Nineteen Eighty-Four
What does this 1984 adaptation of the 1949 George Orwell novel tell us about the totalitarian tendency in human history? How does it adumbrate upon the surveillance state as exemplified in Stalinist Russia? What role does emerging technology of the day play in Orwell’s vision? How does the film do as a portrait of the […]
I Am Legend
How does this 2007 film, based on the 1954 Richard Matheson novel, depart from that book? How effective is the film in focusing on the isolation and loneliness of its protagonist, Neville? How does the dog, ‘Sam’ serve to illustrate that loneliness? What other devices are used to this end? How does the film engage […]
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
How does this 2000 film engage with and differ from Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey, on which it is loosely based? How do various characters in the film, which is set in the deep South during the depression, reflect famous characters in that story? How does the film portray the role of popular music in […]
Old
What does this 2021 film premised on the notion of accelerated aging, attempt to tell us about the emotional and psychological impact such events would have on people suffering through it? How does the film portray the rapid onset of maturation in the children involved? How do the characters of the two parents, Prisca and […]
United 93
What does this film, which portrays the events of 9/11/2001 tell us about the responsibilities, training and level of professionalism of the air-traffic controllers involved? How does the film portray uncertainty and lack of information and its effect on the involved people? How does it show the difficulty involved in overcoming assumptions people bring with […]
First They Killed My Father
What does this 2017 film, set during the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge reign of terror in Cambodia tell us about the radical nature of the communist project of restructuring human society and psychology? Why did the Khmer Rouge resort to using children as soldiers and cadre? How did Pol Pot differ from Stalin, Mao and Ho […]
Green Snake
How does this film’s use of the concept of reincarnation allow it to act as an exploration of human nature? Why do the snakes, a species of what are called “evils” in the film desire to become human? What is involved in the centuries-long training they are undergoing to attain reincarnation as human beings? Why […]
Shattered Glass
What does this 2003 film about disgraced New Republic reporter, Stephen Glass, tell us about sociopathic or narcissistic behavior? How does the film engage with matters of journalistic ethics, and illustrate the dangers or traps created by journalistic bias when it comes to exercising critical thought and editorial oversight? How does the film show competition […]
Fitzcarraldo
What does the pair of films, Fitzcarraldo, and the documentary about the making of that film, Burden of Dreams, tell us about the similarity between the main character, and the film’s director/producer Werner Herzog? How do both illustrate Kant’s notion of the Categorical Imperative in their sometimes-reckless use of indigenous people? How do the indigenous […]
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
What does this 2021 film, based upon the true story of 2nd Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, a WWII Japanese Army intelligence officer who held out on the Philippine island of Lubang until 1974, tell us about his sense of duty? What does it tell us about the capacity of the human mind to render any evidence […]