Category Archives: Mise-en-scene

SFIFF56: Mai Morire by Enrique Rivero

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

Enrique Rivero’s second feature film takes us back to Mexico, this time to the beautiful landscape and waterways of Xochimilco, where boats are the main mode of transportation. We are reminded of the river Styx and its ferrymen carrying people … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Film: Io Sono l’Amore (2009)

Posted on April 21, 2013 by

This lovely film is so formally sophisticated that all the design elements both balance each other out and compete for attention. But in this my third viewing it was the costume design which truly impressed me. The film chronicles the … Continue reading →

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Ang Lee on Ingmar Bergman

Woody Allen and Ang Lee should together moderate a Bergman film fest.

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L’Amour Fou (2010)

Posted on March 18, 2013 by

From the opening credits, you know that this film will be about beauty. First there is the haunting piano score by Come Aguiar, which recalls something like a Claude Sautet film. The opening titles are as gentle and quirky as … Continue reading →

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The Sensation of Things Perceived: In the Mood for Love (2000)

Posted on February 5, 2013 by

When directors try to capture three dimensions – that is, life – in what is essentially a two-dimensional medium, interesting things happen. This particular constraint of the film media produces an opportunity to create a richness of feeling that takes … Continue reading →

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Total Recall and the Dystopian City (2012)

Posted on September 12, 2012 by

The art direction of this current film version of the Philip K. Dick short story reminded me of Bladerunner, especially the scenes around The Colony: a rainy, concrete-grey, vaguely Asian city populated by rogues and the disenchanted, occasionally punctuated by … Continue reading →

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SFIAFF 30: The Sun-Beaten Path

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

Director Sonthar Gyal’s experience as a cinematographer shines through in this exquisitely-filmed work. His Sun-Beaten Path includes achingly desolate vistas of Tibet, patient close-ups of the astonishing face of the lead actor, Yeshe Ladruk, and wonderful images of snow, rain, … Continue reading →

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SFIAFF 30: Return to Burma

Posted on March 11, 2012 by

I was much reminded of Payback when I watched this film. All of the people we encounter in Return to Burma are paid so little for their labor that work for them is a form of debt: limitless, persistent, and … Continue reading →

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SFIAFF 30: I am A Ghost

Posted on March 10, 2012 by

I Am a Ghost is set in an unnumbered, un-contextualized Victorian house. That setting was enough to instill horror in me – very few built environments are scarier than a Victorian house. Director and cinematographer H.P Mendoza makes very good … Continue reading →

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La Notte (1961)

Posted on March 3, 2012 by

Toward the end of the film, there is an almost-confrontation with Valentina (Monica Vitti), who has just been seen kissing Giovanni, and Lidia (Jeanne Moreau), Giovanni’s wife. In a more conventional film the wife would have confronted the other woman. … Continue reading →

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