The House That Ôbayashi Built
The Japanese film House – usually referred to as Hausu, mostly thanks to the mystery of back-and-forth transliteration even though its writer-director had deliberately chosen a foreign-language title to add a taboo-breaking frisson – has become a major cult item in the West over the course of the last decade after being rescreened at festivals in the late 2000s and subsequently published by such prestigious DVD companies as Criterion and Masters of Cinema.
Playing with the Fantastic: Iris Elezi talks about Xhenfise Keko
Andrey Arnold talks to Iris Elezi about Xhenfise Keko
Drawn in & at a Distance – On the seductive reflexivity in the work of Deborah Stratman
Deborah Stratman uses the technology of film as a jet pack which allows us to call into question the cast-iron laws by which we as humans define ourselves, our history, the present world we live in and thus our potentials. Alejandro Bachmann writes about her work.
The Real Eighties: Love Streams (Text von Friederike Horstmann)
Friederike Horstmann schreibt über love-Dinge, Gestolpere und den Überschuss des 1980er-Kinos anhand von Love Streams von John Cassavetes. Der Text ist Teil unserer Publikation “The Real Eighties”.
At the Edge of Fassbinder
What can the neglected parts of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s œuvre – his radio plays and his theater films made for television – tell us about his work?
Discovery Never Ends: A Talk with Naum Kleiman and Artiom Sopin
On the day the joint retrospective of the Austrian Film Museum and the Viennale started Patrick Holzapfel sat down with curators Naum Kleiman and Artiom Sopin to discuss their curatorial approach and some highlights of the retrospective. In the middle…
The Siodmak Variations
Famous for his great film noir work in Hollywood, Robert Siodmak may be the most intriguing of the many exile filmmakers who fled from the Nazi regime and established a career in the US. Our recent Weimar retrospective showcased some examples of his astonishing early work in Germany–one official classic, his equally remarkable follow-up film (with yet another alternative surprise ending!) and one stunning item that had been considered lost. Now that it has been “rediscovered”, Emil Jannings will never be the same.
Donkeys in Cinema (2): Poe, Fellini, Stamp and a Donkey
I am not a big fan of Federico Fellini, but I have to admit his episode from the Edgar Allen Poe omnibus Histoires extraordinaires (Spirits of the Dead, 1968) is truly extraordinary. Probably because his penchant for the grotesque does not seem misplaced in the world of horror fantasy (replete with Mario Bava quote). Then, there’s Terence Stamp’s bravura performance. And it even has a donkey.
Walsh – Godard – Parrish – Rossen – Walsh
As our Godard retrospective opens, it’s time to consider the fact–Godard would surely agree–that everyone is (or should be) indebted to Raoul Walsh.
Potemkin Reborn (with Sound)
Over a decade in the making, the German synchronized sound version of Battleship Potemkin shows at the Film Museum. With composer Edmund Meisel’s truly striking score wedded to the images, this “Viennese Version” is an entirely new experience.
Spoiler Alert
Or how we discovered another ending of Dino Risis’s Il segno di Venere (The Sign of Venus, 1955), starring Sophia Loren and Vittorio De Sica.
The Wrong Man: How I Rediscovered De Sica
A popular and brilliant actor, Vittorio De Sica proved himself an outstanding director as well. Unfortunately, his reputation as a filmmaker is defined almost exclusively via his famous neorealist classics. Big mistake. A note on the dynamics on film history.
Sex and Horror: Regarding Rollin
Four years ago today, Jean Rollin died. He was the poète maudit among those obsessive filmmakers who straddled a thin line between porn, exploitation, and personal expression during the 70’s. This Frenchman occupies a special place in film history–and in my heart.
Donkeys in Cinema (1): 3 Fordian Donkeys
A post to inaugurate a new series on this blog, dedicated to the undervalued filmography of the most noble of animals.
An Iconic Image
The poetic finale of The Searchers is one of the most famous scenes in film history. The actual shooting was a bit more prosaic.