This letter is part of "Behind the Celluloid Curtain," a series of correspondences between Scout Tafoya and Veronika Ferdman on the topic of Soviet cinema, with each series organized around a theme. This particular series focuses on love in a time of discontent.Dear Veronika,I’m so glad we picked these movies. I wanted a glimpse into normal Russian life and here are the children of the Ussr listening to vinyl! They’re singing and talking about stuff. Boring stuff, in some cases! “Do you know how many people will die in traffic accidents this year?” I sure don’t! Russians! They’re just like us! July Rain is a most excellent example not only of people just trying to make sense of the minutia of being alive, but of a filmmaker finding his way through a glut of world cinema influences and coming away with something unique. There’s Godard,...
- 10/12/2015
- by Scout Tafoya
- MUBI
Controversial composer Alfred Schnittke was born November 24, 1934 in the Soviet Union's Volga Republic, an ethnic German enclave. In his mid-thirties he pioneered a broadly eclectic style of composing that drew on many classical styles (even sometimes quoting familiar Beethoven or Bach works, among others) as well as the occasional foray into jazz and pop. By 1972 his experimentalism had earned the disapproval of the Soviet Composers Union (the Soviets also weren't enamored of his occasional expressions of religion, for that matter), but a number of esteemed musicians who had left Russia to live in the West supported his work and brought him an international reputation. His work was basically pessimistic in outlook, but its emotional impact, and the accessibility of some of the styles he drew on, nonetheless seduced many listeners.
The contradictions in Schnittke's style are laid out in his liner notes to the Bis recording of his Symphony No.
The contradictions in Schnittke's style are laid out in his liner notes to the Bis recording of his Symphony No.
- 11/24/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
[Note: This review was originally posted in December 2009 after a special preview screening. Now that the film has been released, reposting it seems appropriate.]
Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, which is based on Dennis Lehane's novel, is a nightmarish, puzzle-box thriller. Although the film isn't set to premiere until the Berlin Film Festival in February 2010, an "unfinished" version recently screened at Butt-numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas. Those anticipating the muscular noir of Cape Fear, which is what the marketing has suggested, should readjust their expectations as Shutter Island is a far creepier and subtler work that uses the collective experience of a generation of Americans to grapple with themes of delusion, loss and guilt.
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a United States Marshall who, along with a new partner Chuck Aules (Mark Ruffalo), is sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) from a federal prison for the mentally ill on Boston's Shutter Island. Daniels, whose wife (Michelle Williams) was killed in an apartment fire, isn't the steadiest of...
Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, which is based on Dennis Lehane's novel, is a nightmarish, puzzle-box thriller. Although the film isn't set to premiere until the Berlin Film Festival in February 2010, an "unfinished" version recently screened at Butt-numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas. Those anticipating the muscular noir of Cape Fear, which is what the marketing has suggested, should readjust their expectations as Shutter Island is a far creepier and subtler work that uses the collective experience of a generation of Americans to grapple with themes of delusion, loss and guilt.
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a United States Marshall who, along with a new partner Chuck Aules (Mark Ruffalo), is sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) from a federal prison for the mentally ill on Boston's Shutter Island. Daniels, whose wife (Michelle Williams) was killed in an apartment fire, isn't the steadiest of...
- 2/22/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, which is based on Dennis Lehane's novel, is a nightmarish, puzzle-box thriller. Although the film isn't set to premiere until the Berlin Film Festival in February 2010, an "unfinished" version recently screened at Butt-numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas. Those anticipating the muscular noir of Cape Fear, which is what the marketing has suggested, should readjust their expectations as Shutter Island is a far creepier and subtler work that uses the collective experience of a generation of Americans to grapple with themes of delusion, loss and guilt.
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a United States Marshall who, along with a new partner Chuck Aules (Mark Ruffalo), is sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) from a federal prison for the mentally ill on Boston's Shutter Island. Daniels, whose wife (Michelle Williams) was killed in an apartment fire, isn't the steadiest of...
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a United States Marshall who, along with a new partner Chuck Aules (Mark Ruffalo), is sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) from a federal prison for the mentally ill on Boston's Shutter Island. Daniels, whose wife (Michelle Williams) was killed in an apartment fire, isn't the steadiest of...
- 12/17/2009
- Screen Anarchy
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