“While Lang never fully embraced socialist principles over the course of his career, he always seemed to have a violent distaste for the men who stood on the shoulders of those who were less fortunate, knowing full well that social class does not correlate a strong moral conscious.”
“The film has an unusually conservative vibe for a noir, maintaining that the status quo may be boring but criminality has nothing to offer — not even carnal thrills.”
“At the heart of ‘Prince of Darkness,’ the failures of religion and science reflect the limits of the human mind to grasp the immensity of the universe and our menial position within it.”
“‘Blood for Dracula’ is confusing thematically, but I think that’s part of the point. As pulpy as it is, Morrissey’s film strongly confronts and challenges our ideas of purity and gender.”
“Cable Hogue ogles and desires Hildy because she appeals to him sexually: there are no shades of grey here, no self-reflection. In the world of Peckinpah, sex is often just sex.”
“‘Black Orpheus’ embraces sex as multiplicitous. This somehow makes the love more noble, because it is not confused with lust, and sex becomes a celebration rather than a symbol of it.”
“‘Les biches’ remains one of the more elusive and symbolic films of Chabrol’s career, as the narrative adopts a dreamlike structure that often obscures reality and truth.”
“Youth is central to ‘Violette,’ and Isabelle Huppert’s petite frame and almost childlike features lend the film a skewed point of view that is colored neither by experience or shame.”