This essay is concerned with and inspired by the oscillation and interplay of bittersweetness found in Maude’s odorific machine. This scene and our two characters are from the 1971 cult classic Harold and Maude, the second film from New Hollywood director Hal Ashby. Together, the two characters belong to the larger outfit of misfits, outsiders, and rebels that populate Hal Ashby’s oeuvre.
Kill Your Godarlings
Over the Shoulder
German Expressionism was born at a tumultuous time in German history. Despite the chaotic period, it produced a distinct style. The movement rushed in new storytelling methods, themes, and stylistic techniques. The iconic films of this movement dealt with the fracturing of reality, which reflected the paradoxical nature of Germany’s identity.
Nighthawks' Lightbox
Tamako Market (Yamada, 2013) is an often-neglected show within the catalog of animation studio, Kyoto Animation, and director, Naoko Yamada’s, oeuvre. Watching the show, it is easy to ascertain that it is about love, be that in a romantic setting, a familial one, or as a general attitude towards life, but overlooked is the source of this love. Where does it come from? And what is the impetus behind it?
Over the Shoulder
By the mid-1980s, the American electorate had developed a distinct distaste for warfare. The last forty years of so-called “Pax Americana” had not been kind to those that enlisted, with each decade seeming to bring a new catastrophic war with it. The result? Nearly four hundred thousand dead since the beginning of 1942.