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Frances Ha (2012): Someone Else’s New York
Noah Baumbach’s film Frances Ha explores the life of Frances Halladay, a twenty-seven-year-old dancer navigating her identity in New York post-friendship. Shot in black and white, it contrasts her vibrant, chaotic journey against a nostalgic aesthetic, revealing the tensions between her personal experiences and the filmmaker’s cinematic homage to male-dominated narratives.
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Grand Illusion (1937): What Class Permits You to Keep
Jean Renoir made the most generous war film in cinema history. The generosity was not distributed equally, and the film does not know this. PRISONER INTAKE RECORD — WINTERSBORN CAMP Name: de Boeldieu, Capt. Items confiscated: None of consequence. Items retained: White gloves. Monocle. The habit of command, carried so naturally it no longer requires…
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Barry Lyndon (1975): The Distance Required
Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” explores the disconnect between desire for belonging and the inevitability of exclusion through its formal distance. The film’s composition, shot in natural light, reflects a melancholic narrative about Redmond Barry’s unfulfilled ambitions. A pivotal moment reveals the grief beneath the surface irony, highlighting Kubrick’s personal detachment.
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News from Home (1977): The Film That Is Her Reply
Chantal Akerman’s film “News from Home” juxtaposes her mother’s letters with scenes of 1970s New York, revealing a poignant relationship shaped by distance and absence. Over 88 minutes, Akerman’s flat reading of her mother’s anxious words highlights the emotional disconnect, offering a unique cinematic reply to her mother’s longing for connection.
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Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975): The Order That Was Holding Everything
In 2022, Jeanne Dielman became the greatest film ever made. Chantal Akerman called it “a love film for my mother.” Both things are true. Neither explains what Akerman could not let herself see. RECORD OF ANOMALIES — THREE DAYS IN NOVEMBER Day One: No anomalies recorded. Routine executed without deviation. Day Two: Coffee cup replaced…