Shock Corridor

Tony Leung and Maggie Chung in In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2001) Wong Kar-Wai I am often asked what my favourite film is, to which I generally reply - "Pffft!". I know! Why people ever ask me anything is quite beyond me too. But my reason for mentioning that particular flaw in my character is that while it seems utterly out with my ability to choose a particular favourite, or indeed to respond to the question in a civil, adult and mannered way, I do have a list. This list may grow and shrink over time, but in 2001 I added a film to it and it has been there ever since. In the Mood for Love was a defining moment for me and my connection to cinema. This movie more than most underlined the notion that what particularly moves me is film form; rather than just character, narrative or singular technical aspects, it is the collision of these things that resonates for me in film and makes them stay with me. Tony Leung in the sumptuous In the Mood for Love The fi...

Charlie "I've written myself into my screenplay." Donald "That's kinda weird, huh?" The above quote from Adaptation (2002) sprang to mind this week when I noticed that I seem to have somehow started following my own blog. So on the back of that, I decide to write about a unique voice in contemporary cinema; a rare beast, a screenwriter autuer. Few writers (I say few but I can only think of one and it's him, and I just like to be on the safe side, and am more than willing to bow to anyone's superior knowledge) are bestowed with the title autuer. Despite the the fact that that the term translates as author, that high regard is reserved for the directors of film, perhaps not surprising really given the visual nature of the medium. Kaufman has had his screenplays brought to the screen by a diverse range of directors (Michel Gondry, George Clooney, Spike Jonze and Kaufman himself) the worlds and the characters that inhabit them main...