Film
A Filmmaker Captures the Seduction of Prosperity and Its False Promises
Mambéty made films that are political only on a broad, symbolic level, and their subject is the soul of a people who have been tricked into a troubling fate.
Craig Hubert
Film
Films on the Fringes of the Japanese New Wave
A series at the Japan Society opening on April 5 further complicates the definition of the Japanese New Wave cinema, whose parameters are typically difficult to define.
Books
César Aira’s Memoir Responds to an Existentialist Crisis
Whatever might be truth or fiction in Birthday is used in service of the book’s main question: What has been the purpose of the author's life?
News
Jonas Mekas, a Guiding Spirit of Indie Cinema, Dies at 96
Simple descriptors can’t do justice to his monumental life.
Film
Pasolini’s Felt Duty to be Scandalous
The first of a three-part retrospective of Pasolini’s films began at Metrograph, starting at the end of Pasolini’s career with the films that are among his most conflicted, comic, and punishing.
Test 2018 posts
In Vox Lux, Pop Music Is a Shield Against Contemporary Horrors
Natalie Portman stars as a pop star who survived a school shooting in director Brady Corbet's new film about the desensitizing powers of idol worship.
Test 2018 posts
48 Years In the Making, Orson Welles's Last Film Is Finally Released
The Other Side of the Wind, long considered one of the most famous films never released, arrives on Netflix this November.
Test 2018 posts
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto Reflects on His Life, Work, and Battle with Cancer
In light of a new documentary on the composer, Sakamoto shares what compels him to write music and the influence of film on his work.
Test 2018 posts
A Documentary on Basquiat's Teen Years Tracks a Star's Early Ascent
Sara Driver's new documentary Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat wants to bring the young art star back down to earth, but often can't help positioning hovering him above.
Test 2018 posts
A Documentary Tracks the Competitive Theatrics of John McEnroe
A new documentary made up solely of footage of the tennis star shot in 1984 is a meditation on the psycho-dramatics of sports and a pure celebration of the body in motion.
Test 2018 posts
48 Ingmar Bergman Films Ranked
Film Forum's retrospective marking the centennial of the Swedish auteur's birth includes 48 of his films, which we've dutifully ranked from best to worst.
Film
Antonioni's Rarely Seen Documentary on China During the Cultural Revolution
Antonioni's experimental travelogue of the early days of the Cultural Revolution is a complex, sometimes confusing, and priceless document of a transformative moment in Chinese history.