By comparison with that other recent historical (melo)drama <i>Thirteen Days</i> is scrupulously accurate and commendably intelligent, conveying very well the almost claustrophobic urgency of the situation, writes Shaun de Waal.
In his new CD, Zim Ngqawana, perhaps our leading new jazz composer, continues to meld tradition and innovation to create a specifically South African sound. As he notes in the booklet, among other "aphorizims", <i>Zimphonic Suites</i> (Sheer Sound) is about "harmony between antiquity and modernity".
The depiction of the siege is a masterpiece of cinematic versimilitude, all grey mud and shattered buildings, highlighted now and again by a red flag — or a splash of blood, writes Shaun de Waal.
Between true life and cinema,” said the late Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety, “there is only one step.” Then he added, wryly, “As for me, I’m not sure in which direction that step must be taken.” There seems little that is uncertain, however, about his last film, The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun. And, […]
This is a powerful but gruelling film, one willing to make considerable demands of the viewer writes, Shaun de Waal.
<b>Gaudà Afternoon</b> is a charming little movie filled with the quirky humour that is director Susan Seidelman’s trademark. Like the film that made her famous, <i>Desperately Seeking Susan</i>, it has to do with searching for self and others, finding the journey a learning experience.
Transsexuals, lesbians and a kidnapped child — and it’s a comedy. Shaun de Waal speaks to the makers of <i>Gaudà Afternoon</i>
Vladimir Nabokov’s <i>The Luzhin Defence</i> has been translated to screen by Director Marleen Gorris writes, Shaun de Waal.
The way narrative is embedded in time is a fascinating subject, and one with which storytellers have experimented in many interesting ways. Martin Amis’s novel <i>Time’s Arrow</i> tried to tell a life-story backwards, from death to birth, and it made powerful reading, but what the book really proves is that you can’t actually tell a story backwards.
It is the season of the crowd-pleasers. That’s because it’s summer in the northern hemisphere, though we’re freezing down here. We’ve had Pearl Harbor, The Mummy Returns and Shrek; still to come are Evolution, Bridget Jones’s Diary and – oh dear – Dr Doolittle II. This week’s blockbuster, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider should do very well indeed.