Directors I Admire Part II

This blog post is a sequel to a post I wrote last year or the year before about film directors who inspire me (Check out Part I here). Naturally, I have discovered and watched many more “new” (only in the sense that I had not watched their films before) directors since that list, so I felt like it was time to revisit the concept. There will probably be a Part III so stay tuned for that whenever it drops lol.

Steve McQueen

Originally a video artist, McQueen broke into the film industry with his impressive feature-length debut Hunger, a harrowing tale of Bobby Sands a member of the IRA who went on a hunger strike and ultimately died while in prison. But for me, it was Shame that made me really take notice of his talent. Once again starring Michael Fassbender, Shame tells the story of a sex addict who’s meticulous lifestyle is interrupted by the reappearance of his bold and lively sister. And of course, it would be impossible to not mention 12 Years A Slave, which is honestly one of the most excruciating and powerful films I have ever watched.

I haven’t actually seen McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series which is available on BBC iPlayer (UK) and Amazon (Everywhere else?) but I’m sure I will shortly.

Thomas Vinterberg

Vinterberg is a Danish director and was responsible for co-creating the Dogma-95 movement alongside Lars Von Trier (another Danish auteur that I think is brilliant). The ten rules of Dogma were created to strip back filmmaking and make it simple and honest. Out of those rules, Vinterberg created his breakout film Festen (The Celebration) which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998 and many other awards. Vinterberg has since shed the dogma doctrine and has gone on to make some phenomenal films, but there is still that sense of purity that remains in his filmmaking which I think is one of the reasons why I like his films so much. It’s safe to say that I am very much looking forward to his next film Druk (Another Round) on which he reunites with his Jagten (The Hunt) lead actor Mads Mikkelsen (TBH I will watch anything Mads is in 😍but that’s beside the point as I think this film could be Vinterberg’s magnus opus!).

David Fincher

Fight Club is one of my favourite films and its one that you can return to over and over again. And despite being a complete bibliophile, I actually think the film is better than the book it was based on, sacrilege I know! I have watched most of Fincher’s other films and have enjoyed them, but Fight Club stands out from the rest of them, for me anyway.

Luca Guadagnino

Guadagnino creates gorgeous looking films just watch any of his most recent efforts: Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash or Suspiria, and it’s obvious why he would inspire anyone. But for me, it was particularly CMBYN that made me really interested in his work, I love the mood he creates in the film, he shoots Italy most beautifully, and it makes me nostalgic for a time and place I never have and will never be.

Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins came onto my radar through his oscar-winning film Moonlight. It’s a powerful examination of a young man at different stages in his life coming to terms with his sexuality and what it means to be a black man in America. The film is based on a play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (written by the co-writer of the film’s script) and Jenkins plays with this striking visual motif throughout the film by showing Chiron at his most vulnerable when he is in the moonlight. I am yet to watch If Beale Street Could Talk, but it is high up on my list, and I will be reading the James Baldwin novel it is based on before watching it.

Autumn de Wilde

Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. is a tour de force of aestheticism and pure literary joy. Wilde is a photographer turned director with currently only one film under her belt, which is what makes Emma. so great, it’s an artists film. Everything tells a story, from the costumes to the set design. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Wong Kar-Wai

Like with a lot of the directors on this list I have only watched one of Wong Kar-Wai’s films, however, I am utterly obsessed with it. In the Mood for Love is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema I have ever watched and it has very quickly become one of my favourite films. The use of colour, the framing of shots, the soundtrack, the writing, the acting. The whole film is a masterpiece. I can’t wait to watch more from Wong and luckily I recently nabbed a copy of Chunking Express on eBay that wasn’t extortionately priced!

Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is pure art; there is no denying it. I wrote a rather gushing review on the film after watching it because it blew me away so much and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, in fact, I still think about it now, what can I say I’m a sucker for unfulfilled romances. Films like this make me fall even deeper in love with cinema (if that’s even possible).

Yorgos Lanthimos

Lanthimos has quickly become synonymous with dark and quirky films thanks to The Favourite, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Dogtooth. It is clear that Lanthimos is a visionary and has a very specific film aesthetic, and I found that I was hooked on his films ever since watching The Lobster. Lanthimos is a huge inspiration for me as he started making films on practically no budget, and now is he is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. His most recent film is a short called Nimic and at 12 mins long it’s phenomenal and so freaking creepy!

Let me know in the comments section who your favourite directors are.

In The Mood for Love: A Valentine's Day Lockdown Watchlist

I have created a video with all the best romance movies to watch while in lockdown this Valentine's Day. There’s classic romances, French gems such as the always charming Amelie and one of the most tragic love stories I have ever watched.

Let me know in the comments section what your favourite romance movies are.

Best Films of 2020

In a year of unparalleled weirdness and chaos, at least we had movies. I find that films are the best kind of distraction and while I didn’t get to see many films in the Cinema I did still get to watch a few new releases thanks to services like Mubi, BFI Player and of course Netflix. So here are my top films of 2020.

My Top 5 Films of 2020

Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho

Yes, I am fully aware that this film came out in 2019 for most people, but here in the UK, we got Parasite in cinemas at the beginning of 2020 before the world went to shit. And it’s literally a masterpiece. Hilariously dark and with a biting social commentary Parasite is Bong at his best. If you haven’t seen this film yet you most definitely should, it broke records and has made people think twice about subtitle prejudice finally! Look out for a full review on here soon.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire directed by Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire may be the most beautiful and heartfelt love story I have seen in ages, I was sobbing throughout the last 20 or so minutes, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I even wrote a gushing review earlier this year because I loved it so much. Read the full review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire Review

Emma. directed by Autumn de Wilde

Stylish, aesthetic and thoroughly good fun Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. is a delight to behold. I found myself just utterly enamoured by this whole film, and I think a rewatch may be on the horizon as it’s buoyancy and frivolity would be the most welcome distraction from lockdown 3.0.

The Woman Who Ran directed by Hong Sang-soo

Hong Sang-soo's latest film is a smart and witty look at female relationships and troublesome men. The thing I absolutely love about Hong’s films is that they always feel like the lives on display exist in reality, that if the camera weren’t rolling, everything would happen that way regardless. Read the full film review: The Woman Who Ran Review.

DNA directed by Maïwenn

DNA explores the void left by losing a loved one and how grief can bring out the worst in you or bring you back in touch with your roots. Neige clings to her grandfather through the things he left behind and her connection to Algeria through him. Filled with drama and some necessary injection of humour, this is a compelling film that will leave you questioning the fabric of your own familial bonds.

Honourable mentions: Swallow, Little Joe, The Lighthouse.

Films I should have watched but didn’t (for some unknown reason)

Small Axe Anthology directed by Steve McQueen

I love Steve McQueen’s work, but his films are emotionally brutal. Small Axe is an anthology series that focuses on Black lives in moments in modern British history and looks to be some of his most powerful work yet. I will be watching these important films imminently.

The Wild Goose Lake directed by Diao Yinan

I missed this film at the 2019 London East Asian Film Festival to my annoyance, and then the film became available on MUBI, and I missed it again. I really should have watched it when I had the chance.

Les Misérables directed by Ladj Ly

I am learning French, love social realism films, and films loosely inspired by literary works…don’t even get me started! As to why I haven’t watched this film yet, I don’t know the answer. I keep going to put it on, and then I decide to watch something else, I think it’s because there is just too much choice. Also, on some platforms like Mubi or All4, you only have a limited time to watch certain movies, whereas Netflix seems to keep titles in its library for much longer. But as I am trying to get fluent in French by the end of 2020, I will most definitely be watching this one ASAP!

Most disappointing film of 2020

Tenet directed by Christopher Nolan

I was so excited about this film, the trailers looked great, the cast is phenomenal, and normally, Nolan delivers a smart and intelligent blockbuster. But with Tenet I think Nolan tried to be clever for the sake of being clever. If you strip away all the time stuff then it’s a just another spy movie, complete with a bad caricature villain and the usual underdeveloped female character. But what made this film the most infuriating to watch was the sound engineering! I like to hear what characters say, especially in a film when 90% of the dialogue is exposition! For anyone in a non-English speaking country, they undoubtedly benefited from the inclusion of subtitles so perhaps after a re-watch (with subtitles) I might go a little easier on this film. But then again probably not.

French Cinema: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) film review

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu is a historical drama directed by Céline Sciamma.

The film tells the story of a forbidden love affair between an aristocrat and a painter; being both women in 18th-century France, the romance between Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) is deemed by society just as much a social taboo as it is a sexual one.

The film competed at Cannes for the Palme d'Or but instead won the Queer Palm, a significant achievement as Céline Sciamma is the first woman to win the prize.

I love how female-orientated this film is: Céline Sciamma, the director is a lesbian woman, the cast is literally just women (except a few male extras here and there), the cinematographer, yes, you guessed it is a woman, Claire Mathon, to be precise and I am fast becoming a fan of her work. And this shows big time in how the film feels. There is no male gaze, and there are difficult issues such as abortion present.

Moreover, through Marianne, a female artist, the art world and its restrictions on women are challenged; traditionally, the woman is the muse but here, she can play both roles, the painter and the muse.

And at the very crux of the story is the beautiful, passionate and poetic love that Marianne and Héloïse have for each other. It’s safe to say that the ending of the film broke my heart, I sobbed and ugly cried long after the credits rolled. Even thinking about page number 28 or the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice chokes me up, and ‘Summer’ from Vivaldi's Four Seasons will never be the same.

«Vous pensez que tous les amants ont le sentiment d'inventer quelque chose?»

Do all lovers feel they’re inventing something?

This film is exquisitely shot, the cinematography feels like a painting and the stolen looks and glances between Marianne and Héloïse are shown in beautifully framed close-ups. Portrait de la jeune fille en feu feels like a love letter to love, to Queer love and to the poetry of the soulmate.

The symbolism in Orpheus and Eurydice is heartbreaking, and when Héloïse calls for Marianne to turn around and look at her one last time, you can’t help but feel a dagger in your heart. It’s almost criminal that this film did not get nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, as it quite clearly could have won.

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu is a masterpiece of cinema. And like Call Me By Your Name, Moonlight, and a plethora of other exquisitely shot LGBTQ+ films, Portrait de la jeune fille en feu proves that love outside of heteronormativity is beautiful and worthy of a place in cinema and should be celebrated all year round and not just in Pride Month.

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