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Slowly getting through my watchlist and revisiting old favourites Recommendations are very welcome!

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Léon: The Professional (1994) Dir. Luc Besson

Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast / Editor: Sylvie Landra / France / English / Run: 110 minutes approx.  

Centering around the unconventional relationship between a hitman and his reluctantly acquired protégée, Léon was filmed in France and New York, and hosts the feature debut of Natalie Portman. With its unconventional characters, unusual motifs and gritty aesthetic, it is a film which neatly fits into cult-classic status.

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Á bout de souffle (1960) Dir. Jean-Luc Godard

Cinematography: Raoul Coutard / Editor(s): Cécile Decugis and Lila Herman / France / French (English sub) / Run: 87 minutes approx.   

Heralded as the yard stick of celluloid cool, and the feature-length debut that established Godard’s unmistakable jump-cut style and jolted visual rhythm, Á bout de souffle was filmed on location in Paris over a period of 23 days, using a handheld camera. With action virtually improvised on the spot, the entire soundtrack had to be re-recorded due to harsh background noise and the poor quality of micing, and the film’s now iconic jump-cut aesthetic was an erratic editing choice which to this day remains open to interpretation, and hightlights the hyper-mediated nature of cinema, a notion which can be traced throughout Godard’s work.

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Akira (1988) Dir. Katsuhrio Otomo 

Cinematography: Katsuji Misawa / Editor: Takeshi Seyama / Japan / Japanese (English sub/dub) / Run: 121 minutes approx.  

Considered a major forerunner in the second-wave Anime fandom of the ‘90s, Akira opened a new thread in the decades old animation conversation, waking up the West to the new, multifaceted possibilities of cartoon, and paving the way for the growing popularity of Anime outside Japan. The film was animated to a pre-scored dialogue, meaning that the animators synced the character’s lips to pre-recorded voices, a first for Japanese animation. 

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But I’m A Cheerleader (1999) Dir. Jamie Babbit

Cinematography: Jules Labarthe / Editor: Cecily Rhett / United States / English / Run: 85 minutes approx.  

Babbit’s debut feature film was inspired by her interest in producing a comedic critic of step-measured rehabilitation, and by stories she’d read of men who had returned from reparative therapy unchanged and filled with self-hate. The film manages to raise critique and questions surrounding reparative therapy and the treatment of homosexuality in general, while simultaneously enacting queer theory and holding its own as a campy comedy. It is thought that the character of Mary Brown is representative of AIDS paranoia, and this is shown through her obsessive cleanliness and use of sterile PVC outfits. The gendered use of the colour pink throughout the film results in a garish glow almost reminiscent of the red halls of the dance academy in Suspiria.

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Whiplash (2014) Dir. Damien Chazelle

Cinematography: Sharone Meir / Editor: Tom Cross / United States / English / Run: 106 minutes approx.  

Relentlessly jazz-fueled, Whiplash premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and is based on the crushing feeling of dread director Damien Chazelle experienced when he was part of a competitive jazz band. Undeniably intense, the film was shot in just nineteen days, with a daily schedule of fourteen hours of shooting. This tight timeframe, along with the fact that Chazelle continued to work despite being involved in a serious car crash resulted in a motion picture with an energy that is palpable. Whiplash received two Academy Awards, one for Best Sound Mixing and the other for Best Film Editing.

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The Nightmare (2015) Dir. Rodney Ascher

Cinematography: Bridger Nielson / Editor: Rodney Ascher / United States / English / Run: 90 minutes approx.

Premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, The Nightmare is a documentary exploring the world of sleep paralysis, based off of interviews with eight people who have experienced (and, in some cases, are still experiencing) the phenomenon. Unusually enough, there is no consultation of any professional scientists or doctors throughout the documentary, nor is there any form of voice-of-god narration. Instead the film relies on interview and recreation of the experiences alone, using factors such as jump-scares and an ominous soundscape in an attempt to share with the viewer the sensation of experiencing sleep paralysis.

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The Long Day Closes (1992) Dir. Terence Davies

Cinematography: Micheal Coulter / Editor: William Diver / United Kingdom / English / Run: 85 minutes approx.                                                   

The Long Day Closes is an autobiographical reflection on the influence of memory, and on the patience required for emotional endurance. It was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, and although it received no awards, it won wide critical acclaim. 

Set in 1950s Liverpool, and following the story of a young boy named Bud, the film establishes a slow-paced, almost trance-educed atmosphere from the onset. Dreamlike sequences, slow tracking shots, low-key lighting and centrally blocked mise-en-scéne, accompanied by a sweeping, non-diegetic soundscape grant the film a tiring effect, although it is in no way a bad one; watching it is as if waking from a deep and dozy, warming sleep. This is very much a story told in sound and in pictures, and watching it unfold is a submersion into a soft fog of remembrance.