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Feature Four Frames

Transgressing genre conventions: Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House

Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House (Hausu, Japan, 1977) is a coming-of-age film that mixes horror and fantasy elements with humour and an undisguised penchant for the experimental. The title itself is programmatic – seven schoolgirls find themselves trapped in a haunted house. Shocked by the unexpected news that her widowed father has remarried while on a business […]

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Hiroshima Mon Amour: Resuscitate after Annihilation

When we think of films addressing devastation and disaster, graphic imagery replete with dramatic plotlines are what first come to mind. From tension-filled, post-apocalyptic sci-fi to explosion-ridden war films, the theme of suffering becomes upscaled and unrealistic. Films that carry the highest emotional impact of destruction tend to be subtle and artistically experimental, like Schindler’s […]

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Feature Four Frames

Four Frames: Black Moon (Louis Malle, 1975)

Writer-director Louis Malle’s filmography is nothing short of eclectic; over the course of his decades-long career, he tackled war dramas, screwball comedies, coming-of-age chronicles, an assortment of international documentaries, and even a landmark film noir. Yet, even considered within this vast oeuvre, Black Moon (1975) stands out as a singular, unparalleled dream of a film. […]