Simon of the Desert – 1965

2014/01/07

Surrealist but gritty. Epic yet intimate. Rich but short. Bunuel’s wonderful tale of an ascetic fanatic stranded atop a pillar in the desert and tormented by the forces of Evil (Silvia Pinal!) is everything a film should be, which, with a runtime of just under 45 minutes, is no small accomplishment. Masterpiece? Yessir!

Europa – 1991

2014/01/01

Before Lars von Trier became the king of handheld human decadence, he was a master of black comedy, and one with a staggering – if cheeky and in-your-face – technical proficiency. You can’t get more visually convoluted than Europa: multiple layers of front and back-projection, mixing color and black and white… For all that though, it’s a dizzying labyrinth of a story, moody as hell, and anchored by phenomenal supporting turns from Eddie Constantine and Ernst-Hugo Järegård. Plus, did we already mention it was really funny?