» Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell

Fires on The Plain( 野火 2015)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Sep 8, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

“You’re a sinner, old man.” “That’s why I’m happy to die in this hell-hole.” A war film unlike any other, Tsukamoto Shinya’s Fires on the Plain is far more visceral and gruesome than most but at its centre lies a perception about humanity and... »

Jacques Becker Retrospective – Edward and Caroline (Édouard et Caroline, 1951)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Aug 26, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

After years of absence from the home viewing scene another film from Jacques Becker receives a welcome release. This one is as beautifully shot and constructed, and indeed as strikingly modern, as the other recent releases, but is distinctly different in its approach.... »

Jacques Becker Retrospective – Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Aug 24, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

A film about criminals where the audience never witnesses the crime is a succinct and perfectly constructed tale of gang loyalty. Max (Jean Gabin) and Henri Ducros, known to all as Riton (René Dary), meet often at the cafe of Madame Bouche (Denise Clair) where they... »

Jacques Becker Retrospective – Casque d’Or (1952)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Aug 22, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

The highly engaging and surprisingly visceral Casque d’Or is a romance set amidst the subterfuge and criminality of professional gangs and prostitutes in the hard drinking, hard dancing, hard fighting location of early twentieth century Paris. Georges, now named... »

Jacques Becker Retrospective – Le Trou (1960)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Aug 21, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

Following a recent season of his films at the BFI, Studiocanal has released a number of Jacques Becker films on DVD and Blu-ray. Becker was a protege of the great Jean Renoir and assistant director on many of his most renowned films including here, most appropriately,... »

The Handmaiden (아가씨2016)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Aug 4, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden is already one of the most successful subtitled films to be released in the UK and is on track to become the highest grossing foreign language film of the last five years. It’s a dramatic thriller filled complete with subterfuge... »

The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen, 2017)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Jul 24, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

“I’d like of whatever these unbelievers drink.” In many ways this could be the most depressing film yet from Aki Kaurismaki – for no other reason than that he claims that it will be his last. The Other Side of Hope is a relevant modern drama about striving... »

Frantz (2016)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Jul 9, 2017 | Film and DVD Review

The prolific and fascinating work of auteur François Ozon can be reflected in both the quality of his output as well as the variety of style and design, from his savage satire feature debut Sitcom (1998) to commentary on society and relationships in 8 femmes (2002),... »

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Sep 26, 2008 | Film and DVD Review

Making films about the Jewish Holocaust is a real challenge, but The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas hits the right notes, say Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell

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Female Agents (Les Femmes de l’ombre)

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Jul 13, 2008 | Film and DVD Review

Girl power: A mixture of action film shenanigans and period drama may raise a few disapproving eyebrows, but Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell think the formula works in Female Agents

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Overlord

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Feb 28, 2008 | Film and DVD Review

Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell review the DVD release of Stuart Cooper’s award-winning 1975 film about the D-Day landings

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Shinob

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Feb 13, 2008 | Film and DVD Review

Bigger in Japan: Shenobi is an oriental, larger-than-life variation of the Romeo and Juliet romantic tragedy. Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell love it

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Val Lewton’s A Grade B-movies

by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell | Dec 21, 2007 | Feature Item

Frightfully good: Val Lewton’s horror film legacy is a case of elegance and sophistication. He’s one of the topics in Kamera Books’ latest title, Horror Films, by Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell, and we present the section on Lewton as a Christmas present to all of you fans of Cat People and many other films Lewton produced and wrote. A warm holiday salute from the Kamera posse.

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