Max Ophuls’ Lola Montès reminds Brad Stevens how, in the classical studio era, control of mise en scène and camera movement connoted a power we may now struggle to comprehend.
Trivialised as a stylish film noir frivolity, Party Girl seems to have been written as an On the Waterfront-like apologia for informing – a moral turned inside out by its director Nicholas Ray, says Brad Stevens.
Great directors used to know how to have their way with source literature. Even novels of distinction were no impediment to Vincente Minnelli, says Brad Stevens.
The critical condescension that met Oliver Dahan’s Grace of Monaco biopic shows tastemakers still struggling with ‘feminine’ cinema, says Brad Stevens.
Some books of the films ring the changes; some even wring art from their sources – as Quentin Tarantino would be the first to tell you, says Brad Stevens.