Animated Emotional Chart

A chart of how different animated shows handle emotional scenes. Not a comment on how well these shows handle said scenes.

I hope this helps you think a little bit differently about animated drama and how different shows handle themselves.

CLICK TO ENLARGE.

By Jack D. Phillips

'Love'

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Avatar the Legend of Korra (2012)
Adventure Time (2010)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Eternal Sunshine of the Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Ed Wood (1994)
It's such a beautiful day (2012)
Ocean Waves (1993)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
5 Centimetres Per Second (2007)
Telltale's The Walking Dead (2012)
The Innocents (1963)
The Master (2012)
Carrie (1976)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Avatar the Last Airbender (2005)
The Slippery Slope (2003)
Pinocchio (1940)
Casino Royale (2006)
Casablanca (1942)
Manhattan (1979)
Return of the Jedi (1983)
Butch Cassidey and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Collage

My Favourite Films (Part 7)

The Master (2012, Paul Thomas Anderson)

Paul Thomas Anderson, after showing total mastery over conventional storytelling in films like Boogie Nights, dives into the wild and experimental with this film. The Master is unconventional and without a clear structure, but it is far from aimless or unfocused.

The film tells the story of two men and the nature of their complex relationship, along with looking at ideas of faith and destiny. The film is complex and brainfrying but slow and relaxed enough to wash over the viewer. I hate using this term too much because I feel it gets thrown around a lot, but this film is truly an incredible experience.


A Field in England (2013, Ben Wheatley)

Easily the least accessible and hardest to describe film on this list. A Field in England is a drugged out and alienating experience, dripping in horror and comedy alike.

Basically, there is not a single other film on this list that comes even close to this films strangeness, yet its power is incredible. The film chills, amuses and utterly horrifies, there are moments from this film that are truly burnt into my memory. 

Just, tread carefully with this one.



Her (2013, Spike Jonze)

Spike Jonze interests me. I would personally consider the first two films Jonze directed to be less attributable to Jonze himself and more screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (who also wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). So when their collaboration ended in the early 2000's, it would be reasonable to assume that Spike Jonze would slip away.

However he then comes along with this utter masterpiece, a film so sweeping and intense in it's emotions and so utterly stunning in its visuals that it takes my breath away to even think about. I am deeply sorry for any dismissiveness I or anyone else may have had towards you Spike Jonze. 

And an extra mention has to go to Arcade Fire (A band I really like) for creating the best soundtrack in a film in recent years.

Oh, this alongside The Master transformed Joaquin Pheonix into possibly my favourite living actor. He is just incredible.


The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013, Isao Takahata)

Isao Takahata is one of the all time unsung heroes of animation. I love every single thing about this film, to the point where I don't really want to write about it. Just please see it, please. I have never cared more for a character in my life, by the end of this film I was literally screaming internally for things to turn out ok for Kaguya.

Possibly the most beautiful looking film ever made, and dripping with the things that make me love film. Emotion, beauty, poetic storytelling. There is probably no film on this list that I want to be seen more, especially considering that it is the unfortunate swansong to the greatest studio in animation history.





Inside Out (2015, Pete Doctor, Ronnie Del Carmen)

Pixar is a strange entity in the world of animation. Incredibly talented, both artistically and technically, yet somehow a little cold. There is something a little detached and anonymous about them when compared to a studio like Ghibli or even plain old Disney.

Inside Out blew me away however, and represents the biggest leap I could have possibly have hoped for the studio. A film as psychosocially intelligent as it is visually stunning, just mindblowing to see on the big screen.

There are films which genuinely have the power to change the world, and that's what I want Inside Out to do. I want, no, demand that the way society views animation (and film on the whole) matures. We need to challenge ourselves in art or we will begin to roll backwards. I believe Inside Out represents a way forward, and with its success, maybe animation will be used for more in the west than a thing to distract children. 



By Jack D. Phillips

My Favourite Films (Part 6)

Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki)

Much like Martin Scorsese, Miyazaki is a beyond legendary director who's filmography I obsessively consumed in a fairly short span of time. Also like Scorsese, it has been a fairly long time since this phase of obsession so I feel uncomfortable putting many of his films on this list despite my love for them.

Spirited Away is different however, my history with this film goes back further than probably any other film, having watched it around half-a-dozen times since I first watched it as a child. 

I love everything about this film, to the point to where it has become more a part of me than anything else. I see this film everywhere, I can't even describe how differently I would have developed as a person if not for this film.

Nothing more to say about this majestic film, other than you should watch it.

Tokyo Godfathers (2003, Satoshi Kon)


A fast, wild and totally engrossing comedic-adventure. A masterpiece of an animated film which manages to combine the amusing antics of a film like Blues Brothers with deep and touching character and heart.

I adore films that are able to turn their settings into breathing characters, and this film is one of the strongest examples of this that I can think of.

A beautifully told story, topped off with one of the best climaxes in any animated film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
(2004, Michel Gondry)

This film is hard to talk about. It has more power over than any other film I can think about, with simple images and sounds from the film being able to reduce me to putty.

If Rashomon isn't my favourite film then it has to be this one, I simply adore everything about it. From Charlie Kaufman's utterly perfect script, to the stunning and heart wrenching script, to the amazing performances from the entire cast. Everything in this film works. Even the soundtrack, quite possibly my favourite soundtrack of all time, can reduce me to a whimpering fool if I  am exposed to it for too long.

To sum up my feelings for this film, I was once so enraptured by it that I watched it twice, back-to-back, in one night.



Enter the Void (2010, Gasper Noe)


This film kind of scares me a little. It is a voyage into a a dark, dirty and blurry world which does not hold back in any way.

One of the most ambitious and gloriously pretentious projects in the history of cinema, yet despite it's pretensions it is able to tap into something very human and touching.

A true technical triumph in both the craft of film, and the art of cinema.



It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012, Don Hertzfelt)

Don Hertzfelt is easily my favourite film maker working today. I can't do his work anywhere near justice in words so I can only beg you to watch some of his short films, easily available on Youtube. Seriously, get out of here, go now.

If you want to hear what I think about his (currently) only feature film, here it is. It is basically the antithesis of Enter the Void. Not pretentious or technically extravagant in any way, the main character is a damn stick-figure for christ's sake! However the film still manages to be one of the most touching things I have ever seen, and Hertzfelt does things that I have never seen before in my life with some basic B/W photography and some line drawings. In fact, this is another film that manages to contest Rashomon as my favourite feature film of all time.

I am utterly obsessed with Hertzfelt, and if there is a single artist on this list that I recommend you check out it has to be this one.

By Jack D. Phillips

Perfect Blue (1997)

Surreal and yet totally grounded in human emotion, Satoshi Kon's first feature holds up incredibly well. Although it suffer from a weak ending.

What better film to start off the holiday season than a dark psychological thriller with not one, not two, but three scenes of sexual assault? 

Satoshi Kon is a genius, and one that I have talked about several times on this blog. Around one year ago I made my first foray into his work and was floored by his incredible film Tokyo Godfathers, which I would since consider one of my favourite animated films of all time. Since then I have become far more knowledgeable in terms of animation and wished to revisit his small but remarkable filmography.

Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller, and by that I mean truly psychological. It is both a thrilling mystery, and more importantly a dark journey into the sub-conscience of a very interesting leading character.

Mima is a pop idol, a recognisable but largely disposable pop figure in Japanese culture. The kind to amass a large and rabid following, without much in the way of substance or future prospects. She decides to leave the group she was a part of to strike out in acting, a decision she makes to further her seemingly limited career prospects, and she experiences a swirling descent into madness and abuse.

The film's perspective is largely situated in Mima's mental state, with benign yet significant aspects of her life (her fish, her new computer) coming to represent the disastrous changes that occur in  her life. Unlike say, the thrillers of David Fincher, who invites the audience to view the drama unfold from an outsider perspective, Kon gives us front row seats. We are inside Mimas head, experiencing her paranoia and increasing separation from reality along with her.

This brilliant perspective comes to crescendo during an extended montage sequence wherein Mima repeatedly skips moments in her life, waking up in various location with no idea how she got there. At this point, the film becomes truly disorienting, with reality becoming difficult to perceive or understand. Furthermore, Mima slowly give sup trying to understand her world, submitting to her lack of attachment to her own life.

This deeply unsettling mental breakdown comes as a result of the various humiliations and abuses she undergoes in her new career as an actress. Her initial part in the tv show she signs onto is tiny, however by agreeing to participate in a rape scene (to boost ratings) her part is increased. I wonder how many dozens of budding actresses have been forced into the same decision, it is a disgusting thought. The pain of moments like this is so sharp, easily some of the best and most unsettling use of character decisions I have ever seen in a film.

The film is also gorgeous to look at. Anybody who accuses animation of being a lesser form of film can officially go fuck themselves, Kon has one of the most precise and inventive cinematic eyes I have ever seen and some of the simple images in this film took my breath away. In terms of editing, the opening performance from Mima and her musical group is one of the most engaging and well put together opening sequences I have ever seen and the aforementioned psychological montage never lost my interest.

Before I finish up I may as well give a comment on this film's relationship to Black Swan. Director Darren Aronofsky is a gigantic fan of Kon's work and took a lot of inspiration from Perfect Blue not just in that film, but also in certain images from Requiem for a Dream. Some have even labelled Black Swan a pseudo remake of Perfect Blue, and I have to disagree in this area.  The two films share a lot in common, however popular opipion and that nature of obsessiveness in fans is a key theme in Kon's film that Aronofky's lacks. The two films also have radically different styles of editing and totally different settings, important as the cramped Tokyo apartment Mima occupies in this film is as much a reflection of her mental state as the editing is (her room becomes more and more messy and unkempt as she begins to unravel). So although the two films are certainly kindred spirits, calling one a remake of the other does them both a severe disservice.

Finally, the films ending. My one big grip with the film. The film ends far too cleanly, the person who has been stalking and threatening Mima is caught, her acting career has taken off, and Mima has regained control over her identity and her life overall. I do not like this. For such a jagged and bold film this ending feels to clean, like ending Apocalypse Now with 'and then the war ended and everyone got back to their normal lives happily'. No, the damage dealt to Mima in this film was too crushing and harsh to be so easily swept away, the film almost seems to believe that catching the stalker was all Mima needed tp get things together. Absolving to television studio that figuratively raped her of any guilt, along with Japanese society on the whole.

This ending really bugs me and prevents me from loving the film as much as I truly want to. This film could have been one of my storytelling Bibles, and I suppose it still is, but I cannot call it a true masterpiece. 

What a damn shame.

By Jack D. Phillips

A Zoom Film Review

My 30 Favourite Films (Part 2)

Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa)

I am not too concerned with giving any kind of ranking for this list, however I will be exceptional in this case. Rashomon is probably my favourite film ever made making the the number one film here. 

From the very first shot this film captivated me, mysterious and engulfing. Truly my favourite opening of all time.

I love every aspect of this film, from it's genius screenplay, to its amazing performances (Tishiro Mifune is almost literally feral in this film), and the stunning cinematography.

Sheer beauty on celluloid.




Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujiro Ozu)

Ozu is a filmmaker that I am very cautious of. Mainly because I feel I could very easily become totally obsessed with him. His films embody and encapsulate the human spirit like few others, and his eye for detail is exquisite. 

I plan on updating this list next year, and if I do expect a lot more Ozu to appear.

This film is simply gorgeous. Tender, solemn and brimming with dignity.









The Bad Sleep Well (1960, Akira Kurosawa)

Yet another Japanese film, and another from director Akira Kurosawa. This is easily his most overlooked film, an incredibly crafted noire with some of the best performances and writing you will see in any thriller. 

Psychologically challenging and heartbreaking by the end, with a lot of credit going to Toshiro Mifune, who is always incredible to behold.

Kurosawa took a screenplay loosely based on Hamlet and transformed it into something new and wonderful.






Persona (1966, Ingmar Bergman)

Easily the least accessible film on this list. Persona is disjointed, pretentious and obscure.

It is also revealing, daring and shows the great Bergman at the very heights of his powers. Things are done in this film that astonish me, and terrify me. Probably the sharpest and most daring film on this entire list.

Sadly this is the only Bergman film on the list, I had to be very picky and restrictive on that front. A true shame.








Kes (1969. Ken Loach)

One of the simplest films on the list, along with Tokyo Story. A simple look into the raw human experience of a boy in an impoverished environment.

Heartbreakingly real and filmed with expert care and attention.

Not a flashy film, but one that gives a window into another world, one of the things that films are amazing at doing.











By Jack D. Phillips
Next is my favourite decade in all of cinema, the 1970's.

Duck Amuck (1953)

Why you should

all know the name

Chuck Jones.

  

The great Tony Zhou created an excellent video essay on Chuck Jones which I recommend you watch as soon as you finish reading this, but I suppose I should tell you who the guy is first. Chuck Jones was an American animator who basically wrote the book on animated visual comedy. After effectively creating the Looney Toons, he went on to continue topping himself in one of the most remarkable careers in animation history. Although I am yet to revisit What's Opera Doc? which many consider his crowing achievement in comedic storytelling, however for now I feel comfortable in calling Duck Amuck a fairly spectacular achievement in it's own right.

This film is both an excellent example of the comedic style that Jones gave birth to, as well as an intelligent deconstruction of the basic principles of animation. In this short we see Daffy Duck battle against the cartoons animator himself, so the audience is literally watching Jones screwing around with his own creation. Not only is this premise hilarious due to the unexpected nature of it (the short begins as a simple Muskateer themed cartoon), but also because it follows the well established structure of a Daffy Duck cartoon; he is pitted against a more intelligent or powerful opponent and the comedy comes from the constantly increasing anger and frustration of the arrogant character.

This mixing of the expected and unexpected is what makes this short so amazing. We expect to see a silly cartoon in which Daffy is comically abused due to his own flaws and vices, which this short delivers on generously, however we do not expect the omniscience of the director/animator to directly influence the narrative, we especially do not expect this fourth wall breaking to be the driving force of the entire film.The short is also especially funny to those with an interest in filmmaking, as it mixes in some fairly intelligent references to the technical side of cinema and particularly animation.

I cannot describe how Jones is able to make me like Daffy so much, and yet like laughing at his expense so much as the same time. Seeing him desperately attempt to get the narrative that never happens to start is funny in more ways than I can possibly list. The fact that the entire universe that he exists within is being controlled by this entirely uncooperative force is the height of what any Daffy cartoon, and I doubt any other short featuring him can match the conflict seen here.

If you watched Loony Toons as a kid like I did, then I highly recommend revisiting some of Jones' work. I grantee that they exceed your expectations.

By Jack D. Phillips

A Zoom Film Review

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)

Although rather weak

compared to his later

 work, this

early period piece shows hints of what would

come for the great artist.

It is fair to say that I am huge fan of director Akira Kurosawa. This however marks my first foray into the director's early work, perhaps the least discussed period of the filmmaker's entire career. Despite being ignored by many, from what I have read almost every film in this period is subject to polarising opinions from fans and critics alike. This film for example has been called Kurosawa's weakest film by Tony Zhou (a Youtube film critic that I am a huge fan of), and one of his best early offerings by Stuart Galbraith IV, the author of a highly extensive biography of the director. So now it is time for me to offer my own thoughts on this polarising film.

For a start it is worth noting that this film was made at the height of the second world war, and as such amidst terrible working/living conditions. This sadly shows in the final film, which was clearly filmed entirely on a fairly cheap sound stage. Furthermore, the audio quality itself is sometimes quite poor. Holding these shaky elements against the film feels unfair, however it does still negatively impact the film's attempt to create an authentic period setting.

To counter the films weak technical elements, it boasts a simple yet elegant screenplay. The story is one of honour, loyalty and the lengths one must go to in order to fulfil their duty. It is a compelling tale, and it held my interest throughout. However this may have been aided by the film's slim running time, so short that I doubt it is even possible to lose interest before the end. I do give the film credit for telling a fairly epic story despite this limit running time, establishing the backstory efficiently in an opening narration and leaving just enough breathing room to establish some personality within the characters, although it is still fairly minimal in the scheme of things. Overall, I feel this film's narrative is one of it's better elements and I praise the film for it's efficient, although far from spectacular, storytelling.

The film's cinematography is quite fantastic in my view. This early in his career Kurosawa had already learned how to keep a film engaging through simple camera moves and story enhancing shot compositions. Alongside the film's phenomenal editing, which is beautifully paced and constantly interesting from start to finish, I would certainly recommend watching this film in particular if you want to know how to enhance a film's impact through cuts and shots alone.

So far I have described some of the film's strongest elements, however things fall apart in when I move onto the subject of the lead performances. For some strange reason, although the narrative has a clearly defined main character, the film adds a comedic relief character

who was not present in the films source material. This character dominates the screen for huge chunks of the film, and I found him insufferable. The actor mugs and overacts in way which I did not even think possible, and is clear to me that Kurosawa did not know how to integrate this guy into the story properly. This comedic character legitimately ruins parts of the film for me, his presence is truly baffling.

Outside of the terrible comedic elements, Denjirô Ôkôchi is excellent as the lead despite being pushed aside, and his ability to hold the viewers eye is really quite remarkable. Furthermore, Takeshi Shimura and Masayuki Mori appear in two very minor roles. They do very little, however it is nice to see two of Kurosawa's greatest collaborators lending their talents in the background. To be bold, one could even call Shimura's performance here a very early prototype to his work on Seven Samurai, as I saw the same gravity and dignity here that made that performance so sublime.

In the end, this film should probably best be remembered as an interesting little experiment from Kurosawa's early career. Many of his talents were honed in this film, and judging by the relative lack of comedic relief in his later films it is safe to assume that the director identified some of his weaknesses. Hardly a masterwork, but still certainly worth seeing for hardcore fans of Kurosawa.

By Jack D. Phillips

A Zoom Film Review

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

A flawed and rough

film, however 

undeniably effective in it's atmosphere and character building.

This film has been idealised, demonized and mythicised since it's release in 1999. With the possible exception of Scream, there is no other horror film in the past two decades that has been both this influential, and this destructive. This film can both be credited with the creation of a bold new stylistic era of horror filmmaking, found footage, and the birth of a destructive and cliché template for lazy filmmaking, found footage. The genre this film helped to popularise has certainly had a profound, and in my opinion largely negative, impact on the current landscape of western horror. However how does the film itself hold up? Well in my opinion, better than expected.

The film's largest flaw is it's slow and clunky opening. A large amount of time is spent in the hometown of the three main characters and little of substance occurs. These sequences do little to enhance the film's narrative or atmosphere and today are quite boring to watch. The only purpose these scenes have was to contribute to the film's viral marketing campaign, which successfully tricked thousands into believing the events of the film were real. The faux documentary feel of the opening adds credibility to this trickery, however from the perspective of somebody who was not affected by the marketing, these scenes do little other than damage the film's overall pacing.

After this weak start, the film truly begins to unfold. Our three main characters all feel like real people and they are clearly defined from each other. The bulk of the film follows the three amateur filmmakers and their slow descent into madness and terror. Every step of this descent is understandable and the reactions of the characters to their increasingly hostile environment is eerily relatable, to the point where I found myself wondering how I would react in a similar situation. This is the main reason why the film works, we are scared because the characters feel real and are convincingly terrified. Their situation is caused by a mixture of simple incompetence and paranormal interference and I feel there is a conversation to be had about which of those two elements contributed most to their demise. Overall the simple and eerie portrayal of the characters hits home, they feel like people the audience could have genuinely known rather than actors with a script.

The film is also able to achieve incredible things with very little. This is perhaps the most stripped down mode of horror filmmaking imaginable, scaring the audience with sounds, stones and sticks. As described above, the effect is largely achieved due to the strongly defined and well acted characters, however there is also a basic creepiness to these elements. The sounds we hear from within the tent are horrifying and grotesque, the sticks genuinely form occultic and unnerving images and begin to resemble some kinda of abomination of nature. The film's cinematography is at it's strongest as it fetishisticly sweeps over the bundles of twigs suspended in the tress. The iconic symbol that the film spearheaded it's marketicing with is perhaps the strongest example of this eerie imagery.

Overall I would call this film a near masterpiece. My enjoyment is somewhat tainted by the scourge of largely inferior found footage knockoffs which followed, along with the undeniably weak opening ten minutes. However if you are able to look past these hindrances, you will find a powerful and still largely unique horror experience.

By Jack D. Phillips

A Zoom Film Review

Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbour Totoro video Essay

Here it is at last. Enjoy!

Dreams.

Top Left-Bottom Right:

Ivan's Childhood (1962)
Dougal and the Blue Cat (1972)
Nocturne (1980)
Enter the Void (2009)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Birdman (2014)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Digimon Tamers (2001-2002)
The Shining (1980)
American Beauty (1999)
Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999)
Vertigo (1958)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
The Red Shoes (1948)
Watership Down (1978)
Under the Skin (2013)
Sexy Beast (2000)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Spiderman (1994)
Shutter Island (2010)
Total Recall (1990)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Pi (1998)
Raising Arizona (1987)
127 Hours (2007)
Manhattan (1979)
The Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Bronson (2008)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)

By Jack D. Phillips

Masterpiece Corner: San Taam

Uneasy, confusing and utterly bewildering to behold.

San Taam (Mad Detective) caught my eye due to being included in the excellent Masters of Cinema Blu-Ray series distributed by EUREKA!. I went into the film almost entirely blind, as it seems to be seldom discussed within the online film community. What I discovered resonated with me instantaneously. A weird, blood soaked neo-noir totally befitting of the honor of being called a masterpiece. My second viewing only strengthened this view, and filled in the gaps that my first viewing left me with, and I am now convinced that this film should be considered one of the great neo-noirs of the last decade. (Spoilers from this point onward).

The film opens with a bang, setting the tone of the story perfectly in a brief prologue sequence. A detective, whose name is revealed to be Bun, explores several strange and extreme methods for solving a case, including attacking a pig carcass with a knife and throwing himself down several flights of stairs within a suitcase. This scene establishes both the skill and unhinged nature of  the main character, and concludes with the detective slicing off his own ear in the middle of his entire department. This brings the opening sequence back to reality, the audience now knows that this unhinged character is not to be taken lightly.This opening scene is the root of much of my love for this film, and I would use it as a prime example of how to start a character driven story properly. Before the story even begins a mystery is ignited, why did Bun slice of his own ear?  There is method to the man's madness in the first few instance of 'madness' we are shown, however the ear slicing scene takes things down a sharp different direction. What happened? Why did Bun lose the plot completely? These questions suck the viewer in and establishes a freakishly fascinating character in only a few minutes.

I am going to go on a brief interlude to praise this film's lighting. I do not even know how to really describe the lighting throughout most of the film. It has an ethereal and misty quality to it, particularly during the scenes with Bun's house and within a dimly lit restaurant. It is worth noting that both of these locations are highly significant to the main character, and so serve to  simulate his thought process. Misty, unclear and hard to identify, however still with a sharp and potent brightness behind the fog. I could go scene by scene and dissect the lighting in this film and I certainly consider it one of the most fascinating elements of the entire picture. 

Moving on from lighting, every actor in this film offers up a strong  performance, particularly Bun himself. Ching Wan Lau is fantastic in the main role, being highly likable and charismatic, drawing the audience into every crazy idea the character has, whilst still being animated and erratic enough to sell these crazy ideas as genuine.  Andy On is also very good as the film's second protagonist, Ho. The character acts as the perfect counterbalance to Bun, being far more stable and relatable to the audience whilst retaining an interesting character arc in his own right. On is able to keep up with Lau remarkably well, and sells the character as highly capable yet inexperienced and prone to worry. The interactions between these characters are well written and serves as the meat of the film's story very well.

What truly makes this film special though, is it's surrealist elements. The idea of setting a relatively simple noir storyline from the perspective of a mentally unstable character is inspired, and makes for a compelling spice to a fairly familiar recipe. Bun sees the inner personalities of every character in the film, as well as other things that other characters cannot, leading to some interesting visualisations of emotions and other aspects of each character. The main suspect of the case, and later the film's primary antagonist, has seven inner-personalities, which struggle for control over the body at several points in the film. 

These ideas are very visually interesting, and are sold beautifully. This is largely due to the film's high quality cinematography (particularly during the climax where everything is finally allowed to let loose), the films excellent use of sound to highlight specific objects within the story (usually guns) and the aforementioned brilliant lighting. The film is overall a technical masterpiece, with not a single element failing to sell the film's unique and deeply ambient atmosphere.

In conclusion, I find this film grossly underrated. It is one of the most adventurous and well put together crime thrillers made in the past decade, and I hope it's ideas and ambiance are taken up by other films in the future. I am fervently interested in the rest of Johnnie To's filmography, as I find his technique and ability to sell a fairly simple story captivating. San Taam's ending for example is simply exquisite for example, perfectly bringing everything built up throughout the film to a head in a simple gunfight and ending the story on an ambiguous and bittersweet note, which is highly open to interpretation. I would highly recommend this film to fans of noir and world cinema alike, it really is a hidden gem.

By Jack D. Phillips
Masterpiece Corner #4

Nocturne (1980) [Short Film]

It must be hard to live

inside Lars von Trier's 

head.

I have never seen a film from acclaimed filmmaker Lars von Trier before this short. I decided that It would be best to start at the beginning of his career to truly begin understanding where his work comes from, and so I arrived at this feverish little film.

Nocturne is a brief little journey into the fears and idiosyncrasies of the director, who is clearly a troubled man in many areas (look up interviews with him, he is both hysterically awkward and quiet miserable in many that I have seen). Nocturne visually brings these troubles to life in a surprisingly sophisticated manner. The visuals in this film are remarkably advanced and unique for a student film, creating a horrific and captivating atmosphere and effect. The opening shot in particular is a genuinely horrifying and made me feel uneasy to watch, and from that point the rest of the film is drenched in awkward paranoia.

Overall this film is a powerful shot of creepy uneasiness that has only increased my interest in the director. It is available to watch on Youtube and I highly recommend giving it a try, it's only eight minutes long after all.

By Jack D. Phillips

A Zoom Film Review

Masterpiece Corner: When the Wind Blows

The most devastating film I have ever seen

Just to lay out how effective this film is and how much domination it enjoys over my soul, simply know that it made me cry and hopelessly paranoid hours after watching, twice. That in mind, When the Wind Blows is a fairly obscure and rarely discussed British animated film from 1986. Directed by animation legend Jimmy T. Murakami (chiefly known for the iconic short film, The Snowman) and based of the book by Raymond Briggs, the film is fairly notorious among animation fans for it's extremely dark subject matter, and the infamously bleak depiction of this subject matter. It has since been heralded as a hidden gem and a classic of 80's British cinema.

The film follows an elderly English couple, a man named Jim and a woman named Hilda, living in an isolated cottage in the countryside. Their life is shown to be extremely idealic and free of worry, immediately making the characters the least likely focus for a film about the effects of a nuclear bomb, which this film is. We follow their preparations for the upcoming bomb, done with the aid of Government pamphlets, which is done in a relatively light-hearted and almost comedic fashion. The audience is lulled into false sense of security by the chipper, gentle and warm tone. A bomb could not possibly fall on the lives of characters such as these, they are far too innocent to exist in an environment like that, the viewer thinks to themselves in hope. Even the occasional cutaways to the bombs being prepared to launch from Russia seem unnreal, set aside the domestic disputes of the two characters. Despite the expectations and hopes of the audience, fall the bomb does. (Spoilers from this point onward).

Jim and Hilda die. They die very slowly and in ever increasing pain and misery, this slow decay into death is the focus for the film past the opening twenty minutes. This is why the film is infamous, it tackles the true horror and misery that would result from a nuclear war and is unforgettably upsetting.

As you can tell from the image above, the film has a very plump and cute art-style. It is reminiscent of The Snowman and looks not too dissimilar to a TV special for little kids. On it's own, this aesthetic would probably be ill equipped to handle the horror of the film's later section, therefore the film mixes in many other animation styles. Pencil drawn, stop motion, watercolour and even stop motion is mixed into this film in some capacity. Every single one of these styles is used to display a specific element of the films story. For example, the pencil drawn segments are used whenever the characters have a pleasant or wistful dream sequence, of which there are two in the film (along with one which is far less pleasant, yet equally dreamlike). The multiple animation styles are blended stunningly, all creating and specific effect and building towards the film's overall effect. Not only would I praise the animation of this film, but I would go as far as to call it an astonishing achievement, a milestone in the evolution of animation. There are very few films which use it's visual style to such an effect, and almost none which do so as creatively. In the end, we see our plush and warm little characters wither away through radiation poisoning. Their cute, childlike animation giving way to a nightmarish window into reality.

Above and beyond the awe inspiring animation are the vocal performances from Peggy Ashcroft and John Mills. The two actors bring the characters to life with such believable sensitivity that it is hard to describe. These feel like real, living, breathing people. At several points in the film, I am reminded of my own grandparents and other elderly people I have known. The inflections of pain, and slow creeping sentiment of despair that grows within their voices throughout the film is possibly the most saddening thing I have ever heard. It is hard to comprehend or articulate, it is simply harrowing.

Overall, When the Wind Blows is a very simple film. It does one thing, rend the soul of it's viewer (in this case me) and it does it better than any film I have ever witnessed. Upon my second viewing (I set myself a goal to watch films at least twice before I review them for MC) I noticed one other beam of brilliance which tipped this film into officially being a work of genius in my eyes. The films, chronology. The audience is never informed how much time passes between the bombs impact, and the couples' death. At first I assumed several days due to the dwindling supplies they endure, however they did not seem very well prepared in the first place. The frequent fades to black could imply the passing of days, weeks or merely hours. As the gloomy grey environment never changes, under the effect of a nuclear winter, time is completely distorted and impossible to read. This single revelation confirmed what I had previously suspected, this film is cinematic purgatory incarnate.

I am now quite fervently anti-nuclear because of this film, and have a streak of paranoia that I didn't realise before. This will be the most depressing and bleak review I will ever write on this blog, and that is only to pay some level of tribute to this masterpiece of misery.

By Jack D. Phillips
Masterpiece Corner #2

Rope (1948)

One of Hitchcock's most

innovative masterpieces.

A tight and gripping performance

thriller.

Rope is one of the most celebrated films in the highly celebrated filmography of Alfred Hitchcock. It is considered a pioneer in the use of the 'long take' and has one of the most lauded screenplays of all of Hitchcock's films, which were once again known for the exceptional quality of their screenplays. So do I feel this praise is deserved? In short, very much so.

The most talked about element of this film is it's visual style. Rope is shot in seemingly a single long take, and would have actually been done in one take if not for technical limitations. This helped to pioneer the 'long take' as a respected method of shooting a film, and it has remained a popular shooting style ever since. As for it's use in this film, it mostly works very well. It showcases the actor's talents well and helps the films excellent sense of tension to grow naturally from the performances and the script, without the aid of editing to artificially enhance the drama. This makes the film almost the definition of a performance piece, wherein the actor's performances and the quality of their dialogue surpasses any other individual element in it's importance. Admittedly, there are some obvious and fairly hilarious moments where the camera zooms into the back of the actors to hide certain hard to mask cuts (including one instance which results in a significant continuity error, as the entire geometry of the scene warps between hidden cuts).

Since this a film heavily centered around it's performances, I feel I should now cover my thoughts on them. James Stewart steals the show with a performance which totally plays against expectations. As a long time Stewart fan, seeing him play a cold and calculated intellectual was a jarring change of pace, and made for a doubly rewarding experience due to his ability to pull it off so well. His stern expression and perfectly controlled posture enables him to totally engross himself into the role, temporarily throwing off his usually friendly persona. Aside from Stewart, John Dall delivers an astonishingly charismatic and natural performance as Brandon. The character belongs to stand as one of the all time great movie psychopaths and I am sure Bret Easton Ellis took much inspiration from this character whilst writing  American Psycho. Dick Hogan is also very good and sells his character's creeping paranoia and debilitating fear. Overall I think I can safely say that this may be the best group of performances in any Hitchcock film, and they work stunningly alongside the great supporting cast to deliver this tight character drama.

Overall, Rope is a classic and remains one of the most unique and possibly innovative film's the man ever made. It's acting is stellar and it helped to pioneer a very popular and influential method of cinematography. If it were not for this film, we may not have been given Boogie Nights, Enter the Void or Birdman and if that doesn't speak for the influence and significance of this film I don't know what could.

By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review