Based on Ted Lewis’ pulp novel Jack’s Return Home, Mike Hodges took an interesting scenario and vastly improved upon the material. The film follows Jack Carter (Michael Caine), a no-nonsense right-hand man to a top London gangster (playwright John Osborne as a sinister Mr. Big, Cyril Kinnear). Carter is well known for his ruthlessness. His…
Tag: Movies
Fritz the Cat (Movie): Analysis
There was a time when the very idea of sex and violence in a cartoon was so antithetical it would draw audiences on the novelty alone. Fritz the Cat was the first of its kind to receive an X rating from the MPAA. Audiences flocked, making it a midnight-movie staple and a forerunner for cult…
Freaks (Movie): Summary, Explanation
No matter how you approach it, Freaks is a peculiar piece of cinema. The title refers to people who make a living off their physical abnormalities on the carnival circuit. Not only are these ‘freaks’ the subject of the film, but also such performers make-up the majority of the cast. The graphic depictions of these…
Redupers / The All-Round Reduced Personality – Summary, Analysis
Summary: Edda Chiemnyjewski is a freelance photographer and single mother in late 1970s West Berlin, struggling to make a living from small commissions to photograph public events. Alongside her professional work, she has her own artistic projects – both individual and as part of a women’s photography collective – which try to capture the reality…
The Red Shoes (Movie): Story Summary & Analysis
Summary: Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s folk tale, the plot follows the career of Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) who rises to fame to dance the ballet of The Red Shoes. She falls in love with conductor Julian Craster (Marius Goring), but impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), fiercely protective of Vicky’s career, forces Julian to resign….
Rebel Without A Cause (Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: Set in suburban Los Angeles, Rebel without a Cause tells the story of an affluent family and their troubled son, Jim, who makes friends at the local high school with equally troubled teenagers, Judy and Plato. Jim is teased by a group of high school students, particularly their leader Buzz, and in order to…
Rabbit-Proof Fence: Summary & Analysis
Summary: In 1931, three aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff and set off on a trek across the Australian Outback. Analysis: Rabbit-Proof Fence takes as its subject the forced removal and ‘re-education’ of mixed-race Aboriginal children in early twentieth-century Australia. Given this backdrop, we might expect…
The 400 Blows: Summary & Analysis
Summary: The narrative of The 400 Blows condenses events drawn from several years of Truffaut’s own childhood into what appear to be a few weeks or months in the life of Antoine Doinel. Antoine’s world revolves around three locations: the cramped apartment he shares with his mother (Claire Maurier) and adoptive father (Albert Rémy); the…
Psycho (1960 Movie): Story Summary & Analysis
Summary: After stealing money from her boss, Marion Crane drives out of town and stops at a motel off of the main freeway. There she meets Norman Bates, the young owner of the motel. Marion decides to return the money but is murdered before she can do so and Norman disposes of her body. Marion’s…
Il Postino (The Postman) – Summary, Analysis
I’ve ranged the far-famed seas, the nuptial stamen of each island, I’m a great paper seafarer, and I ran, ran, ran, to the uttermost foam Pablo Neruda, El Canto General (1950) Summary: In the 1950s, in a fishing port on a small Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, Mario, illiterate and unemployed, dreams of a…