drama | The Last Movie Guy

Hands Over the City: The Power of Corruption

Few films achieve the narrative force that Francesco Rosi accomplishes in Hands Over the City (1963). In Venice, it would win the Golden Lion, and in Italian cinema, it would mark a turning point within the Neorealism movement. The film maintains the essence of Neorealism with its settings in real locations and its commitment to social reality, but it opens a new avenue with a more political, analytical discourse, committed to denouncing power structures. This would become Rosi’s trademark.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig: A Bold Act of Political Cinema

Posted on May 27 by Hugo Pagan Soto

In September 2022, the young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died while in the custody of the morality police in Tehran. Amini was visiting the city with her family and was arrested for allegedly not wearing the hijab correctly. The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) by Mohammad Rasoulof weaves a fictional story rooted in the death of Mahsa Amini and the protests that erupted across Iran, which led to further violence and fatalities.

Anora: A Cinematic Journey Through Emotion and Resilience

Posted on December 31 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Anora is the latest example of how director Sean Baker creates protagonists drawn from the most neglected and marginalized characters in our society. The strength of his characters stems from this fractured world, the hostile environment, and the inevitable hardships that accompany the individuals he portrays on screen. Now it’s the turn of Ani (Mikey Madison), a sex worker who crosses paths with the son of a Russian oligarch, and her world changes unexpectedly overnight.

Exploring the Profound Depths of Au Hasard Balthazar

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Legend has it that the inspiration came from The Idiot. But not just any idiot but the one that Dostoevsky gave birth to. Bresson found his muse reviewing the pages of the classic novel and especially that moment in which Prince Myshkin reflects on the braying of a donkey lying on the ground. From there was born what is today considered one of the masterpieces of cinema, Au Hasard Balthazar. For Robert Bresson, this would be his seventh feature film, as if fate had wanted to wink at the perfection of seven. Movies like A Man Escaped (1956) and Pickpocket (1959) had already put his name in the spotlight.

Bunny Lake is Missing: Exploring the Intrigue and Suspense of Otto Preminger’s Classic Film

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Otto Preminger was a craftsman of cinema. His absolute control of the details and the impeccable staging always accompanied him. Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) has, in effect, that trademark that made Preminger a master of the seventh art. Whether from the stand with his Anatomy of Murder (1959) or immersed in the dark world of addictions in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Preminger was always poignant when it came to telling his stories. Common stories that mutated until they became unusual chronicles.