Category Archives: Directors

High art in a Parisian afternoon – Varda’s “Cléo de 5 à 7″ [1962 France, Italy]

Pin it!The French New Wave will be incomplete without the redoubtable Agnès Varda – in fact, critics even credit her earlier works as the forerunner of the Nouvelle Vague. Whatever the case, Varda’s magnificent 1962 masterpiece “Cléo de 5 à … Continue reading

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Celebrating Balkan spunk in “Zivot je cudo” [2004 Serbia, France]

Pin it!Emir Kusturica revisits his favourite time and space – the Yugoslavian conflict, in his inimitable style of course, through the romantic comedy “Zivot je cudo” [Eng. Title: Life is a Miracle].
Storyline:
It’s the summer of 1992. Luka (Slavko Stimac) is … Continue reading

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A British cinema classic – Ratcatcher [1999 United Kingdom, France]

Pin it!Scottish director Lynne Ramsay made an outstanding feature-film debut through the social drama “Ratcatcher”. The film won numerous awards including a BAFTA for the most promising newcomer, but Ms. Ramsay was merely following a long tradition of British social … Continue reading

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Selling dreams of stardom to masses – L’uomo delle stelle [1995 Italy]

Pin it!After Cinema Paradiso – one the greatest films ever made about the magic of cinema – Giuseppe Tornatore not only returns to the topic and his beloved Sicily in the achingly beautiful drama “L’uomo delle stele” [Eng. Title: The … Continue reading

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Beginning of a new era symbolised in “Mamá cumple 100 años” [1979 Spain]

Pin it!Few can claim to have helped showcase Flamenco – the quintessentially Spanish music and dance form, to a global audience as successfully as Carlos Saura. One of Spain’s favourite directors (and mine too), Sr. Saura is a traditionalist – … Continue reading

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