Ousmane Sembène’s Vibrant Political Satire ‘Mandabi’ Pokes at Imperial Conquest
Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi (1968) unravels Senegal’s post-colonial entanglements and centers African people, places, and experiences at every frustrating step.
Colin Fitzgerald
Colin Fitzgerald is a writer from Michigan.
Is the Spirit of Change in ‘World of Wong Kar-Wai’ for the Better?
Is there freedom for the filmmaker and for viewers in the director-revised films that comprise ‘World of Wong Kar-Wai’, or just a forced regression?
Park Chan-wook’s ‘JSA: Joint Security Area’ Fights Violence with Brotherhood
Park Chan-wook’s South Korean thriller ‘Joint Security Area’ shows us how easy it could be to build a brotherhood with our enemies.
Hungarian Drama ‘Sátántangó’ Wants To Make Viewers Uncomfortable
Is there an artwork that better evokes the grim feeling of the current state of the world than Hungarian drama, Sátántangó?
Bing Liu’s Skateboarding Documentary, ‘Minding the Gap’, Is a Manifesto of Youth Delivered by the Young
Some people never grow up but in skateboarding documentary, ‘Minding the Gap’, no one ever stops growing.
Sundance 2021: Poonpiriya’s ‘One for the Road’ Explores Brotherhood
Baz Poonpiriya's broken misfits in One for the Road are raw products of loneliness.
Sundance 2021: Edgar Wright’s Quirky ‘The Sparks Brothers’
Using collage, clay animation, and 2D anime-style art with traditional archival footage and modern black-and-white interviews, Edgar Wright tries to capture the Sparks as a "Hollywood" band with an obsession for European visual art.
Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ and the Gangster’s Reimagined Soul
Scorsese's The Irishman is not a masculine power fantasy, nor could its heavy underlying sadness ever be mistaken for delight in violence or criminality.
Sundance 2021: Sion Sono’s Gonzo ‘Prisoners of the Ghostland’
Prisoners of the Ghostland, starring a whacked-out Nicholas Cage, is exciting, wild, bold, and joyfully ridiculous -- pretty much what you expect from a Sion Sono film.
Sundance 2021: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Animated ‘Flee’ Leaves You Speechless
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated Flee fearlessly discusses the value of life, the arbitrary inhumanity of immigration law, and the resilience of family, borders, and identity.
Sundance 2021: Rebecca Hall’s Visually Gorgeous ‘Passing’ Is Cerebral But Cool
Rebecca Hall's Passing has a distance to it affirms the film's message but it doesn't necessarily make for appealing cinema.