Nazarin

The more particular you make your story, the more universal it becomes, or so they say. And Norman Jewison’s adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), one of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history, is certainly a case in point. On the surface, it is a story about a poor Jewish milkman living in Tsarist Russia in…

Appreciation coming.  Directed by: Kirsten Johnson Produced by: Written by: Doris Baizely Lisa Freedman Music by: Cinematography by: Editing by: Release Date: 2016 Running Time: 102 Language: English Arts & Faith Lists: 2020 Top 100 — #58

“There are moments when the social world seems more evident in an object or a gesture than in the whole concatenation of our beliefs and institutions.” In this quote, anthropologist David MacDougall encapsulates the ambition of observational cinema with perfect precision. “Through our senses we measure the qualities of our surroundings—the tempo of life, the…

“You gotta laugh, ain’t ya sweetheart? Else you’d cry.” This observation from working-class Londoner Cynthia Rose Purley (Brenda Blethyn) is a perfect summary of the tone running through Mike Leigh’s Palme d’Or-winning melodramatic masterpiece. A slice-of-life portrayal of broken individuals navigating the complexity of their familial ties, Secrets & Lies perfectly captures the quiet intensity of ordinary suffering. Both comic…

Appreciation coming. Directed by: Ermanno Olmi Produced by: Written by: Ermanno Olmi Music by: Cinematography by: Ermanno Olmi Editing by: Ermanno Olmi Release Date: 1978 Running Time: 196 Language: Italian Arts & Faith Lists: 2020 Top 100 — #36

Appreciation coming.  Directed by: Tim Robbins Produced by: Jon Kilik Tim Robbins Rudd Simmons Written by: Helen Prejean Tim Robbins Music by: David Robbins Cinematography by: Roger Deakins Editing by: Lisa Zeno Churgin Ray Hubley Release Date: 1995 Running Time: 122 Language: English Arts & Faith Lists: 2005 Top 100 — #15 2006 Top 100…