Michael Brooke is a freelance writer specialising in British and central/eastern European cinema. A regular contributor to Sight & Sound magazine, he spent nearly a decade at the BFI (2002-11), where he helped create BFI Screenonline and BFI InView, produced the BFI’s internationally acclaimed DVD compilations of short films by the Quay Brothers and Jan Švankmajer and co-produced the Blu-ray edition of Švankmajer’s Alice. He has written numerous booklet essays for BFI DVD Publishing, Second Run and Arrow Academy, and chapters for the books Polish Cinema Now! (2010), Shadows of Progress (2010), 39 Steps to the Genius of Hitchcock (2012) and Trzynasty miesiąc. Kino Braci Quay (2010). A native Londoner, he now lives in Worthing with his family and chickens.
Articles by Michael Brooke
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Max von Sydow obituary: Swedish star whose filmography sets him among the immortals
The actor who came to prominence dicing with Death himself in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal had a phenomenally prolific career both in his native Sweden and abroad, energising both arthouse and blockbuster cinema with his inimitable presence, writes Michael Brooke.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
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Terry Jones obituary: the world’s funniest medieval historian
Funny man, TV writer, film director, historian, comedian, children’s author, anti-war campaigner, jester, poet, opera writer, clown… the legendary Monty Python star and director was, in the words of his friend and colleague Michael Palin, “the complete Renaissance comedian”, writes Michael Brooke.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
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Lakes of courage: In praise of Ken Russell’s music films
The Devils director Ken Russell was not one for stuffy biopics or timid musicals. His many music movies are some of the most outrageous and inventive films of their era, with results that still drop jaws.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
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The Ear is listening: Karel Kachyna and the resurrection of a banned classic
Suppressed as soon as production finished, Karel Kachyna’s The Ear resurfaces this week in a glorious 4K restoration. We take a closer look at one of the key films of the Czech New Wave.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
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Before Tarkovsky: the little-known original version of Solaris
How does an early TV version of Stanisław Lem’s novel Solaris – among a series of Lem adaptations screening at this year’s Kinoteka Polish Film Festival – compare with Andrei Tarkovsky’s philosophical sci-fi classic?
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
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Where to begin with British smut
Your next obsession: the disreputable history of the British sex comedy
Friday, November 2, 2018
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Robby Müller obituary: a king of the quizzical image
A hugely talented and determinedly leftfield cinematographer who helped both Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch find their trans-Atlantic signatures, roving Dutch DP Robby Müller also made his mark with directors from William Friedkin and Peter Bogdanovich to Andrzej Wajda, Sally Potter and Lars von Trier, writes Michael Brooke.
Monday, July 9, 2018
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From the Magazine
Film of the week: That Summer, a palimpsest of Grey Gardens memories
Revisiting an unfinished, unseen documentary project about the eccentric East Hampton residents the Beales – which formed the basis of the 1975 cult film Grey Gardens – Göran Olsson creates a new, richly textured standalone work, says Michael Brooke.
Monday, June 4, 2018
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Milos Forman obituary: the bohemian who conquered Hollywood
The Oscar-fêted director of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus forged his voice as one of the authorities’ least favourite movers of the Czech New Wave, writes Michael Brooke.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
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From the Magazine
Károly Makk obituary: Hungarian director of subtle, incisive films
Distinguished filmmaker who created memorable stories about life under a totalitarian regime, which were shown around the world, writes Michael Brooke.
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
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Reviews, interviews and features from the international film magazine.
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