Much criticised at the time of its release, Michael Powell’s psychological study of a shy camera technician who films for his home movies the death throes of the women he kills is now widely regarded as a dark classic. Less a straightforward serial-killer thriller than a Freudian meditation on how and why we watch movies, it is rich in its thematic resonance – and in in-jokes about the film world.
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Rynox
The influence of Fritz Lang is unmistakeable on Powell’s earliest extant film – a thriller crafted with real visual style, despite its limited budget. The twisty plot concerns businessman F.X. Benedik (Rome), who has been receiving threats from a mysterious stranger. When Benedik is murdered, the...
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Nighthawks
The first major British gay film, this study of a closeted schoolteacher who spends his nights cruising London’s gay clubs in search of Mr Right defies categorisation. Both a fascinating glimpse into the 1970s scene and a portrait of an ordinary gay man living in a homophobic society, Nighthawks ...
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The Pornographer
When the son of former porn filmmaker Jacques Laurent found out what his father did for living, he ran away from home and refused to have any contact with him. Laurent put an end to his career. Many years later, his financial problems meant he had to take up his old profession again. The professi...
