Letterboxd — Your life in film

Despite being one of the most interesting Sternberg/Dietrich films, it's the one I've heard of the least. Mischaracterized down to the title, according to Von Sternberg himself: "The company decided to title the film Dishonored, disregarding my protest that the lady spy was not dishonored but killed by a firing squad."

not understanding such a boring take on such a fascinating subject

tired: wondering what it was like to be in the audience when Alien (1979) debuted and having no idea about the famed chest-bursting scene coming
wired: wondering what it was like to be in the audience when Ivan the Terrible Pt II debuted and having no warning about the color section coming in near the end

"Close-up proves once again how a cinema free of artifice empowers others to dominate the director and not vice versa. When working with a professional team, the more the director dominates, the more dangerous it becomes. Of course the result might be a technically well-made film, but it makes it very hard to get at the truth. I think the director has to get out of the way and let the film and the characters take shape on their own."
- Kiarostami, from Abbas Kiarostami: Truth and Dreams (Jean-Pierre Limosin)

An essential and beautifully photographed entry in ghostly film

"For they believe they alone can interpret the scriptures, as if truth were an object to be possessed, instead of a living thing recognized and cultivated by the mind and heart."

Still parsing this film... but I was fascinated to see Rossellini in particular take on this subject. You can see how he'd be interested in this historical figure's desire to dissolve his contemporaries' binary ideas of science and faith, and now I'm left very intrigued to read some Pascal...

When you revisit your fave movies and they're even better than you remembered

Although charming with a couple of beautiful-looking scenes, overall it's one of the lesser Soviet fairy tale films I've seen. Not enough Father Frost or general wintertime mystique, and, maybe my impression is heightened by youtube's shaky subtitles, but too many chaotic characters and one-note villains.

Still rattled by this one months later, maybe the eeriest of all the vampire films I've seen

Expected a typical cheesy hijinx-laden family holiday movie from the trailer, instead a continually upsetting tale of a little girl failed by all adults around her!! Her and her widower father alone on their rotting, barren apple farm 💔

Set in a shopping mall in late 1970s Toronto, the four leads are all attractive, a great fish tank