Six days in the life of Wilhelm: a detached man without qualities. He wants to write, so his mother gives him a ticket to Bonn, telling him to live. On the train he meets an older man, an athlete in the 1936 Olympics, and his mute teen companion, Mignon. She's an acrobat in market squares for spare change.
From its visually stunning opening credits, which show women dancing through a forest to musical rhythms that sound almost primal, to its quiet, heartbreaking final frame, Mona Fastvold’s historical rendering of the Shaker religious movement is an experience that will stay with me for a long time.
Unlike other documentaries about Princess Diana, Perkins’ film, 'The Princess', is an entire documentary consisting of media coverage and public opinion, rather than a typical series of people interviewed with firsthand experience of the Princess. 'The Princess' beautifully depicts how we perceive Diana as a media figure rather than a real person, specifically creating her persona as a fairytale figure turned saint and icon.
“I’m always interested in exploring female fantasy, and the sexy witch is a loaded archetype that is simultaneously about men’s fears and fantasies about women, and women’s feelings of empowerment and agency. So whereas we are used to seeing the sexy witch or the femme fatale from the outside, I wanted to explore her from the inside.” - Anna Biller, on why she made The Love Witch
"The Mitchells vs. The Machines" captures the eternal struggle between kids who want to pursue the arts and their practical parents who think they'll fail.
A decade since it aired, Shameless (U.S.) has always stuck to its guns (and baseball bats) about character diversity.
All in all, “Event Horizon” is a cinematic misfire, begging to be perfected in the future. While it possesses an array of admirable visuals, the film leaves much to be desired. If only we could see Anderson’s preferred cut, which featured more character development and tortuous imagery. In the meantime, I have a catchphrase for this film: In space no one can hear you snore.
