From technological prowess to new narratives, silent film came into its own against the backdrop of the Iron Lady.
Ethan Hawke plays a minister in ‘First Reformed,’ (2017) a film that prompts viewers to rethink what they assume they already know, from politics to religion to the climate crisis.
(A24)
‘Somebody has to do something’: Top feature film and documentary picks from scholars examining climate change and cinema offer courage to hold contradictory truths and pursue climate solutions.
The film went on to gross nearly $450 million worldwide.
Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images
When the film premiered, theatergoers fainted and vomited. It went on to inspire a series of copycat films – while fomenting a cultural panic about the demons in our midst.
Steven Spielberg was Hollywood’s wonder boy, best known for films about sharks, aliens and archeologists. Then he turned his attention to the Holocaust.
Jagna and Boryna dancing in a scene from The Peasants.
Vertigo
A silent German film from 1918 was one of cinema’s first dramatic presentations of queer love. Over a century later, and the story of love in a hostile social environment still resounds.
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Movie tickets are nearly always the same price, whether the film is a flop or a sold-out blockbuster. Why? And how much more does a trip to the movies cost than 20 years ago?
William Friedkin, far right, with his Oscar for best achievement in directing for The French Connection.
AP Photo, File
A paleobiologist on why he appreciates the franchise despite its inaccuracies.
A crowd outside a cinema in Mumbai. A recent low-budget film about a discredited anti-Muslim conspiracy has sparked national debates and unrest.
(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
A controversial low-budget Indian feature film about a discredited anti-Muslim conspiracy theory has been causing a political storm, going all the way to India’s Supreme Court.
Robert Oppenheimer (third from left front), Leslie Groves (middle), and other scientists and officers after the Trinity nuclear test in 1945.
US Army Signal Corps