Archive for January, 2008
Film and theatre are tempestuous bedfellows. For every spirited success (take Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street) there are five flaccid failures. In Benedict Andrews’ production of Patrick White’s The Season at Sarsaparilla the semiotics of cinema step firmly on to the boards.
This is a remarkable work of theatre. The direction is fluid and graceful […]
Warriors of Art: A Guide to Contemporary Japanese Artists
by Yumi Yamaguch
published by Kodansha International, distributed by Bookwise International
RRP $49.95
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this elegantly presented survey is that much of the artwork seems startlingly familiar. Certainly part of this familiarity might come about through the Yankeephile integration of Western tropes into Japanese life […]
Gillian Armstrong’s latest directorial outing, Death Defying Acts, is a glossy cage of cinematic feints signifying nothing. The story is a pretty typical contrivance — a rich man offers a reward and a pair of likely aspirants try to con their way into a fortune. The twist is that the rich man is Harry Houdini […]