A metaphor for modern cinema can be formed from analogues in the world of painting. It divides films into three unconnected groups. A very small, select number of films can be paralleled by the work of the great masters, in that they are governed by … Read More →
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Space Precinct (TV Series, 1994)
This TV sci-fi was co-produced by Gerry Anderson, and perfectly demonstrates his fastidious, pathological recreation of the world in miniature – a repetitive element throughout his work that he claims he fell into by circumstance. Anderson is a showman and businessman before a filmmaker, and … Read More →
Il nascondiglio (2007; dir. Pupi Avati)
Pupi Avati is the most intelligent and insightful filmmaker working in conventional, narrative-based cinema today. His work, of which this is an excellent example, is consciously aware of the perverted phenomenon that surrounds cinema, and the audience’s willing participation in its construction. Although not openly … Read More →
Valkoinen peura (1952; dir. Erik Blomberg)
This beautiful, oneiric film is possibly the finest rendering of the human-into-animal myth – popularised by countless werewolf movies with dubious heritage. The story tells of a woman cursed to change into the titular white reindeer and lure men to their deaths, and unfolds against … Read More →
Production Diary 01
Here is the first production diary for our new film Scenes from the Private Life of Scratchman Drexel, outlining our intention and alternative approach to the writing process. To read individual reviews of the films mentioned in this video, click on a title below: Fires … Read More →
They Came from Beyond Space (1967; dir. Freddie Francis)
Of all the musical styles available to the film composer, a jazz score is perhaps the most unsuitable for the cinematic spectacle: its strident rhythms and jaunty improvisational techniques are totally insensitive to the delicate complexities of film. Here, co-writer and producer Milton Subotsky forces … Read More →
Folk and oral tradition as an alternative to manipulative narrative form
Currently accepted narrative practices, taught in universities and colleges, and adhered to by the majority of mass audio-visual media content existing today, guide the audience through a series of connected sequences (a better description would be ‘progressions’) that culminate in a concluding climax-and-resolution scenario, which … Read More →
Flick (2008; dir. David Howard)
This off-kilter British horror film suffers from an over-produced mise en scène and a lack of originality in its casting. Helmer Howard’s attempts to marry comic book visuals to a cinematic framework fail because the two art forms – despite some cursory similarities – are … Read More →
Pressure (1976; dir. Horace Ové)
At one point during this film – widely touted as the UK’s “first black feature” – a speaker at a Black Power meeting insists that the world needs “great stories about great black people”, and you can’t help but feel that helmer Ové has already … Read More →
Fires Were Started (1943; dir. Humphrey Jennings)
This film – also known as “I was a Fireman” – details the activities of the UK’s volunteer fire service during the early years of World War II. Whereas modern documentary makers prefer to employ actors for their reconstructions, suggesting that reality somehow needs dressing … Read More →
Production Diary 02
An early present from our Christmas stocking: here’s the second production diary for Scenes from the Private Life of Scratchman Drexel, detailing the new pre-production stages demanded by the alternative approach to filmmaking we outlined here. And that just leaves us to wish you a … Read More →