Author: James Curnow
Movies and meaning: Understanding cinema as cultural artefact
It’s not uncommon for people to question why one might want to interpret a cinematic text – regardless of whether or not such an action was in search of a film’s implicit meanings, ideology or incidental revelations about the culture in which it was produced. These people commonly argue either that such an activity is…
A Hijacking: Yet another airtight Danish thriller
There are two types of narrative filmmakers in this world (stay with me for a minute). Firstly, there are those who seek to have their films overtly participate in the drama that they present, depending on sophisticated camera work, powerful scores, expressive performances and dramatic narrative developments. Then there are those who stand back from…
Robots in Cinema: Artificial Intelligence and the Moving Image
The recent release of the trailer for the new Robocop remake started me thinking about the many films that deal with notions of artificial intelligence and robotics. From Frankenstein to Transformers, the creation of consciousness (accidental or otherwise) has been a part of the popular imagination for well over a century. While many have merely…
Hong Kil Dong: The Ironic and the Indestructible
At a recent Melbourne International Film Festival screening of North Korea’s little seen gem, Hong Kil Dong (1986), one attendee enthusiastically declared to the entire cinema that it was the best film he’d ever seen. His statement was not delivered without irony, but he still meant it. The story, so far as it goes, is…
All is Lost: A cinematic exploration of human dignity in a gargantuan, gorgeous and indifferent universe
“He rested sitting on the un-stepped mast and sail and tried not to think but only to endure.” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea It would be difficult for anybody who has read Hemingway’s novella to put it out of mind when watching J. C. Chandor’s latest film, All is Lost. They…