono turns the…
Cube: An Endless Existentialist Escape
Weaving horror techniques with philosophical undertones, Cube (1997) navigates the dark recesses of humanity in a mechanical enigma. In a…
Toshiro Mifune in Mexico: Ismael Rodriguez’s Ánimas Trujano
Ánimas Trujano (Mexico, 1962) starts as a documentary film with images of a festival which the villagers in the Mexican…
The beauty of free movement: Akira Kurosawa’s Uma no uta
In his autobiography, Something Like an Autobiography, Akira Kurosawa mentions that since his youth he had loved horses and had…
Renaissance Woman and Dance Hall Days in the Alienated City
Special Service agent Richard Chance (William Petersen) approaches both his job and his life with reckless abandon, throwing caution to…
Film Noir Style: Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy
As the clocks turn back and the weather turns cold, I turn back to my favourite genre, film noir, transforming…
War as absurdity: Kihachi Okamoto’s Desperado Outpost
Desperado Outpost (Dokuritsu gurentai, Japan, 1959) starts with shots of a man on horseback in a landscape reminiscent of a…
