Articles on Film and Television
“What are we holding onto, Sam?” Sam: “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Movies, Masks and Mysticism
As an acting student I once had to take part in a scene in which all of us wore masks that were drawn by random out of a box. We spent a few moments
Fantasy Films and the Dulled Imagination
When magicians are omnipotent there is no magic. Heroes need a flaw and the chance to fall or there is no story. Complete plenty eliminates desire, and when everything is visible imagination dies. So
Morality at the Movies
Double Indemnity and Chinatown The movie mogul Sam Goldwyn rightly growled through his cigar to a screenwriter, “If you want to send a message use a telegram.” Didacticism in storytelling is always a disaster
The Mission and Man for All Seasons – Two Films by Robert Bolt
The Clash of Secular and Sacred Stalin famously asked how many battalions had the Pope. Today, with the Catholic faithful numbering over a billion, the answer might be, “Not battalions but billions.” In every
The Cinema and the Cave
As I enter a darkened cinema I'm often reminded of Plato's myth of the cave. There people sat chained in darkness watching the shadow images of the real world shimmer across the wall before
Reconciliation Re-Visited
If there is any literary film adaptation worth adding to one’s library it is the Granada TV version of Brideshead Revisited. It really is the most perfect screen adaptation of any novel ever. The