This film inaugurates Bartana’s “Polish trilogy”, building on the complex Polish-Jewish relations as the point of departure towards a more universal narration about the figure of a stranger or newcomer. Sławomir Sierakowski (leader of the Polish leftist group and magazine “Krytyka Polityczna”) acts here as an activist who passionately invites Jews to come back to Poland. The derelict Tenth Anniversary Stadium in Warsaw provides the scenery of his passionate speech: “Jews! Fellow countrymen! People! Peeeeople! This is a call, not to the dead, but to the living. We want 3 million Jews to return to Poland, to live with us again. We need you! We’re asking you to return!” Bartana relates here to the timeless aesthetics of propaganda films, e.g. Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will from 1934 (where the stadium also becomes an scene of political manipulation), but also the earlier Zionist film chronicles targeted at Jews settling down on the Palestinian territories.
While not everyone may relate to the circumstances Danielle finds herself in in 'Shiva Baby', some are sure to understand her struggles as she is scrutinized for being a woman, a college student, an LGBT person, and a sugar baby.
We, the Jane Austen aficionados, are suckers for everything and anything under the sun that’s remotely related to her and her world. That’s because we are so drawn to her unique style of fiction, romance, and social commentary, we take any allusion to her influence as a hint to what to expect when we start watching a movie or reading a book.
Can a homeless yet optimistic teenage girl learn to accept a helping hand?
James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984) marks the beginning of a wonderful two-part arc, brimming with style and substance. The film follows Sarah Connor, a waitress living in Los Angeles. One night, a cybernetic organism (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to kill Sarah. A human resistance fighter (Michael Biehn) is also sent back in time, with the intent of saving Sarah from this deadly foe.
Cursed is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, and is a retelling of the Arthurian legend with a twist. Instead of King Arthur gaining Excalibur, a teenage sorceress named Nimue (Katherine Langford) does. Her people — the Fey — are being hunted down, and so Nimue will do whatever it takes to save them.
Treated like a granter of wishes for those earning out of retelling the same tragedy, Marilyn looks like she's caged in different stages of trauma for us to stare at, instead of someone we’ve finally allowed to rest in peace.
