Browse films by title with CW new film archive.

Cultural jam: On global womanism

The Jammed (2007), directed by Dee McLachlan

What is missing is a thorough investigation into the racialised representations of women. The film’s heroine Ashley becomes exemplary of a global womanism, in which the white, heterosexual Australian woman is duty bound to save non-Western women from the sex-trade industry.

Lifeless eyes

Redacted (2007), directed by Brian De Palma

This is definitely a powerful anti-war movie, but its power is diffused inwardly rather than outwardly focused onto the centres of political power. The dead cannot see, but neither can the living when the feeling is too strong to be understood.

What ever happened to the liberal dream?

Half Nelson (2006), directed by Ryan Fleck

This isn’t the film to rage at the dying of the light or to offer simple moral paradigms. Dunne may be a teacher, he may even be inspirational, but he’s also a soiled anti-hero, part Coupland part Dostoyevsky – sleazy, violent and alone. Dunne is in a hinterland, submerged in a haze of drugs and failed hope - caught in a headlock.

Split psyches

Mr. Brooks (2007), directed by Bruce A. Evans

The film is a parable of the modern animus that moves in darkly postmodern ironic/comic turns, welding the problems of violence, morality, and identity to the fleeting notion of self. Underlying Evans’ anxious tale is the disquieting notion that the force that guides and sustains modern life may be violence and murder.

Daft Punk’s robot world

Electroma (2006), directed by Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo

Daft Punk’s fictional robots strongly resemble real human beings in many ways - they wear human clothing, represent alternating genders and vary in age. But mostly the similarity is in the human-like emotions in the speechless interactions between the two main characters of the film.

A lens smeared with Vaseline

Atonement (2007), directed by Joe Wright

The problem is that none of the leads are interesting – they are devoid not only of psychological depth, but also of any broader social resonance. They exist in a vacuum, offering no wider comment on humanity, as if the world is merely a bland reflection of their own ill-drawn strife.

Howard Goodall’s modern version of Mozart

20th Century Greats: Lennon and McCartney (2004), directed by Francis Hanly & David Jeffcock

Is the mere combination of unexpected chords that make I Am the Walrus an incredible song? Any musical analyst can explain the technical tricks behind a musical composition. And Goodall is surely one of the more talented ones. But merely describing the pillars of a house does not account for the beauty of the whole house.

Happiness and regret

Evening (2007), directed by Lajos Koltai

Irrespective of how subtle Redgrave is in her delivery, she is buried in the density of colour and mood driven not by her acting, but by the music. The dogma that less is more is so closely adhered to in the performances, it is ironic that Koltai ignored it when judging the effect of other elements.

Shakespeare in Japan

As You Like It (2006), directed by Kenneth Branagh

However you look at it, this really is a terrible film: bad cinema, bad Shakespeare, bad everything. Branagh has a made a selection of accessible, popular, well-made and generally enjoyable adaptations of Shakespeare for cinema. It is hard to guess what went so dreadfully wrong this time.

The pre-cinema meal

Fast Food Nation (2006), directed by Richard Linklater

Actually, Mickey D’s burgers are a bit boring. They should put some of the fat back. They’re dry and bland at the moment. I mean, it’s a burger for Christ’s sake. The ones you get from Iceland, you know, four for a pound, they’re actually surprisingly tasty.

Victims and war criminals

Daratt [Dry Season] (2006), directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

The tap-tap of a blind man’s cane and the crunch of footsteps in the desert sand as the opening credits roll introduce us to a film that is as hypnotic in sound as it is in vision. The dryness of the Chadian desert juxtaposed with clean bright colours makes for a stunning film with fable-like quality.

Passionless romance

Someone Else (2006), directed by Col Spector

There are no tears in this film. It’s probably the most passionless romantic movie I’ve ever seen. If David’s sapped emotional life and frankly stagnant approach to life was the point of the movie, then these were qualities well represented in the overall tone: boring, boring, boring.

Painful memories of the past

Nacido y criado [Born and Bred] (2006), directed by Pablo Trapero

The portrayal of a man in distress has never been so raw and never so moving as in the scene when Santi breaks down during a hunting session with Robert – Guillermo Pfering’s acting is magnificent throughout the film, but especially here.

A travelogue through a society’s psychology

A fost sau n-a fost? [12:08 East of Bucharest] (2006), directed by Corneliu Porumboiu

Mircea Andreescu’s final monologue, detailing Pişcoci’s story on the morning of 22 December 1989, is menacing in its power to affect us. We, just like him, value the love of our partner more than of our country. Being a hero in the eyes of one’s beloved is arguably the best gift one can receive.

An inevitable deja vu

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), directed by Paul Greengrass

You come to expect that whether in the frozen streets of Moscow or the blistering heat of Africa, whether in a crowd of London commuters or souk shoppers, Bourne will find a way out of any situation, but he does so with enough ingenuity (and yes punch) to sustain your interest.