Love, Murder, and Nazis: Peter O’Toole Steals The Night of the Generals

A man in an olive green Nazi uniform stands upright in a military vehicle, wearing a pair of binoculars around his neck. To his right, there is a man in a small bucket hat. Behind them, there are several fires raging.

|Penny Folger| Night of the Generals is a World War II film most people in this day and age have never heard of. It’s a joint production between the UK, France, and the United States. The story is unique in that it’s told from the German perspective, without demonizing them exactly: instead it… Continue reading

The Conformist: Finding Purpose in a Fascist State

In the bottom left corner, a man in a suit carries a bouquet of yellow flowers. He is walking past a large brick wall with words in Latin carved on it.

|Eli Holm| Suspended in anticipation, a man named Clerici sits awaiting his cue, a pawn of a larger game, too terrified to sleep, waiting to strike. He’s in a blank slate of ruin, without discernible emotion, putting on his mask of high-class clothing, tucking his gun, braving the winter air, ready.. Continue reading

Animula Vagula Blandula: (Un)Masking Clerici in The Conformist

Clerici emerges from behind a wall of grey curtains.

|Chris Ryba-Tures| “To wear a mask is to literally put on a second face, a second identity—a theatrical identity removed from the everyday world.” –Lesley K. Ferris, Masks: Faces of Culture. Little soul, little wanderer, peeking out / from my body’s cover, host and lodger / which now change… Continue reading

The Ruling Class: Arrogance in Aristocracy

Two men walk through a botanical garden. The one on the left is dressed in black, while the one on the right is wearing a white suit.

|Yuval Klein| The Ruling Class portrays England as a shallow, decadent, and incorrigible institution hiding behind the facade of modernization. Oscillating between a traditional narrative and a musical, the theatrical film satirizes British aristocracy and Christianity in… Continue reading

O Christmas Scheme, O Christmas Scheme

Eleanor (right) looks at her husband, King Henry (left). She is wearing a white scarf up to her ears.

|Liz Robau| King Henry is married to Queen Eleanor, with whom he had Richard, Geoffrey, and Johnny.
Richard, Geoffrey, or Johnny might soon be wed to Alais. Alais is the elder half-sister of French King Philip. King Philip is the son of dead King Louis. King Louis was married some… Continue reading

The Lion in Winter: Who Deserves to Be King?

Eleanor (standing second from the left) is surrounded by her three sons (one on the left of her, two to the right). They are standing inside a dusty castle corridor.

|Matthew Lambert| From the first moment we see King Henry, he’s dueling his youngest son, John, trying to toughen up the boy he wishes to become his successor one day. “Come at me,” the brash king shouts shortly before being upended. But he doesn’t stay down long… Continue reading