That’s entertainment
Very grateful to Masters of Cinema for sending me a complimentary dual-format edition of THE LADY WITHOUT CAMELIAS, and early, underseen Antonioni movie starring the stunning Lucia Bosè. Watched it...
View ArticleE is for Estrella Vacia
CINE DORADO Another installment of our alphabet of unruly passions down Mexico way, brought to you by regular guest Shadowplayer David Melville. The Golden Age of Mexican Melodrama E is for La...
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It can’t have escaped your notice that even poor gialli tend to have good titles. And said titles don’t always have anything much to do with the stories — FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON, anyone? At...
View ArticleNo Incident on a Street Corner
I was talking about this celebrated bit from Antonioni’s L’ECLISSE to students the other day (it allowed me to steal Benny Hill’s joke about knowing how to spell Antonioni but not knowing when to stop)...
View ArticleHandbag Bowls
In LA NOTTE, Antonioni’s existential urban ennui driftalong dream of directionless decadence and the isolation of togetherness, Monica Vitti, making an “extraordinary appearance” (though as the...
View ArticleMe and Marlon
It continues! At Kaput, Already, Renlau Outil considers Antonioni’s swan-song, BEYOND THE CLOUDS. Do check it out. And here at Shadowplay, regular Shadowplayer Judy Dean addresses the career of Marlon...
View ArticleForbidden Divas RIP
Lucia Bosè’s death earlier this year wasn’t much publicised in the UK — David Melville Wingrove discovered it months later, and wrote this beautiful piece. Some more months later, I’m finally...
View Article1) Roma – Antonioni
12 REGISTA PER 12 CITTA’ is a 1989 compendium film in which twelve Italian film directors, per the title, tackle twelve Italian cities. Nobody much talks about this film and it isn’t available...
View Article2) Bari – Wertmuller
12 REGISTI PER 12 CITTA’ is fast becoming like a roll call of the dead. On the day I posted Antonioni’s episode, his window, Monica Vitti, died, after a long illness. Next installment is by the...
View ArticleThe Imperfect View
The teleplay Prescription Murder (1968) contains one of the earliest manifestations of Lt. Columbo — played for the first time by Peter Falk. Here’s a bold touch by director Richard Irving, a typically...
View Article5) Firenze – Zeffirelli
So, we’ve got from A (Antonioni) to Z (Zeffirelli) in 12 REGISTI PER 12 CITTA’ but we still have seven little films to look at. Franco Z isn’t my favourite Italian director by a long chalk, but his...
View ArticleShort sharp shots
Orson Welles said that you should edit in such a way that the really beautiful shots are kept brief. Of course he didn’t always follow this practice himself, but in his montage sequences in THE TRIAL,...
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