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CINEASTE, VOL. L, NO. 1, WINTER 2024 . ’s Lee Kuras llen Eiller in Mlist Lee journa to t as pho le ins Wte Ka ARTICLES John Farrow: Ingenious Filmmaker, Incorrigible Fabulist, Impossible Person by David Sterritt A new Blu-ray box set puts the unassailable craft and problematic personality of the Hollywood genre specialist—Mia’s dad and Ronan’s grandfather—in the spotlight. 4 The American Experience of Marcel Ophuls by Jonathan van Harmelen The son of director Max Ophuls spent the war years at Hollywood High School in LA, where the racial prejudice he witnessed, and shared, later influenced his documentaries. 20 True to Form: Experimental Cinema’s Engagement with Reality by Michael Sicinski Three books by Scott MacDonald on Avant-Docs chart the rise of avant-garde and documentary hybrids that provide navigation through the complications of the digital era. 26 INTERVIEWS A Brooklyn Cinderella Story with a Dark Edge: An Interview with Sean Baker by Kevin Lally Strap in for a wild ride with Anora, this year’s Palme d’Or winner at Cannes. It’s all of a piece with the director’s previous work…with a screwball comedy difference. 10 A Brazilian Family’s Struggle for Justice: An Interview with Walter Salles by Mitchell Abidor The director, whose own family went into exile after a 1964 military coup in Brazil, revisits that tragic two-decade period in I’m Still Here to tell the story of a congressman who was “disappeared” and his family’s search for answers. 14 Hard Truths and Difficult Personalities: An Interview with Mike Leigh by Leonard Quart A ferocious performance by Marianne Jean-Baptiste drives the writer-director’s new film, which he describes as the result of an intense collaboration with his Secrets & Lies star. 24 In Search of Emotional Truth: An Interview with Alessandra Lacorazza by Paul Risker The director of In the Summers explains how she harvested slices of life from the turbulent (and semi-autobiographical) relationship of a father and his two daughters from their adolescence to adulthood. 30 Same Country, Different Rights: An Interview with Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham by Maria Garcia Israel’s abuses of power in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank are the subject of a documentary whose co-directors, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, speak out. 34 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.CINEASTE.COM Article: The Films of Joris Ivens: Humanitarian Principles and Debatable Political Allegiances by Mitchell Abidor. Interview: Commissioning the Canon: An Interview with Faber & Faber film book editor Walter Donohue by Paul Cronin Blu-ray Review: Albert Brooks’s Real Life reviewed by Michael Sandlin. F Communiqués: The 2024 Gdynia Film Festival by Darragh O’Donoghue and the 2024 New York Film Festival by Will DiGravio. On the Cover: Mikey Madison as the title character in Sean Baker’s Anora (photo couresty of NEON). FILM REVIEWS Kneecap Reviewed by Declan McGrath ....................38 Close Your Eyes Reviewed by Imogen Sara Smith ...............40 Lee Reviewed by Will DiGravio ..........................42 Rumours Reviewed by Graham Fuller ........................44 Janet Planet Reviewed by Robert Koehler .......................46 Dance First Reviewed by Darragh O’Donoghue ............48 Sing Sing Reviewed by Page Laws ..............................50 The Substance Reviewed by Paul Risker ..............................52 HOME VIDEO REVIEWS Pharaoh Reviewed by Darragh O’Donoghue............54 Bandits of Orgosolo Reviewed by Stuart Liebman .....................56 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Reviewed by Jonathan Kirshner ................58 Io Capitano Reviewed by Megan Feeney ......................60 Victims of Sin Reviewed by Karen Backstein ....................62 Typhoon Club Reviewed by Adam Bingham ....................64 Staff Recommendations Reviewed by Cineaste Editors ....................67 BOOK REVIEWS Mary C. McCall Jr.: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Most Powerful Screenwriter Reviewed by Megan Feeney ......................68 A Shared Cinema: Michel Ciment— Conversations with N. T. Binh Reviewed by David Sterritt .........................69 A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda Reviewed by Thom Delapa ........................70 Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990 Reviewed by Adrian Martin ........................72 King Vidor in Focus: On the Filmmaker’s Artistry and Vision Reviewed by Charles Maland .....................73 The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982 Reviewed by Larry Ceplair .........................75 Dorothy Parker in Hollywood Reviewed by Elroy Rosenberg ...................76 Book Brief Reviews ..............................78 DEPARTMENTS Editorial ..............................................1 Letters ........................................................3 Index to Cineaste, Volume XLIX......29 Short Takes .............................................80 2 CINEASTE, Winter 2024

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CINEASTE, VOL. L, NO. 1, WINTER 2024

.

’s Lee

Kuras llen

Eiller in

Mlist Lee journa to t as pho le ins

Wte

Ka

ARTICLES John Farrow: Ingenious Filmmaker, Incorrigible Fabulist, Impossible Person by David Sterritt A new Blu-ray box set puts the unassailable craft and problematic personality of the Hollywood genre specialist—Mia’s dad and Ronan’s grandfather—in the spotlight. 4 The American Experience of Marcel Ophuls by Jonathan van Harmelen The son of director Max Ophuls spent the war years at Hollywood High School in LA, where the racial prejudice he witnessed, and shared, later influenced his documentaries. 20 True to Form: Experimental Cinema’s Engagement with Reality by Michael Sicinski Three books by Scott MacDonald on Avant-Docs chart the rise of avant-garde and documentary hybrids that provide navigation through the complications of the digital era. 26 INTERVIEWS A Brooklyn Cinderella Story with a Dark Edge: An Interview with Sean Baker by Kevin Lally Strap in for a wild ride with Anora, this year’s Palme d’Or winner at Cannes. It’s all of a piece with the director’s previous work…with a screwball comedy difference. 10 A Brazilian Family’s Struggle for Justice: An Interview with Walter Salles by Mitchell Abidor The director, whose own family went into exile after a 1964 military coup in Brazil, revisits that tragic two-decade period in I’m Still Here to tell the story of a congressman who was “disappeared” and his family’s search for answers. 14 Hard Truths and Difficult Personalities: An Interview with Mike Leigh by Leonard Quart A ferocious performance by Marianne Jean-Baptiste drives the writer-director’s new film, which he describes as the result of an intense collaboration with his Secrets & Lies star. 24 In Search of Emotional Truth: An Interview with Alessandra Lacorazza by Paul Risker The director of In the Summers explains how she harvested slices of life from the turbulent (and semi-autobiographical) relationship of a father and his two daughters from their adolescence to adulthood. 30 Same Country, Different Rights: An Interview with Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham by Maria Garcia Israel’s abuses of power in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank are the subject of a documentary whose co-directors, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, speak out. 34 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.CINEASTE.COM Article: The Films of Joris Ivens: Humanitarian Principles and Debatable Political Allegiances by Mitchell Abidor. Interview: Commissioning the Canon: An Interview with Faber & Faber film book editor Walter Donohue by Paul Cronin Blu-ray Review: Albert Brooks’s Real Life reviewed by Michael Sandlin. F Communiqués: The 2024 Gdynia Film Festival by Darragh O’Donoghue and the 2024 New York Film Festival by Will DiGravio. On the Cover: Mikey Madison as the title character in Sean Baker’s Anora (photo couresty of NEON).

FILM REVIEWS Kneecap Reviewed by Declan McGrath ....................38 Close Your Eyes Reviewed by Imogen Sara Smith ...............40 Lee Reviewed by Will DiGravio ..........................42 Rumours Reviewed by Graham Fuller ........................44 Janet Planet Reviewed by Robert Koehler .......................46 Dance First Reviewed by Darragh O’Donoghue ............48 Sing Sing Reviewed by Page Laws ..............................50 The Substance Reviewed by Paul Risker ..............................52

HOME VIDEO REVIEWS Pharaoh Reviewed by Darragh O’Donoghue............54 Bandits of Orgosolo Reviewed by Stuart Liebman .....................56 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Reviewed by Jonathan Kirshner ................58 Io Capitano Reviewed by Megan Feeney ......................60 Victims of Sin Reviewed by Karen Backstein ....................62 Typhoon Club Reviewed by Adam Bingham ....................64 Staff Recommendations Reviewed by Cineaste Editors ....................67

BOOK REVIEWS Mary C. McCall Jr.: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Most Powerful Screenwriter Reviewed by Megan Feeney ......................68 A Shared Cinema: Michel Ciment— Conversations with N. T. Binh Reviewed by David Sterritt .........................69 A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda Reviewed by Thom Delapa ........................70 Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990 Reviewed by Adrian Martin ........................72 King Vidor in Focus: On the Filmmaker’s Artistry and Vision Reviewed by Charles Maland .....................73 The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982 Reviewed by Larry Ceplair .........................75 Dorothy Parker in Hollywood Reviewed by Elroy Rosenberg ...................76 Book Brief Reviews ..............................78

DEPARTMENTS Editorial ..............................................1 Letters ........................................................3 Index to Cineaste, Volume XLIX......29 Short Takes .............................................80

2 CINEASTE, Winter 2024

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