390. Cléo from 5 to 7
In Agnes Varda’s classic, Corrine Marchand plays one woman; happy Cléo and anxious Florence, walking about Paris in real time awaiting her medical results.
Tag Archives: Sidney Lumet
378. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or for his unflinching drama about a single day in the lives of two young women.
283. Dog Day Afternoon
With Frank Pierson’s Oscar-winning script, Sidney Lumet’s thriller is a masterclass in breaking the basic rules of screenwriting.
275. Deliverance
When we think of American cinema in the seventies, all too often we all too quickly think of the great directors. But what of the cinematograph-auteurs?
222. The Night Of
In adapting Peter Moffat’s original BBC series, Criminal Justice how did Steven Zaillian and Richard Price turn it from a legal thriller into a social drama?
204. The Most Influential Films Ever Made – Part Two
The films that really changed the course of cinema are often ones few people have seen.
197. Reel Space/Time – Part One
In his Poetics, Aristotle wrote that drama needs a unity of space, time and action. How does cinema deal with such restrictions?
154. The Verdict
Sidney Lumet hadn’t read Barry Reed’s novel when he brought it to the screen. Instead, he let David Mamet’s masterful screenplay be his guide.
147. The Case for the Courtroom Drama
Of all the genres, the courtroom is perhaps the one most beset by clichés. So is there any evidence for a few masterpieces?
138. Network
When Paddy Chayefsky set out to write Network, his aim was to satirise the medium that had given him his start. What he gave cinema was a tragic opera.
112. Dazed and Confused
Belonging to a tradition that dates back to Rebel Without a Cause, Richard Linklater’s early masterpiece also owes some debt of gratitude to Robert Altman.
85. The Untouchables
The studios didn’t like the script and no one wanted to play the heroic Treasury Agent, Eliot Ness. So how did The Untouchables turn out to be such a success?
30. In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night was one of the landmark films of late 60s’ Hollywood, confronting head on the bigotry of the Deep South.
16. Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Tarantino exploded onto the screen 20 years ago and in the time since, he has had but one crucial collaborator; his editor Sally Menke.
2. Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet left behind a body of work comparable to the likes of Scorsese, Coppola and Altman. So why wasn’t he given them same recognition?
