Arts Review
Bolshevism and the avant-garde artists (1993)
By David Walsh, 17 February 2010
The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, in 1992-1993, was a major event. David Walsh wrote a series of articles in the Bulletin, a predecessor of the WSWS, which we began republishing February 13 in three parts. Here is the entire piece.
Letter to the editor: Photography notes
By Virginia Smith, 12 February 2010
Exhibitions of American documentary photography are proliferating, a reader notes, suggesting this is one portion of the visual arts where a genuine engagement with society is taking place
Jazz drummer Ed Thigpen dies at 79
By Jesse Werner, 10 February 2010
Jazz drummer Ed Thigpen, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson Trio, died in mid-January at the age of 79. With a career spanning nearly six decades, he was an underrated master in his field.
Academy Award nominations: Hollywood plods on
By David Walsh, 5 February 2010
The decision to increase the number of films considered for Best Picture is unfortunate in light of the generally poor quality of the movies released in 2009. It is difficult to think of five major studio releases deserving acclaim, let alone ten.
J.D. Salinger (1919-2010): An appreciation
By James Brookfield, 2 February 2010
American author J.D. Salinger, best known for his 1951 classic The Catcher in the Rye, died Wednesday, January 27. He was 91.
An interesting collection, but a distorted view of Stalinism
Mexican prints: revolution on paper
By Paul Mitchell, 29 January 2010
Mexican prints 1910-1960 will be shown at the British Museum in London through April 5, 2010.
The career of French film director Eric Rohmer
By David Walsh, 16 January 2010
French film director Eric Rohmer died January 11 in Paris, at the age of 89. Rohmer’s work was most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s, although he continued making films until 2007.
In praise of George Eliot’s Adam Bede on its 150th anniversary
By David Walsh, 4 January 2010
2009 marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, along with Marx’s A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. The publication of George Eliot’s Adam Bede in 1859 also deserves to be noted.
Coverage of the Roman Polanski case »
Recent Film Reviews
How To Make It In America on HBO: “Anything is still possible”
By Jordan Mattos, February 22, 2010
How To Make It In America follows “streetwise” Cam Calderone and aspiring designer Ben Epstein as they try to succeed in New York’s fashion industry. Illusions abound …
The Last Station: Not a film about Tolstoy
By Clare Hurley, February 20, 2010
The Last Station, a lavishly produced period piece that glows with a faux authenticity, sheds little light on what made Leo Tolstoy one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century, and of all ti...
Nowhere Boy: No surprises in John Lennon biopic
By Richard Phillips, February 19, 2010
Director Sam Taylor-Wood’s 98-minute first feature explores John Lennon’s teenage years in Liverpool.
A Single Man: Despite everything…
By David Walsh, February 17, 2010
Tom Ford’s A Single Man follows George Falconer (Colin Firth), a middle-aged, English-born college professor living in Los Angeles in 1962, through the course of a single day and night.
Academy Award nominations: Hollywood plods on
By David Walsh, February 5, 2010
The decision to increase the number of films considered for Best Picture is unfortunate in light of the generally poor quality of the movies released in 2009. It is difficult to think of five major st...
Armored, but not bulletproof
By Hiram Lee, January 27, 2010
In Armored, a struggling Iraq war veteran gets a job as a guard with an armored car company and agrees to take part in a heist planned by his co-workers.
Me and Orson Welles, but too much of the former
By Tracy Montry, January 25, 2010
Director Linklater wants it both ways: to associate himself with Welles’s well-known “anti-establishment” credentials, his most positive attributes, on the one hand, while shaking a politically ...
Crazy Heart and unnecessarily narrow pictures
By David Walsh, January 21, 2010
Scott Cooper’s new film, with Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall, follows “Bad” Blake, a veteran country singer, as he attempts to resurrect his career and his life.
Four Australian movies: Van Diemen’s Land, Beautiful Kate, Last Ride and Lucky Country
By George Morley, January 20, 2010
With Australian Film Institute (AFI) annual award winners announced late last year month, critics and others have been offering their opinions as to the merits of the country’s movies.
The career of French film director Eric Rohmer
By David Walsh, January 16, 2010
French film director Eric Rohmer died January 11 in Paris, at the age of 89. Rohmer’s work was most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s, although he continued making films until 2007.
The White Ribbon: Michael Haneke’s pessimistic study of society
By Verena Nees, January 6, 2010
Michael Haneke’s new film, The White Ribbon, is Germany’s contender for an Oscar in the category of best foreign-language film.
Up in the Air and the social calamity in the US
By Joanne Laurier, January 5, 2010
Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air features George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, who fires people for a living while leading the life of an “elite status” traveler who packs light and depends on no one.
Why are the critics lauding Avatar?
By David Walsh, December 23, 2009
After more than a decade since the release of his last feature film, writer-director James Cameron returns with his latest “blockbuster,” a technically innovative, but dramatically weak science fiction film.
The Power of Yes: A serious indictment of capitalism
David Hare at the National Theatre
By Paul Stuart, December 22, 2009
In the wake of the ongoing crisis, the British theatre has sought in a number of pieces to address the meltdown of the financial system.
The Messenger and Brothers: The elephant in the room
By Joanne Laurier, December 12, 2009
The Messenger and Brothers attempt to deal with the psychological realities of soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The filmmakers’ efforts are limited by a refusal to tackle the character of the wars themselves.
Hollywood on Trial: a timely reminder
By Charles Bogle,
December 10, 2009
The Hollywood witchhunt and blacklisting of left-wing actors, writers and directors in the post-World War II period has been the subject of many books, but has received little serious attention in Hollywood itself.
Precious: A view of Harlem through a very narrow lens
By Helen Halyard, December 8, 2009
Precious follows the life of Claireece “Precious” Jones, a teenage girl living in Harlem in New York City in the late 1980s, as she learns to read and write and begins to tell her painful story.
The Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man: a suburban Job
By Joanne Laurier, December 5, 2009
A black comedy set in 1967 about a Jewish college professor in an American Midwestern state whose life is falling apart.
What were the 1960s about?: An Education and Pirate Radio
By David Walsh, December 2, 2009
The decade of the 1960s receives a great deal of attention in English-language films and television. For the most part, the presentation of that period is superficial and simplistic, if not downright ...
Vincere—the tragic life of Ida Dalser, Mussolini’s first wife
By Richard Phillips, November 28, 2009
Vincere is about Ida Dalser, the first wife of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Directed by Marco Bellocchio, this audacious work should encourage audiences to examine the dark history of this perio...
The Men Who Stare at Goats: US military goes for the paranormal
By Joanne Laurier, November 26, 2009
Loosely based on real events, The Men Who Stare at Goats concerns itself with a secret US Army attempt to harness extrasensory perception and mental telepathy for military objectives.
Where the Wild Things Are—a thoughtful, sensitive look at childhood
By Hiram Lee, November 24, 2009
Director Spike Jonze has made an impressive film based on Maurice Sendak’s classic 1963 children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are.
Aesthetic choices: Aleksandr Sokurov’s The Sun
By Stefan Steinberg, November 20, 2009
Russian director Aleksandr Sokurov’s The Sun presents a snapshot picture of the Japanese emperor Hirohito and is one of a series of films Sokurov has devoted to leading political figures.
Not enough information: The Informant! directed by Steven Soderbergh
By Hiram Lee, November 11, 2009
Steven Soderbergh’s latest film takes on the true story of an FBI investigation into the price-fixing conspiracy at the Archer Daniels Midland company during the 1990s.
Jane Campion’s Bright Star: The story of John Keats and Fanny Brawne
By Joanne Laurier, 5 November 2009
Based on the biography of John Keats by Andrew Motion, New Zealand-born director Jane Campion’s new movie Bright Star tells the story of the poet’s relationship with Fanny Brawne.
An exposure of corruption: Afghanistan, on the Dollar Trail
By Mathew Benn, 31 October 2009
The documentary is a well-produced exposure of the plunder and criminality that has accompanied the “reconstruction” of Afghanistan since the 2001 US invasion.
The Invention of Lying: Telling the truth, or some of it
By Hiram Lee, 20 October 2009
Comedian Ricky Gervais makes his debut as a writer and director of feature films with a comedy set in a world in which human beings never developed the ability to lie.
Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story
By Joanne Laurier and David Walsh, October 6, 2009
Veteran documentary filmmaker Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story sets out to examine the recent financial collapse. His aim, he suggests, is a critique of the existing economic set-up.
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired: Laying bare the facts of the 1978 case
By Hiram Lee, October 5, 2009
The 2008 documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired exposes the character of the legal proceedings from which Roman Polanski fled in 1978.
“Law & Order” episode makes case for prosecution of Bush administration torturers
By Patrick Martin, October 2, 2009
The season premiere of NBC’s crime drama “Law & Order” was a rarity for American television: an unsparing and essentially honest examination of the crimes being committed by the American government, in the name of the “war on terror.”
District 9, an attempt at serious science fiction
By Hiram Lee, September 17, 2009
Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 is a science fiction film about aliens forced to suffer under apartheid when their ship stalls in the skies over Johannesburg, South Africa.
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra—yet another celebration of militarism and war
By Christie Schaefer and Hiram Lee, September 5, 2009
Based on a popular toy and cartoon franchise, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a film that does little more than glorify militarism and war.
Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino goes to war
By Hiram Lee, September 1, 2009
Director Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is another sadistic revenge tale, this time set during the Second World War.
Film Festivals
Toronto International Film Festival 2009
Part 1: Polarization and protest
By David Walsh, September 30, 2009
To make useful sense of an event as large and contradictory as the Toronto film festival, which screened 273 feature films from 64 countries this year, is no easy matter.
Part 2: “The Iraq war poisoned the water—you can’t undo that, it’s there forever”
Part 3: Filmmakers on violence and social tension in the Middle East
Part 4: More human (and artistic) problems
Part 5: Compassion, vision, genius
Part 6: Thoroughly lost, or playing at it
Filmmakers, writers protest Toronto festival spotlight on Tel Aviv
By David Walsh, September 10, 2009
Dozens of filmmakers, writers and others have signed an Open Letter to the Toronto International Film Festival, criticizing the festival’s decision “to host a celebratory spotlight on Tel Aviv.”
Protest against Toronto film festival collusion with Israeli regime continues
By David Walsh, September 16, 2009
Organizers of a protest against the Toronto film festival’s spotlight on Tel Aviv held a press conference Monday afternoon to explain their purposes and respond to attacks by pro-Israeli forces.
An interview with Asli Özge, director of Men on the Bridge
By David Walsh, October 10, 2009
Asli Özge is the director of Men on the Bridge, a Turkish film screened at the recent Toronto film festival. We spoke during the festival.
Sydney Film Festival 2009
Part 1: Courage and audacity sadly lacking
By Richard Phillips, July 9, 2009
The quality of new work screened at this year’s Sydney Film Festival was patchy and generally undemanding, with critical human issues largely unexplored.
Part 2: Competition movies: largely passive reflections
By Ismet Redzovic, July 10, 2009
Part 3: Some perceptive documentaries
By Richard Phillips and Ismet Redzovic, July 13, 2009
Part 4: Vital ingredients missing
By George Morley, July 14, 2009
Part 5: Several movies well worth revisiting
By Richard Phillips, July 17, 2009
San Francisco International Film Festival 2009
Part 1: Painful truths
By David Walsh, 20 May 2009
The recent San Francisco film festival, its 52nd, presented 151 films from 55 countries to a combined audience of some 82,000 people.
Severe artistic unevenness, a sharp contrast between advanced technical means and the inadequacy of thought and expression, a lagging behind the realities of contemporary life—these are some of the qualities of international filmmaking in recent years. And that continues in the first year following the greatest economic crash since 1929.
Part 2: Human drama, partially treated
By David Walsh, 22 May 2009
Part 3: The trauma produced by events
By Joanne Laurier, 25 May 2009
See also: An interview with He Jianjun, director of River People, June 25, 2009
The 59th Berlinale
Part 1
Lagging alarmingly behind the times
By Stefan Steinberg, February 19, 2009
Perhaps most striking about the latest Berlinale was the absence of any comprehension of the urgency of the current crisis. None of the burning issues at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century were adequately addressed at the festival.
See also The 59th Berlinale—Part 2: A few healthy shoots and Intimations of changes to come—but nothing more: On the film series After Winter Comes Spring—Films presaging the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Vancouver International Film Festival 2008
World Socialist Web Site arts critics David Walsh and Joanne Laurier wrote extensively on new films shown during the 2008 Vancouver International Film Festival, which ran from September 25 to October 10.
Part 1, "Life in its incontrovertible reality," was published October 13; Part 2, "Art, artists, the difficulties of the 20th century," was published October 16; Part 3, "The oppressed and excluded," followed on October 20; Part 4, "Repentance, betrayal and the less dramatic," was published October 23; and Part 5, "Six films: problems of perspective, passivity," concluded the series on October 27.
See also Walsh's interviews with Li Yifan, director of The Longwang Chronicles, published October 20, Azharr Rudin, director of This Longing, published October 27, and Ying Liang, director of Good Cats, published November 15.
The Toronto International Film Festival
A series of film reviews and director interviews published September 18-29 2008, devoted to the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (September 4-13).
See Part 1, 2, 3 , 4, and 5, as well as the WSWS interview with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors of Lorna’s Silence.
