Category: 1980s
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Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession (1981) latches on and feeds off the soul in this portrait of a marriage tearing itself apart and bleeding from the orifices. Hoo boy. Where do I begin? I’m a huge fan of body horror. It’s such a deeply personal experience. You might think that seeing the body contort and mutate unnaturally…
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As part of Roger Durling’s Vital Cinema series at the SBIFF Riviera Theater, the 4K restoration displays all of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva (1982) in its postpunk glory, even if the cinema du look is in some ways a product of its time. Diva (1982) begins place at an opera house. In the heart of Paris,…
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In the 1970s, it was common for thrillers to depict New York City as a hive of scum and villainy. Taxi Driver (1976) is perhaps the most famous example of this. But while Taxi Driver is now regarded as a modern classic for portraying the chaotic mind of a Vietnam War veteran struggling to forge…
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Grave of the Fireflies (1988) defines itself as a relentlessly grim film from start to end. The opening scene sees siblings Seita and Setsuko run frantically through Kobe as it is firebombed, and while they make it out alive, they are nevertheless terrified. When Seita learns that their mother died during the attack, he and…
BEYOND THE FRAME 