Faith and Works
Lourdes Palisades Tartan Harlan--In the Shadow of “Jew Süss” Zeitgeist Films The Art of the Steal Sundance Selects READ MORE >>
Kauffmann: Films Worth Seeing
Ajami. In a multi-ethnic district of the city of Jaffa, Arabs and Jews struggle among themselves and with one another in various prisms of crime and love. Co-directed by a Palestinian and an Israeli, it is swift, vital, and gripping. (In our upcoming 3/11/10 issue.) READ MORE >>
Several Worlds
Ajami Kino International The Last New Yorker Brink Films North Face Music Box Films A Palestinian, Scandar Copti, and an Israeli, Yaron Shani, have co-written, co-directed, and co-edited Ajami. This title is the name of a multi-ethnic district in the city of Jaffa, so it fits the film, not merely in facts but in feeling. Copti and Shani knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. READ MORE >>
A Pawn, A Queen
Police, Adjective IFC Films The Young Victoria Apparition The Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu shows once again that, for him, film is a means of looking at an idea. The operative word is “looking.” The subtitles of Police, Adjective convey that his dialogue is reasoned and seasoned, but it rarely seems primary. Chiefly, it enhances what we are watching. Ideas are hardly a novelty in films, but some such works present their ideas visually, as do Porumboiu’s. READ MORE >>
Discoveries
The White Ribbon Sony Pictures Classics Creation Newmarket Films READ MORE >>
Kauffmann: Films Worth Seeing
Films Worth Seeing Before Tomorrow. Imperfect film-making but a warm and interesting experience. Life among the Intuits in their Arctic homeland as it was before the white man came. Ice and snow and harpooning and primary eating never seemed so congenial. (12/30/09) READ MORE >>
Rough Routes
Making His Way
The Sun Lorber Films The Wedding Song Strand Releasing Act of God Zeitgeist Films READ MORE >>
Kauffmann: Films Worth Seeing
Films Worth Seeing Before Tomorrow. Life among the Inuits in arctic Canada . Not a documentary, a fascinating film that recreates life among these people around 1840, before the white man came. The story is so simple -- about an elderly woman and her young grandson -- that it is especially pleasant to be gripped by it. READ MORE >>
A Painting, A Portrait
Rembrandt’s J’Accuse Film Forum The Maid Elephant Eye Films READ MORE >>
