Crime
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THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN (Dir. Stuart Rosenberg, 1973, US)
* * * When a gunman opens fire on a late-night bus in San Francisco, establishing the idea of a killer on the loose in a city one would naturally assume this is going to be the first of many brutal public executions. I blame Siegel’s Dirty Harry (1971), which was released a few years, Continue reading
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THE OUTFIT (Dir. John Flynn, 1973, US) – ‘The Good Guys Always Win…
* * * * Flynn’s The Outfit, based on the prolific crime writer Donald Westlake, followed on the heels of Peckinpah’s The Getaway which was released a year before in 1972. In fact, if one was going to cite a key film in terms of attempting to contextualise a kind of cinematic lineage then it Continue reading
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KILLER SOUP (Dir. Abhishek Chaubey, 2023, India)
* * * Abhishek Chaubey has remained brilliantly consistent and his last film Sonchiriya (2019), a dacoit Western with an ensemble cast, was an exceptional genre work that was under appreciated on its release. In many ways, Killer Soup instinctively revisits the multi narrative format of Chaubey’s Udta Punjab (2016) and makes for a devilishly Continue reading
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MIRZAPUR (2018) – A strange duality
[This piece contains a shed load of spoilers so best to read after you have seen the TV series]. Mirzapur takes its time to come to life. In the final episode a wedding reception descends into a cornucopia of shootings. Reviews have remarked on how Mirzapur is derivative of the depraved noir soaked universe of Continue reading
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ARDH SATYA / HALF TRUTH (Dir. Govind Nihalani, 1983, India)
Govind Nihalani’s directorial debut in 1980 with the award winning Aakrosh (Cry of the Wounded) was inevitable. As an ace cinematographer, Nihalani collaborated closely with Shyam Benegal on many formative semi-realist critiques including Ankur, Nishant, Junoon and Bhumika. Benegal’s scepticism of social institutions and his sensitive representations of women, often victims of patriarchal oppression, would Continue reading
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