Posts Tagged ‘Roman Polanski’

Playing for his life

One that I have been meaning to do for some time – without doubt, one of the finest films ever made about the Holocaust and one that, in differing its approach from the similarly superb Schindler’s List (1993), manages to convey the unique horrors of those anti-human times in a way that is peculiarly intimate and personal.

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To grieve alone?

In this affecting, involving and occasionally harrowing examination of how grief can throw the mind off kilter, by renowned Italian director Antonello Grimaldi (Un Delitto impossibile (2001)), widower Pietro Paladini (actor/director Nanni Moretti) is spending his post-bereavement days on a bench in front of his daughter’s primary school. The story recalls Moretti’s own Palme d’Or winner La stanza del figlio (The Son’s Room) (2001), but Grimaldi’s adaptation of the bestselling Sandro Veronesi novel stands on its own merits.

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The eye of childhood

Following on from my thoughts on this year’s remake of The Last House on the Left (1972), namely that even a very-well made film of its kind (brutal rape followed by brutal revenge) asks certain questions of viewers as to what exactly they are seeking in terms of entertainment, I believe that a similar enquiry should always be levelled at any film that makes The Shoah (Holocaust) its central theme.

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Art of darkness

Noah Cross: See, Mr. Gitts, most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they’re capable of…anything!

I recently revealed that Sleuth (1972) was my favourite film, and I hope that Picturenose regulars will forgive me for a comparable piece of heart-felt appreciation when I say that Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) is, perhaps, the finest film ever made. Yep, that’s what I said.

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And what rough beast…?

Can it really be already 40 years since Roman Polanski’s paranoia classic proved that big-budget, intelligent and truly creepy horror had a place in mainstream (even Oscar-honoured) cinema? Time for a tribute, then, to one of the very best fright films ever made.

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Noir nonsense

We’ve been here before – not just because The Black Dahlia is yet another noir set in the sunlight-scorched streets of Los Angeles, but also because it’s another effort from one-time whiz kid Brian De Palma (Carrie (1976), Blow Out (1981), Scarface (1983)) that falls way short of expectation.

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