Undine—the latest from German filmmaker Christian Petzold—is a curious little mystery about one woman, two men, and a whole lot of water. Derived from the Latin word for wave, unda, Undine is a water nymph in European mythology, which ought … Continue reading UNDINE
Neither wind nor rain nor sleet nor snow stopped the Denver Film Festival before—though the blizzard of 1997 tried when it dropped 21 inches and shut the city down. That year Jack Palance received DFF’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the … Continue reading The Best is Yet to Come: Dispatches from the 43rd Denver Film Festival
Paris, modern-day: The cleanses are coming. Staying one step ahead, the passenger (Franz Rogowski) flees Paris, stowing away on a train bound for Marseilles. There he picks up the name, “Georg.” Georg is known, even revered for his political writing, … Continue reading TRANSIT
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. —1 Corinthians 13: 11–12, King James Version Can randomness … Continue reading NEVER LOOK AWAY (WERK OHNE AUTOR)
Few films announce themselves as succinctly with an opening image as Frantz does. In the foreground: green leaves and pink flowers waving in the breeze. In the distance: a provincial German town draped in monochromatic black and white. In this single image, … Continue reading FRANTZ
Michael J. Cinema 