film: all articles

openDemocracy sees films differently: pioneering the mini-essay cine-crit, we offer in-depth and lateral criticism of films and the cultures they emerge from.
Thursday 10th September

Hybridity, not District 10

Globalisation should mean fostering difference, not fencing off the aliens, says Tom Nairn after seeing the film District 9
Thursday 13th August

Antichrist: the visual theology of Lars Von Trier

The Danish filmmaker uses image as a "celluloid icon" to explore the depths of the Christian unconscious
Tuesday 28th July

Ingmar Bergman and Sweden: an epoch’s end

The great filmmaker's bond with his homeland was conflictual as well as intimate 

The tears flowed

The great Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky died in May this year.  Mumin Shakirov reviews the career of this outstanding actor and man

  Oleg Yankovsky as Metropolit

Oleg Yankovsky as Metropolit Philip in  Pavel Lungin's film "Tsar".

Sunday 26th July

Youssef Chahine, the life-world of film

The passing of a great filmmaker of Alexandria and Egypt casts light on his country’s journey (archive)
Tuesday 16th June

Propaganda or just good business?

Vladimir Bortko's blockbuster "Taras Bulba" reveals Hollywood's inroads into Russian film
Tuesday 2nd June

Russian anti-Nazi film v Kremlin bulldogs

Pavel Bardin's film Russia 88, about Russian Nazis, has incurred official displeasure even before its release. Bardin says he wants to help government fight Russian fascism. Critics say the film's good. So what's the problem?The blogosphere is buzzing with answers

Rossiya 88 film

(Photo: Rossiya 88 film)

Friday 3rd April

The ‘vertical of power’ grabs Russian cinema

 Russia has been gripped by the spectacle of a public battle for the heart of the film industry, says the cultural sociologist, Danil Dondurey.
Thursday 15th January

Dissenting blockbusters

In an era of growing Kremlin control over media, two big new Russian films remain defiant
Wednesday 7th January

A closed horizon

The film director Theo Angelopoulos talks about turmoil in Greece, a generational failure and about his new film ‘The Dust of Time'
Wednesday 22nd October

Roberto Saviano: an Italian dissident

"Gomorrah", a fearless anatomy of Napoli's mafia, also exposes the new face of global crime    
Thursday 21st August

The dark (k)night of a postmodern world

The Dark Knight offers - via Slavoj Zizek - a bleak insight into democracy's post-9/11 moral void
Thursday 13th March

Clowning glories: Hollywood's screwball women

Kasia Boddy celebrates the brief reign of screwball's madcap women

One day of life: a Romanian odyssey

Cristian Mungiu makes humane, engaging art from the bleakness of a young woman's illegal abortion

Wednesday 16th January

Calle Santa Fé: between Chile and freedom

The homecoming of an exiled militant is the beginning of a new journey

Saturday 4th August

Ingmar Bergman: the sense of the world

The great Swedish filmmaker made art that speaks profoundly to the truth of ourselves

Wednesday 21st March

The Lives of Others: beyond good and evil

"The Lives of Others" depicts a world of paranoia and foreboding, but this is no ordinary cold war thriller. The compelling exploration of the "dark side" of Communist East Germany sets this film apart, says Steve Crawshaw.
Thursday 1st March

Bamako

Rachel Rawlins talks to director Abderrahmane Sissako about his new film Bamako, the IMF, the World Bank and relationships.
Friday 23rd February

Letters to the past: Iwo Jima and Japanese memory

Clint Eastwood's film "Letters from Iwo Jima" finds the humanity behind the brutality of war, thus honouring the past and opening hearts in the present, says Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, author of "Kamikaze Diaries".
Friday 2nd February

A Prairie Home Companion: Altman's last ride

Robert Altman's last film, A Prairie Home Companion is a beautiful farewell to life and art, writes Maggie Gee
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