Though American Honey took home the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, our Cannes correspondent Elena Lazic found it cliched and problematic — a disappointment from the very talented Arnold.
Essays
Desire is a dangerous dance in A Bigger Splash
In this review of A Bigger Splash, we explore Luca Guadagnino’s erotic joyride, which is about the breaking point: what we think we want, and what happens when we get it — or don’t.
Matthias Schoenaerts and the art of not speaking
Though he’s made films in English, French, and Dutch, Matthias Schoenaerts tends to communicate his characters’ inner lives through physicality rather than dialogue. This is the 4th feature in our special A Bigger Splash week.
Personal Affairs is a sweet Palestinian comedy about women refusing to be taken for granted
Personal Affairs offers a gendered and decidedly feminist consideration of the way people can sometimes forget or refuse to treat their loved ones with the respect they deserve.
The queer cult stardom of Tilda Swinton
Explicitly playing with gender and gender performance has been foundational to Swinton’s career and identity as a performer. Swinton’s queer identity emerges from a person who is both presumptively heterosexual and who has largely chosen presumptively heterosexual roles. So what makes her a queer cult figure? This is the 3rd feature in our special A Bigger Splash week.
Not a girl, not (yet) a woman: Dakota Johnson and Hollywood femininity
At its best, Dakota Johnson’s acting reveals the restrictiveness of labels like “girlhood” and “womanhood”. Dave Crewe examines how she subverts conventional female stereotypes. This is the second essay in our special A Bigger Splash week.