May/June 2004

THE BIG RED ONE
Combat veteran Samuel Fuller's epic meditation on the crazy logic of war returns in something close to the form he originally intended.
KENT JONES
Plus, an inside look at the restoration process.
RICHARD SCHICKEL

SPECIAL SECTION: MAURICE PIALAT
The most important French filmmaker of the last 30 years remains almost unknown in America. A year after his death, we take the measure of this uncompromising and tough-minded observer of human foibles, for whom movie artifice was anathema. A film-by-film journey from his early shorts through such milestones as We Won't Grow Old Together, À nos amours, and Van Gogh.
Contributors: FRÉDÉRIC BONNAUD, JEAN-MICHEL FRODON, JEAN-PIERRE GORIN (extended version, online only) , MOLLY HASKELL, KENT JONES, SERGE KAGANSKI, DAVE KEHR, ELISABETH LEQUERET, PHILLIP LOPATE, JEAN-BAPTISTE MORAIN, and DAVID THOMPSON.
Plus, Pialat interviewed by CHRISTIAN FEVRET AND SERGE KAGANSKI.

THE CORPORATION
Bashing big business is more fashionable than ever in nonfiction film. Super Size Me and The Corporation offer two contrasting models for this growth industry.
ALISSA QUART

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
One of Hollywood's biggest stars has pulled off an unprecedented feat: his radically opportunistic film is also the top-grossing indie of all time. A closer look at the aesthetic imperatives behind Mel Gibson's Messiah movie.
GEOFFREY O'BRIEN
Plus ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: OLAF MÖLLER on Paolo Benvenuti's The Kiss of Judas (Il bacio di Giuda), another view of Christ's final hours.

MIKE HODGES
With I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, the director and the star of Croupier reunite for a lethally fragmented revenge drama, set in a netherworld where nothing is what it seems and every step brings you closer to your ultimate destiny.
GARY INDIANA

PETER WATKINS
With his critiques of militarism and mass media, and his explorations of the creative psyche, this controversial Englishman in exile and pioneer of documentary hybrids has challenged the political and cinematic status quo every step of the way.
PAUL ARTHUR

MOVIE OF THE MOMENT
Richard Linklater reunites Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for another brief encounter in this miraculous real-life sequel to Before Sunrise.
OLAF MÖLLER

ROME JOURNAL
A business tycoon cum prime minister continues to stifle the creativity of an entire country. Giovanni Spagnoletti surveys the scene.

OLAF'S WORLD: CIPRÌ AND MARESCO
The generally offensive and defiantly posthumanist oeuvre of Siciliy's renegade filmmaking double act.

DISCOVERY: EDGAR WRIGHT
Gross-out horror meets slacker comedy British-style in Shaun of the Dead, a cult sitcom director's movie debut.

FESTIVALS
The latest discoveries from Berlin and New Directors/New Films.
OLAF MÖLLER (extended version, online only), ALICE LOVEJOY, and ELIZABETH HELFGOTT

DEPARTMENTS:
REVIEW: Free Radicals, The Five Obstructions, and The Mother
BOOKS: Future Cinema and Ingrid Caven
VIDI VIDI VIDI: The latest DVD releases: Love Actually, The Rainbow Man/John 3:16, SCTV Network/90 Vol. 1, and more.