Leslie Caron was only 16 years old when Gene Kelly saw her dance on stage and knew she would be the perfect co-star for his upcoming musical An American in Paris (1951). Untrained as an actress and new to the United States, Caron alternated between nerves and irritation during the film’s production. As she tells it in…
Again mining comedic gems that verge on crossing the void towards farce Bruno Dumont’s Ma Loute reappraised many of his troupes from earlier more inaccessible films in the Competition entry here on the Croisette. Again working with establishing actors alongside non-professionals he seems to hit on a …
In Midi Z’s latest work, the primary subject is his older brother De-chin. De-chin committed…
In a masterclass of his own unique filmmaking techniques and philosophies on the art form, Abbas Kiarostami’s 10 on Ten is a film that contextualizes its own existence as it unfolds. It is broken into ten segments, each of the ten segments offering another dimension of insight into the creative processes and,,,
Most of Abbas Kiarostami’s films are structured around canny narrative omissions. His movies work to intrigue, pull viewers in with the promise of a resolution, and then do something entirely different. He makes his narratives a mystery as a way to get us to notice other things, as a way to coerce us into paying attention to…
In a simple four-minute fable, Abbas Kiarostami makes an appeal for empathy and understanding instead of vengeance when two elementary school students demonstrate two possible outcomes for the same problem. When a boy borrows and accidentally tears his friend’s book, his friend could choose a path of righteous indignation or a path…
Simultaneously juggling filming in the busy Tehran streets with in-depth dialogue concerning the state of Iranian gender politics, Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten is more ambitious than its setting would suggest. Simply titled, Ten is a movie that is indeed about the journey rather than the destination, with this …
Canada-trained filmmaker Gu Tao’s first full-length work chronicles in a blunt manner the effects of twenty-first century modernisation on the ethnic group of the Ewenkis. Gu is not unfamiliar with working with the Ewenkis, as his first two works also center on their community, ways of life, and …
As is expected by now from the Harvard Film Study Center + Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL), this film co-directed by JP Sniadecki and Libbie Cohn is an immersive visual experience that allows the viewer to get to know a particular setting and how people interact with and/or use it. SEL films forgo an …
At first, the film seems one of a complicated subject: Mr. Badii (Homayon Ershadi) drives around Tehran looking for someone who will bury him after he commits suicide. He doesn’t come right out and say it, but tells candidates there is big money in this small job. Not at any time of the film are we given his motivations for…