The Syllabus of ‘Filibus’ the Gentlewoman Thief
WWI was underway when silent film Filibus hit theaters, so this elegant, war-free escapism of immorality among the ruling class may have provided mass therapy.
film restoration
When Golden Age TV Films Screamed About Gender Roles
In these three restored Gothic films from Kino Lorber, gender roles and their social undertones feed into the template of paranoid thrillers.
Film-Noir ‘A Life at Stake’ Is a Saucy Little Potboiler
Restored noir ‘A Life at Stake’ sets viewers smack in the middle of the sleek, seamy, sweaty, paranoid underside of the American ’50s, and it’s a nice trip.
The Way They Kiss in ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’
Julie Andrews’ 1960s musical Thoroughly Modern Millie does its anti-authoritarian, anarchic-chaotic thing in a different key.
Seaton’s What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? Thumbs Its Tucan-Size Nose at the Establishment
An airborne virus infects the cogs in the capitalist machine in George Seaton’s What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? and makes people subversively happy.
Life Irritates Art in These Stanley Kwan and James Cruze Talkies
Kwan’s art-house Center Stage and Cruze’s vulgar The Great Gabbo both touch on the tragic tropes of performers whose careers suck up their lives.
Paul Leni’s Haunting ‘Waxworks’ Comes to Life in This Restoration
Paul Leni’s silent film Waxworks (1924) is a brilliantly acted, engaging, and exhilarating example of German Expressionism on film.
James Whale’s Film, ‘The Kiss Before the Mirror’, Is an Elegant Pre-Code Treat
James Whale’s pre-Code The Kiss Before the Mirror subverts the assumption of women as deceitful property
Hungarian Drama ‘Sátántangó’ Wants To Make Viewers Uncomfortable
Is there an artwork that better evokes the grim feeling of the current state of the world than Hungarian drama, Sátántangó?
On Apes, Racism, and Other Shoddy Scams in 1930 African Adventure Film, ‘Ingagi’
Restored ‘Ingagi’ (1930) is an important influential film fit for neither man nor beast.
Marcell Jankovics’ Animated ‘Son of the White Mare’ Goes Behind the Beyond
Beautifully restored Hungarian animation film, Son of the White Mare, is enchanting.
Silent Classic ‘The City Without Jews’ Wavers Between Satire and Grim Prophecy
It's the privilege of satire to apply one's opponents' "logic" towards a reductio ad absurdum, as we see in The City without Jews.