Side Door Cinema

Only seven filmmakers have been awarded the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Few have featured as prominently as Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Each of their seven films to date could be justly described as a masterpiece and their name comes with a guarantee of quality. Yet they have regularly been accused of only making one type of film; something they do not necessarily refute themselves. So what is it about these elusive siblings that have established the Dardenne brand as a major force in cinema? They…read more

A few years ago I was pretty ill. Bedridden and couch-ridden for the best part of two months, I began to look for something new to read in between those horrible episodes of sickness. I came across a lead article in a particular issue of Sight and Sound magazine called ’21st Century Cinema’. It was essentially a survey of the key trends and movements in the preceding cinematic decade, finishing with their top 10 films. Off the bat, I didn’t necessarily agree with their list and in actual fact this…read more