Category Archives: Cinema & literature

Critics and reviews on books and films

Three Poplars at Plyuschikha

Another little gem of Soviet cinema is Tri Topolya na Plyuschikhe, year 1968, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and written by long-lived dramatist Alexander Borshagovski. It’s an unassumig story, visually simple yet very touching, that through a brief episode in the … Continue reading

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On Lem’s Pericalypsis

In the foreword of that joke book that is Perfect Vacuum, where its author, the Polish essayist Stanislaw Lem, reviews a series of nonexistent literary works (they reside only in the universe of his boundless imagination), the prologue writer tells … Continue reading

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The wrestler

If one decade ago I had been told, in light of Sin City and other films of the sort, that I’d ever be moved by Mickey Rourke on the screen, I would’ve not believed it. But welcome be the news: … Continue reading

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I don’t love you anymore

Of all the memorable movie scenes, this is one of my very favourites: so straightforward, so descriptive, so harsh and life-like, so telling of women’s feelings… It belongs to the film Closer (Mike Nichols, 2004. Very recommended). Dan and Alice … Continue reading

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Tarkovski revisited

I was only a teenager when — by suggestion of a friend under the intelectual fever that, in the early 80’s, stroke some middle-class sectors in Spain — I went to an unlikely cineclub in a not so advisable district … Continue reading

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17 moments of spring

There are so many TV series out there, one can’t watch them all; not even just the ‘best’ ones (supposing ‘best’ makes any sense when it comes to tastes). Unlike films, series are very much time consuming, and often addictive … Continue reading

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That very Münchhausen

This Russian version of the renowned Munchhausen adventures is, by far, the best of them all, both in print and on stage — though perhaps ‘the best’ doesn’t mean much in this case, since a one-eyed person can always be … Continue reading

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Moscow does not believe in tears

Transcending any genre cage, Moskva slezam ne verit is probably the first Soviet movie I see that does not end tragically. But it is not the less ‘Russian’ for that – not the less touching. On the contrary, it is … Continue reading

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