One of my favourite films scenes is in Wim Wenders’ immaculate Wings Of Desire. Crime and the City Solution are playing a gig in Berlin, and the beautiful Marion, played by Solveig Dommartin, dances, freed from her circus job, arms flailing. An angel, Damiel, played by Bruno Ganz , has fallen in love with her.Continue reading “A Perfect Scene”
Tag Archives: Monochrome
In Heaven, Everything Is Fine…
I’m not the biggest fan of the late David Lynch, because of his more problematic elements (depictions of gendered violence, exploitation etc) but he was unquestionably a smart, bold auteur who took risks in every project he took on. His admirers are aware of the complexities within his work. I adore the peerless 1977 classicContinue reading “In Heaven, Everything Is Fine…”
Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde
When Oscar Wilde wrote his play Salome in 1894, there was only one artist suitable in his mind, worthy of depicting both the ghoulishness and dark eroticism of his script – Aubrey Beardsley. The pair shared a similar aesthetic sensibility and had no time for the moralising hypocrisy of the times. It seems cancel cultureContinue reading “Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde”
Overlooked Classics: Wisconsin Death Trip
James Marsh’s masterful Wisconsin Death Trip is not like most documentaries. Based on the 1973 book of monochrome photographs by Michael Lesy, it focuses on a decade of bizarre events in and around Black River Falls, Wisconsin in the late 19th century. There’s suicide ; teenage elopement, religious lunacy, errant eccentric opera singers, window smashing,Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Wisconsin Death Trip”
Hit The North 