TJFF 2018: War Tales 01 – Documentaries
Reviews of four documentaries screened at TJFF 2018: Another Planet (2017), The No. 5 War (2017), Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators (2017), and Saving Auschwitz? (2017).
Author Archive: Mark R. Hasan
Film: Another Planet (2017)
Director Amir Yatziv adopts a truly unique approach in weaving together various attempts to recreate the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz as virtual reality experiences. It sounds like a surreal concept, but Yatziv relies on excerpts and interviews with the VR creators who explain their goals, and sometimes appear as themselves within the segments…
Film: Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators (2017)
Behind the best-selling children’s book about an overly curious monkey and his human friend in the yellow hat is the fantastic story of its creators, artist Hans Augusto Rey and writer Margert Rey, German Jews who fled Nazi Germany and eventually settled in the U.S…
Film: N°5 War, The / N°5 War: A Deadly Duel Behind the Dream, The / La guerre du N°5 (2017)
Made for French TV, Stéphane Benhamou’s documentary is very specific on the creation and impact of Coco Chanel’s most popular perfume which ultimately transformed her into a global brand and one of the wealthiest women of her time, but perhaps new to the fashion icon’s story is the rather dirty maneuvering which suggests Chanel was a self-serving Nazi sympathizer…
Film: Saving Auschwitz? (2017)
There’s a chilling moment in Jonathan Hayoun’s hour-long documentary in which a city mayor isolates the dark history of Auschwitz to a 4 year period in which the Nazis invaded Poland, built their largest killing centre, and left after the Soviets pushed them out…
TJFF 2018: The Ancient Law (1923) Live!
Reviews of works currently screening at TJFF 2018 begins with The Ancient Law / Das alte Gesetz (1923), a rare German film supported by a live score performance with pianist Donald Sosin and Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals.
Film: Ancient Law, The / This Ancient Law / Das alte Gesetz (1923)
Recently cited as the precursor & inspiration to Warner Bros.’ classic and history making all-talking, all-singing sound hit The Jazz Singer (1927), this forgotten German silent classic was recently restored by gathering the best elements from five surviving colour-tinted prints from around the world, as the original negative and German version no longer exist…
Orphan No More: Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
Review of Mark Rydell’s Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), the former orphan film newly released on Blu via Twilight Time.
BR: Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
You could argue quite convincingly that the success of the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973) spawned a small wave of period caper films, if not augmenting the appeal among audiences for tales of whimsy set in an era in which global crises had either passed or were still a few years away – namely WWI and WWII…
Finding Physical Media in an Urban Maze +The Maze (1953) in 3D!
Idle thoughts on the search for Blu-rays in downtown T.O. and The Maze itself! William Cameron Menzies’ 1953 3D mystery on Blu from KL Studio Classics / Unobstructed View!
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