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Corruption of the innocent. That's the central theme of director Enzo Provenzale's "South Wind" when a young man (a very good Renato Salvatori), bound by his obligation to the mafia, decides to shirk his duties and go on the run. Caught up in her own desire to leave an oppressive family, Grazia (Claudia Cardinale) joins him and the two set off into the humid Italian landscape. As an early vehicle…
12. Lost in New York (1989), directed by Jean Rollin Jean Rollin’s films are often brilliant bursts of gallic, gothic horror. Then there’s his pornographic phase. “Lost in New York” falls into his late career period where he’s sort of abandoned logic even further, embraced more digital filmmaking, and built on ideas of the past. Bodies in motion….. silent trespass across graveyards and castle…
"He votes against long hair, porn, and abortions. But not arms dealing." French politicians of the 1970's in Georges Lautner's wonderful "Death of a Corrupt Man" haven't changed their stripes from global democracy of today, apparently. One of the best of the 70's French paranoid thrillers that stars two of my favorite actors, Alain Delon and Ornella Muti and just drips with corruption behind every…
1. The Net (2003) - Getting past that early aughts digital video essay vibe (done much more propulsively by Adam Curtis) is just one of the overwrought obstacles in Lutz Dammbeck's spiral into the birth of computers, CIA-LSD experimentation, and the vengeful bombing borne from Ted Kaczynski's paranoid beliefs. But, forgiving "The Net's" time and visual limitations, I still became frustrated with…
Pasquale Squiteri's "I Guappi" reveals the inauspicious entanglement of the Mafia with everyday life in nineteenth century Italy during a pivotal scene. Newcomer in town Nicola (Franco Nero), after quarreling with local Don Guatano (Fabio Testi), soon earns his trust and becomes inducted into the Cosa Nostra with a familiar ceremony that includes the pricking of fingers and solemn words. What…
Parthenope Paolo Sorrentino's latest film, "Parthenope", features so many of his affectations that mar some of his previous work. It's messy at times. Its emotions are scattershot. And it's framed and stylized like an aue du cologne commercial. All of these things are exactly why I love it so. It's messy and busting at the seams with snippets of life. Its emotions are tonally divergent (sometimes…
12. First Love (1978), directed by Dino Risi - I've seen a few Dino Risi films this year (mostly for the captivatingly beautiful Ornella Muti) and all I can say is that Italian sex fare has no business looking this good. Through a succession of accomplished cinematographers, including Tonino Delli Colli on this film), Risi's films take queasy romantics about the possession of a young Muti…
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin I never played World of Warcraft, but as someone who grew up alongside the burgeoning Internet, the idea of a faceless community turning into a curated online family is something I certainly experienced. Hours of my teenage life were spent making friends through various chat rooms and online message boards where the words (and subtle meanings expressed behind them)…
Anora For all its anxiety inducing set pieces, the most masterful thing about Sean Baker's electric "Anora" is that all the controlled chaos only makes the quiet, reflective moments that much more powerful. As the title character, Mikey Madison gives a ferociously alive portrayal of a woman caught up in a spiral of very messed-up hide and seek when her newlywed Russian husband goes missing, and…
The Breaking Ice Nana (Zhou Dongyu) is a tour guide whose dropped off the face of the earth from her family, constantly dreaming about her previous life as a figure skater before an accident injured her body. Hao Feng (Liu Haoran) is a tourist in town for a wedding who seems to be enamored with dangling his body on the edges of tall places and almost daring himself to jump. Han Xiao (Qu Chuxiao)…
