Whose Nostalgia Drives Edgar Wright’s Psychological Horror ‘Last Night in Soho?’
Is ‘Last Night in Soho’ a critique of nostalgia, or does it use nostalgia to suggest new possibilities for a cross-generational alliance among women and girls?
drama
Kosovan Director Blerta Basholli Battles Patriarchy with Her Debut Biography/Drama ‘Hive’
Kosovan Director Blerta Basholli talks about her debut drama ‘Hive’, based on a true story about women tackling patriarchy by starting a small business.
‘Petite Maman’ Director Céline Sciamma on Liberating Childhood
Director Céline Sciamma talks with PopMatters about exploring inequality in the adult/child relationship with her gentle and beguiling fantasy, Petite Maman.
Mike Mills on His Drama for the Tender-Hearted ‘C’mon C’mon’
The pandemic shutdown provided the quiet space director Mike Mills needed to bring his tender drama, C’mon Cmon to life.
Rod Serling Undermines the American Dream with the Stories in ‘Night Gallery’
Existential fear about post-war American masculinity is dragged into disturbing light in Rod Serling’s dark tales of the American Dream, Night Gallery.
Raindance 2021: Body Image Horror ‘Shapeless’ Explores the Anorexic Mind
Award-winning director Amanda Aldana’s Shapeless is a sensitive study of anorexia and the power of the mind over the body.
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.
The Sexual Politics in Sexy Rudolph Valentino’s Silent Film, ‘The Sheik’
Eyebrows tilting and nostrils flaring and emanating pheromones of intoxicating effluvia, Foreigners like Valentino’s Sheik had un-American sex all over Hollywood.
Director Eva Husson on Rising Above the Power Dynamic in ‘Mothering Sunday’
Director Eva Husson talks with PopMatters about presenting a maid turned novelist who rises above ordinary social constrictions in Mothering Sunday.
‘Ratcatcher’ Shows People, Not Poverty Porn
Lynne Ramsay’s gutting, eerily beautiful first film, Ratcatcher, shows a director refusing to let the impoverished circumstances of her characters define them.
The Syllabus of ‘Filibus’ the Gentlewoman Thief
WWI was underway when silent film Filibus hit theaters, so this elegant, war-free escapism of immorality among the ruling class may have provided mass therapy.