Martin Scorsese: Master of the Remake

by Cláudio Alves

As a general rule, remakes don't represent a particularly respected type of film among cinephiles. Concerns about lack of originality abound, as do questions of necessity and the way remakes can lead to the obscuration of older movies. That being said, to characterize every remake as a mercenary minded waste of time isn't fair to the filmmakers involved. Moreover, it can result in the unfair dismissal of interesting cinematic propositions. Remakes can recontextualize past narratives, respond to aesthetics of yore and comment upon them, reinterpret texts and revitalize forgotten styles, deepen pre-established themes or even make us look at a classic through new eyes. They can also highlight the specificities of different artists' visions, exposing how their particularities shape the same raw material. Not all remakes are good, but we can say that about every kind of film project.

Some directors have shown a particular aptitude for this type of project, like Luca Guadagnino with A Bigger Splash and Suspiria. Still, we're not here to talk about that epicurean delight or the transfiguration of Dario Argento's post-Giallo masterpiece. Our subject, today, shall be Martin Scorsese and his mastery of the remake… 

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Reader's Choice: Lady in a Cage (1964)

New bi-weekly Monday series. By popular vote you selected this streaming film for screening & discussion...

by Nathaniel R

Where did the sayings "wear your influences / heart on your sleeves" originate? No matter the etymology of the phrase we think it disagrees with fussy widow Mrs Cornelia Hilyard. Her billowy sleeves aren't half as expressive as the sheer scarf and shawl like top over her simple house dress. She fidgets with it constantly, untying and unbuttoning the extra layer of fabric due to the unfortunate duet of a broken air conditioner and a great lady's modesty!

The influences and emotions clinging visibly to this lady in her cage, or rather Lady in a Cage (1964), are much the same. Screenwriter Luther Davis and Director Walter Grauman throw just about everything they can think of that was cinematically en vogue or brazenly attention-grabbing in the early 1960s into the mix (drug use! homosexuality! juvenile delinquents! sex! formerly glamorous leading ladies getting sweaty and desperate and humiliated for your viewing pleasure). The film's sociopathic parents -- its daddy is Psycho and its mommy is Whatever Happened to Baby Jane -- have cast a long historical shadow over Lady in a Cage...

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How had I never seen... "Z" (1969)

by Mark Brinkerhoff

After finally having gotten around to seeing 1931’s M, it seemed only fitting to round it out with 1969’s Z, co-record-holder of the shortest movie title ever. Who knew that these two would have more in common than their one-word titles? 

Bracingly directed by Greek-born Costa-Gavras, the Algeria-set, French-language Z is a thinly veiled version of the circumstances around the 1963 assassination of a reformist Greek politician by right-wing zealots. Both the fictional and actual events stoked social upheaval and prompted a political crisis. Factor in a shady government coverup, eventually exposed by a dogged team of investigators and journalists, and you have the makings of a thriller that is as timeless as it is unnerving...

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How had I never seen... "Three Days of the Condor" or "The Parallax View"?

In this new series, members of Team Film Experience watch and share their reactions to classic films they’ve never seen. 

by Lynn Lee

The 1970s may have been a great era for cinema, but they were a pretty lousy time for faith in the great American experiment.  Between the Vietnam War, the Pentagon Papers, the Church Committee reports, and of course Watergate, there were seemingly endless reasons to suspect the U.S. government and other institutions meant to serve and protect the public were instead covering up all manner of malfeasance—and that they might be watching you if they thought you were a threat.  This generalized paranoia found fertile ground in Hollywood, leading to a spate of conspiracy thrillers of varying quality and goofiness.

Until last month, the only one of these films I’d seen was All the President’s Men (unless you count Chinatown and Network, which I’d argue you could).  But something about the social and political tensions of today made these movies seem especially current again.  So it seemed like a good occasion to watch two of the most famous examples of the genre: Three Days of the Condor (1975) and A Parallax View (1974)...

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25th Anniversary: Danny Boyle's "Shallow Grave"

by Anna

Twenty-five years, a new British filmmaker made a dark splash at Cannes. Danny Boyle’s directorial debut Shallow Grave, which would become a significant sleeper success in 1995, opens with flatmates David (Christopher Eccleston), Juliet (Kerry Fox) and Alex (Ewan McGregor) looking for a new boarder (and subsequently trolling the prospective candidates). They settle on Hugo (Keith Allen) but he dies from a drug overdose within hours of moving in. Then the trio  find a suitcase full of money under Hugo’s bed, and that’s where the plot (and the meaning behind the film’s title) really kicks off.

Roughly a decade of award-winning films from the likes of Stephen Frears and David Attenborough, Boyle came and turned British cinema as a whole on its ear...

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