“The problem for us is not whether our desires are satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire? There is nothing spontaneous, nothing natural about human desires. Our desires are artificial - we have to be taught to desire. Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn't give you what… Continue reading On ‘The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology’
Category: film
On ‘Tàr’
On my thirtieth birthday I returned again to the Castle Cinema for another double bill, same as last year's celebration when Titane blew my tiny mind. This time around it is Tàr, the first of the double feature, that I am going to discuss.
On ‘Antichrist’ and ‘MEN’
“The definition of women as demonic beings, and the atrocious and humiliating practices to which so many of them were subjected left indelible marks on the female psyche and in women’s sense of possibilities. … For the witch-hunt destroyed a whole world of female practices, collective relations, and systems of knowledge that had been the… Continue reading On ‘Antichrist’ and ‘MEN’
On ‘Titane’
Poster for Titane (dir. Julia Ducournau, Arte France Cinema, 2021) I saw Titane, the second picture by French director Julia Ducournau, at the Castle Cinema in Hackney on my birthday. I was originally booked to see Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, which was TERRIBLE, almost impressively crap; I forgot most of it the… Continue reading On ‘Titane’
On Pervy Old Men
“But the picture of the Madonna went with him. Continually, even as he sat in his small hard narrow room or knelt in the cool churches, it stood before his outraged soul with its sultry, dark-rimmed eyes, with a mysterious smile on its lips, naked and beautiful. And no prayer could exorcise it.” Thomas Mann,… Continue reading On Pervy Old Men
On Bacchus and the Beast
“ 'All present, Cap'n!' responded the mate Opheltes, leading along the shore what he thought was a prize he had won in a lonely meadow, a boy with a beautiful face like a girl's. Their captive appeared to be staggering and struggling behind a drowsy, drunken stupor. I looked at his dress, his face and… Continue reading On Bacchus and the Beast
On Everyday Filmmaking
The Mundane and the Magical: Filmmaking of Every Day Nalini Malani: ‘Can You Hear Me’, film projections, Whitechapel Gallery (2020 – 2021) I would like to write an article about the intimacy of everyday artmaking. This is not that article; the following text is adapted from a proposal I've recently submitted to a writing prize… Continue reading On Everyday Filmmaking
On ‘Mandy’
Still from 'Beyond The Black Rainbow' (dir. Panos Cosmatos, 2010) I've been feeling I've been far too intense and convoluted in these posts, and they are getting so long that no one's going wade through them to the end, so I'm going to bring it back to basics with a lovely chat about some interesting… Continue reading On ‘Mandy’
Sertraline Dreams 