Friday, March 27, 2020

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 117


On this episode of Zebras Scott & I tackle two "spicy" subjects/movies that branch off in to conversations regarding free speech, "woke culture" and more.

Enjoy...

Friday, March 20, 2020

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 116: THE QUARANTINE EPISODE



On this episodes of Zebras, Scott & I give our top 5 desert island movies to watch while in quarantine (not necessarily our top-5 favorite movies either).
We also get in to other random movies, tv shows and albums to keep you company during this trying time.

Enjoy...

THE SCHOOL OF PERSONA: ALWAYS SHINE

Two years ago I wrote about Sophia Takal's Always Shine (click here to read) and naturally Bergman's Persona came up on more than occasion.

To use to term coined by Miriam Bale - Always Shine is very much in the Persona Swap genre...

Putting aside the written word for a moment (along with the few initial visual comparisons I came up with), there are a lot more blatant visual similarities that got missed in my review.

Enjoy...


CLOSE -UPS...
Persona / Always Shine

CLOSE -UPS...
Persona /
Always Shine

THE EMPHASIS OF THE MOVIE CAMERA WHICH ACTS AS A CATALYST FOR ANXIETY & PRESSURE...
Persona /
Always Shine

REFLECTIONS...
Persona /
Always Shine

EATING TOGETHER...
Persona / Always Shine

CREEPING UP FROM BEHIND...
Persona /
Always Shine

CONFLICT...
Persona / Always Shine

TAKING PHOTOS...
Persona / Always Shine

Persona /
Always Shine

Persona /
Always Shine


Friday, March 13, 2020

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 115: MOVIE GRAB BAG EPISODE



We're back this week with a grab bag discussion on a bunch of films. Scott gives us his thoughts on Birds Of Prey & The Last Thing He Wanted, while I give a rundown of Sorry We Missed You and Bruno Dumont's Joan Of Arc biopic.

Enjoy...

Friday, March 6, 2020

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 114: JOHN CARLUCCIO



Filmmaker & friend of the show John Carluccio was kind enough to sit down with us to talk about his latest documentary on Maurice Hines, his legendary turntablist documentary Battle Sounds and so much more. 

Enjoy...



Sunday, March 1, 2020

THE SCHOOL OF PERSONA: DON'T LOOK BACK

Persona / Don't Look Back


Vertigo. Images. Mulholland Drive. Always Shine. There’s countless psychological thrillers that deal with the duality, multiple personalities & parallel worlds surrounding women. With the exception of Vertigo (1958), I feel like the aforementioned films can be traced back to Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (obviously with the residue of Hitchcock’s Vertigo and perhaps a pinch of Maya Deren’s Meshes Of The Afternoon, but Persona remains the #1 film with the most influence when it comes to movies in that lane).
I say all this to say that Marina De Van’s sophomore film Don’t Look Back is often left off the list of Persona-influenced films when, in my personal opinion, it fits right in with the Mulholland Drives & Always Shines. Part of that has to do with the fact that Don’t Look Back is a little underseen (in the United States it was distributed by IFC films which means its theatrical release was limited in comparison to other movies). Another reason this film is often forgotten about is because it struggled to match up to De Van’s excellent debut In My Skin. Not only did In My Skin leave some large shoes for Don’t Look Back to fill, but De Van was heavily associated with the New French Extremity film movement and her follow-up feature was a more conventional thriller and less “extreme” or “transgressive” as a lot of the other New French Extremity films.

Even I felt Don’t Look Back was a little “Meh” at first but after a recent re-watch (after over a decade) I’ve come to realize that not only is it a solid film, but - as I mentioned at the start of this piece - De Van’s sophomore feature has some strong visual & thematic connections to Persona and other movies in that lane

Like any film dealing with duality & questionable identity (like Persona), Don’t Look Back has tons of imagery that focuses on mirrors & reflections (that kind of goes without saying when it comes to movies like this)

Persona / Don't Look Back

Persona / Don't Look Back

Persona / Don't Look Back

Persona / Don't Look Back


I’m fully aware that there are countless movie scenes with mirrors & reflections. Even scenes where people change & morph in to another person...

Persona / Don't Look Back

Persona / Don't Look Back


But obvious mirror scenes aside, there are minor visual similarities between Don’t Look Back & Persona that speak volumes and make the connection stronger...
Persona / Don't Look Back

Persona / Don't Look Back

Persona / Don't Look Back


Imagery aside, both Persona & Don't Look Back are partially about mental breakdowns centered around female-specific traumas (similar to Mulholland Drive, Images, Always Shine and so many others). In Don't Look Back we follow a woman (Sophie Marceau) who slowly starts to lose a grip on reality and morph in to another woman (Monica Belucci) due to a mental break brought on by fatigue (as the movie unfolds we come to discover there’s a lot more to everything than just fatigue).

So while Don’t Look Back is somewhat underrated and a little underseen for understandable reasons (and it’s not on the level of a Persona, but still...), perhaps it deserves to be given a second (or first) chance with all the aforementioned cinematic influences & connections in mind.


LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...