Ken Loach has never been a filmmaker to shy away from politics. In fact, a case could be made that the reason he makes films is to explore politics, the which he has done with such strident films as BREAD AND ROSES (union organizing in contemporary Los Angeles) and LAND AND FREEDOM (the Spanish Civil… Read More »
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
I’ve never read the bestselling book, House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III, but I admire the concept of it infinitely more than I admire the film of the same name that was made from it. This is a poignant tale about what the idea of home means to people, how they will… Read More »
Marjane Satrapi Creates PERSEPOLIS
When I talked with Marjane Satrapi on December 12, 2007, the national news was full of the latest example of gun violence in the United States. Before getting down to talking about PERSEPOLIS, based on her autobiographical graphic novel of the same name, she asked me why the pundits were talking about the shooter’s psychology… Read More »
Shoreh Aghdashloo Invites Us to THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
I’ve been a fan of Shoreh Aghdashloo’s since seeing her in Ramin Serry’s beautiful film, MARYAM, which dealt with the repercussions to an Iranian-American family of the Iranian hostage crisis. She delivers an even more powerful performance in THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG as the sheltered wife of an exiled Iranian colonel engaged in a… Read More »