8 years ago
All posts by James Blake Ewing
The Complex Morality of “No Country for Old Men”
James Blake Ewing explores the thorny moral issues at the heart of Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men."
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The Second Criterion: ‘Babette’s Feast’
The first time I watched Babette’s Feast, I must admit I misconstrued its themes. Here was a story that coalesced two opposing ways of living life and I was quick to see one as better than the other, when the film actually builds to something else entirely, a ...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Walkabout’
Mankind's ability to come together and form civilization is a key feature that distinguishes him from the rest of nature. Yet there is a thin line between civilization and nature. In Walkabout, The Australian Outback provides a visual space to explore the rel...
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The Second Criterion: ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s depiction of the trial of Joan of Arc delves into themes of faith, conviction and persecution. While rooted in historical events, the film’s style heightens and elevates the psychological suffering, the religious ideas and the positions o...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Three Colors: Red’
The final entry in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s thematic trilogy once again explores one of the virtues represented by one of the colors of the French flag. Red represents fraternity, and the way Kieslowski explores it might be the most unusual and complex of the th...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Three Colors: White’
One of the highest ideas of a free society is equality. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s second entry in the thematic Three Colors trilogy delves into this concept, turning this virtue on its head. While I would be skeptical to call this film autobiographical (I think C...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Wise Blood’
“No man with a good car needs to be justified!” Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif) spits his new gospel of a world that never fell and a man that never needs to be saved in the thick of America’s Bible belt. For those unfamiliar with the theological vernacular, Wise Bl...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Taste of Cherry’
In the hands of a director who wanted to use the medium of film to lecture to his or her audience, Taste of Cherry would be a film that answered the question of why life is worth living. Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami gives his audience space. He tries not ...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Yojimbo’
While set in Japan, Yojimbo is a Western. It carries many of the tropes of the America genre, but with some noticeable differences. Although the change in geographical location, culture and time certainly add texture to the film, it’s not what makes Yojimbo di...
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The Second Criterion: ‘M’
M is a challenging film. It presents its audience with a man who commits the most heinous act imaginable: the killing (as well as implied molesting) of young girls. The police and the people seek to bring this man to justice. But first they must find the man. ...
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