Film analysis
A space for my thoughts on movies, mostly from east Asia, but occasionally beyond.
“How Do You Live?”: Oppenheimer and The Boy and The Heron
Though two very different films, Oppenheimer and The Boy and The Heron consider similar questions: how do we live, and what do we leave behind?
Appreciating the Alien: Loss and Uncertainty in “Asteroid City”
Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City connects earthly grief to the arrival of an extraterrestrial visitor.
Place and Memory in “Suzume”
With Suzume, Makoto Shinkai asks us to go beyond our memories of places and tap into places’ memories of themselves.
White Girls in Asia: Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation”
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation acts as the perfect encapsulation of the white girl experience in Asia.
The Transitory Spaces of “A Brighter Summer Day”
Thinking about Edward Yang’s epic A Brighter Summer Day through the lens of the transitory.
A Hidden Life’s Phenomenological Exploration of Attunement and Detachment
Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life uses a juxtaposition of Heidegger and Arendt to create an immersive experience about good and evil in the Second World War.
Noir as Logic in Long Day’s Journey Into Night
To decipher Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, film noir is a fitting roadmap, whether as direct homage or spiritual guide.
It’s a Vibe: Jim Jarmusch’s Zombie Apocalypse in The Dead Don’t Die
The Dead Don’t Die inverts just about every characteristic of the zombie genre to deliver a wry film about the end of days.
The Pared-Down Love of Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Portrait of a Lady on Fire tells its idealized, ultimately tragic love story through a conscious reduction to elemental forms.
The Erotically Deliberate Body in In the Mood for Love
A look at how Wong Kar-wai creates tension and sensuality in In the Mood for Love through seemingly un-sexy poise and restraint.
Atmosphere and Experience: Bi Gan’s The Poet and Singer
Bi Gan takes a phenomenological approach to small-town crime in his short The Poet and Singer.