CINEASTE, VOL. XLVII, NO. 2, SPRING 2022
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ARTICLES Wilder the Humanist: New Perspectives on a Hollywood Legend by Kevin Lally While the detractors of Billy Wilder saw nothing in his films but cynicism, misogyny, and even immorality, three new books focus on his early European career, exile, and Hollywood films of worldly realism, hard-edged satire, and even a sense of romanticism. 4 Paying Melvin Van Peebles His Due: Revisiting the Black Filmmaking Pioneer’s Bittersweet and Iconoclastic Career by Craigh Barboza The author reflects on the life and legacy of the fiercely independent Black filmmaker, whose work is celebrated in an “Essential Films” Blu-ray box set from Criterion. 16 Cleopatra Reconsidered: A Revisionist Critique of Hollywood’s Most Notorious Epic by Jean-Michel Ropars The infamous behind-the-scenes stories have obscured a film that, despite all its obstacles, re-emerges as one of the most literate and informed of Hollywood’s historical epics. 26 From Rzeszów to Eternity: Notes on Some Recent Findings in the Biography of Fred Zinnemann by Michał Oleszczyk New research into the family background of the director of The Search, High Noon, and From Here to Eternity reveals biographical facets that would recur in many of his films. 32 INTERVIEWS Recreating a Transformative Childhood: An Interview with Kenneth Branagh by Gary Crowdus The Northern Ireland “Troubles” form the backdrop of Belfast, the director’s most personal film that dramatizes a child’s-eye view of traumatic events that led to a new life in exile. 10 Exploring Alternative Realities on the Internet: An Interview with Jane Schoenbrun by Steve Erickson The director of We’re All Going to the World’s Fair discusses an unsettling film that investigates the shadowlands of online culture where a teen and older man meet. 22 Nothing but Beauty in the Valley: An Interview with Paul Verhoeven by Pierre Sauvage The writer-director of Licorice Pizza serves up slices of insight on directing newcomers, filming key scenes, and recreating the 1970s in his San Fernando Valley hometown. 36 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.CINEASTE.COM Interview: You Want Me to Watch Listening to Kenny G!!!? An Interview with Penny Lane by Scott MacDonald Film Reviews: The Lost Daughter reviewed by Alex Ramon; Spencer reviewed by Megan Feeney; West Side Story reviewed by Karen Backstein; and No Time to Die reviewed by Jonathan Murray. Blu-ray Review: Ken Jacobs Collection, Volume 1 reviewed by Michael Sicinski. Book Review: Tell It to the Stones: Encounters with the Films of Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub reviewed by Christoph Huber. Communiqué: The Thessaloniki International Film Festival by Jonathan Murray. A Memorial Tribute: Cineaste staff members recall Dan Georgakas (1938–2021), one of this magazine’s most important and longest-serving editors and contributors. The Cover: Jude Hill as Buddy (a stand-in for the young Branagh) in Kenneth Branagh’s semiautobiographical Belfast.
FILM REVIEWS The Power of the Dog Reviewed by Graham Fuller .......................43 Passing Reviewed by Mary F. Corey ........................45 A Cop Movie Reviewed by Darragh O’Donoghue ............46 The Tragedy of Macbeth Reviewed by Page Laws ..............................49 Drive My Car Reviewed by Robert Koehler .......................51 Ahed’s Knee Reviewed by Abe Silberstein .......................53
HOME VIDEO REVIEWS La strada Reviewed by David Sterritt .........................55 Ratcatcher Reviewed by Jonathan Murray ..................57 The Incredible Shrinking Man Reviewed by Robert Cashill .......................59 Tous les matins du monde Reviewed by Adam Bingham .....................60 Lucky Luciano Reviewed by Darragh O’Donoghue ...........62 High Sierra Reviewed by J. E. Smyth ............................64 Staff Recommendations: Before Tonight is Over, Love Rites, Onibaba, The Signifyin’ Works of Marlon Riggs, and Sparrows Reviewed by Cineaste Editors ....................67
BOOK REVIEWS Totally Truffaut: 23 Films for Understanding the Man and the Filmmaker Reviewed by Adrian Martin ........................68 Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life and Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century Reviewed by Kevin Canfield ...................69 The Cinema of Sara Gómez: Reframing Revolution Reviewed by Dennis West ........................71 Sex, Politics and Comedy: The Transnational Cinema of Ernst Lubitsch Reviewed by Christoph Huber ...................72 Elio Petri: Investigation of a Filmmaker Reviewed by Deborah Young ....................74 The Franco-Algerian War Through a Twenty-First Century Lens Reviewed by Andrew Montiveo .................76 The Melancholy Lens: Loss and Mourning in American Avant-Garde Cinema Reviewed by Michael Sicinski ....................77
DEPARTMENTS Editorial ..............................................1 Letters ................................................3 Errata for Cineaste, Winter 2021 ....66 Contributors ............................................78 Short Takes ...........................................80
2 CINEASTE, Spring 2022
