The Illusion of Depth

In 1987, the American academic Gary Engle published an article entitled What Makes Superman So Darned American? It's a reasonable question. The character of Superman has been associated with America and American values almost from the very beginning. Images of Superman proudly defending the US flag are the very stuff and essence of American popular mythology.  But (it could be argued) Superman is not American. He was born, as everyone knows, on the planet Krypton and sent to Earth as an infant. He is not human. He has X-ray vision. He's faster than a speeding bullet, can leap tall buildings in a single bound, etc. etc. None of these characteristics are qualities we generally associate with Americans. And yet, as Engle points out, Superman is the ultimate American. First, and most importantly, he's an immigrant . No nation on Earth has so deeply embedded in its social consciousness the imagery of passage from one social identity to another: the Mayflower of the New England s...

The moment is come. This Thursday is the 31st of October, and that can only mean one thing. It's Halloween! coffee and cake will be available... When we gather for our night of revelry, we shall dance and sing and conjure up the unholy denizens of the night. Then we shall offer up our tributes to the dark forces that dwelleth underground as we feed off the vital forces of the innocent. Also chocolate. an unholy denizen of the night Before we do all that, we will of course be showing our traditional Halloween film, as has become our wont at this time of year. Since the theme of our current series is Genre Fluid , I have chosen a horror film that stretched the definition of horror when it was first released in 1942. It also happens to be one of the great films of all time. In 1942, the horror genre was dominated by Universal Studios, who had enjoyed runaway success with their screen versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man etc.  ...which were followed (very successfully) by fi...

Funny thing about wars. They end . They might not end gracefully, and they might not end the way you want them to, but there will always come a point when the slaughter stops; sometimes because there is simply no one left to slaughter.  Or no one left with the ability to continue. Those of you who have been following my current film season ( Genre Fluid ) will know that I have been exploring portrayals of the Cold War over the past few weeks. The Thief was explicitly a Cold War espionage story, albeit one that didn't have a lot to say for itself (if you know what I mean). The Big Country was an epic pacifist Western, but director William Wyler had intended the story as a very obvious allegory for the escalating hostility between the two superpowers. Our next film is an allegory for the end of the Cold War, although it might not be the one you were expecting. This is Nicholas Meyer. Back in 1991, Nicholas Meyer was a successful and highly respected writer/director in the very pri...

This week's film screening is going to be a little different from the others. It's not the most controversial film I have ever shown (I've screened Cuties and For Colored Girls ) nor is it the most difficult to watch (I once made you sit through Taza; Son of Cochise ... in 3D!). It's not a silent film and it's not an opera, so don't worry. It is however a bit long . When planning these film nights I have generally tried to restrict myself to films under two hours, out of consideration for everyone's bedtimes and/or sanity. There have been a handful of exceptions. I showed West Side Story   a few years ago  (2 hours and 32 minutes) and The Music Man (2 hours and 31 minutes) as well as Metropolis (2 hours and 29 minutes and  silent ). Our next film is about 15 minutes longer than any of those. Don't panic. Actually, two hours and forty-five minutes is quite modest when it comes to the world of epic cinema. Spartacus runs for more than three hours, and Ben...