Bergman infuses Beethoven's Ninth in this semi-autobiographical rumination on marriage, infidelity and thwarted artistic ambition.
David Blakeslee
David Blakeslee
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Roberto Rossellini’s Blaise Pascal
David ponders the austere historical portrayal of a 17th century French genius and his Big Ideas.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Sacha Guitry’s Désiré
Impeccable wit, Gallic insouciance, pretty women and saucy innuendo - what more could one desire from a 1930s French comedy?
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Chantal Akerman’s Les Rendez-vous d’Anna
March is Women's History Month, as if you needed any more justification for exploring great feminist cinema.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Basil Dearden’s Victim
David's latest Eclipse review looks at a groundbreaking British film from 1961 that openly challenged laws criminalizing homosexuality.
David Reviews Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture [Criterion Blu-ray Review]
David takes a break from his Eclipse series, to see what Lena Dunham has to offer in this new Criterion Collection release.
David Reviews Kaneto Shindo’s Postcard [PIFF 2012 Review]
Shindo's final film is a moving reminiscence of grief and endurance in the aftermath of World War II.
David Reviews Alysa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray’s Unfinished Spaces [PIFF 2012 Review]
A documentary about art, architecture and persistent creativity in post-revolutionary Cuba.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Carlos Saura’s El Amor Brujo
If the chills of mid-February have you feeling a little limp and tentative, Carlos Saura's red-hot serving of flamenco en fuego may be just what you need to spice up your Valentine's Day... and night.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Akira Kurosawa’s Sanshiro Sugata
A look at Kurosawa's debut feature, a martial arts saga that laid the foundation for many themes he'd explore over the following fifty years. With LOTS of screencaps.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Takashi Nomura’s A Colt Is My Passport
In this 1967 film, Japanese tough guy Joe Shishido warmed up for his role in Branded To Kill as a steely-nerved hitman running for his life from the gang that betrayed him.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Three Popular Films by Jean-Pierre Gorin
In the newest offering from Eclipse, the so-called "Southern California Trilogy" uses three disparate subjects (developmentally delayed twins, model railroad builders and urban street gangs) to ponder how we learn...
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Dušan Makavejev’s Man Is Not a Bird
Testing the limits of both Communist censorship standards and narrative filmmaking conventions was a specialty of the great Serbian director Dusan Makavejev. In the muted satire of Man Is Not a Bird, he began the trek...
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Yasujiro Ozu’s Late Autumn
Tucked away toward the end of Yasujiro Ozu's monumental filmography, Late Autumn is a must-see for fans of his acclaimed masterpiece Late Spring, reworking its central plot and revealing much in both the similarities...
David Reviews Ernst Lubitsch’s Design for Living [Blu-ray Review]
A new Blu-ray edition gives The Lubitsch Touch its well-deserved Criterion Treatment. More than just enshrining a nearly forgotten historical artifact in state-of-the-art digital technology, this free adaptation of a...