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| | | Nosferatu at 100: a silent horror masterwork that continues to chill | | by Jesse Hassenger Oct 31, 2022 | | FW Murnau’s eerie chiller might have been seen as a legally problematic Dracula rip-off at the time, but has endured since It feels right, the knowledge that Nosferatu has been around for a full century. A few years after its 1922 release, the odds were not in its favor: in 1924, the studio behind FW Murnau’s silent horror film agreed to destroy all copies of the film, as part of a copyright infringement case pursued by Florence Balcombe, the widow of the Dracula author Bram Stoker. Nosferatu is not technically an adaptation of Dracula, in the sense that it was produced without the permission of Stoker’s estate and changed the names of all major characters, as well as the setting and some of the story. But it is more than close enough to inspire legal action (and supposedly the original German intertitles even acknowledged the book), which is why it was essentially sentenced to death following its original run. Befitting the subject of vampirism (if not the specific brand of vampirism practiced therein), the movie not only came back to life, but spread, in both its influence and the sheer number of versions, some lovingly restored and some simply bastardized, that have circulated over the years – including during the streaming age. For the curious, plenty of services, including a number of free ones like Tubi, carry a version of Nosferatu, though your best bet is probably the one streaming on the Criterion Channel. It features the correct color-tinting, intertitles, and running time (some versions are sped up), and generally looks terrific for a 100-year-old movie whose studio attempted to destroy all copies. Continue reading... | | | | | Return to Dust review – wandering souls find poetic love in dirt-poor rural China | | by Phương Lê Oct 31, 2022 | | Li Ruijun’s film, set in his home province of Gansu, brings together two outcast farm workers who have been shunted off their land Set in his home province of Gansu, Li Ruijun’s golden-hued film is a heartbreaking tale of love and resilience in the face of societal indifference and change. With a cast largely made up of the director’s relatives as well as villagers from the landlocked province, this deeply personal work on the plight of rural farmers has a striking feel of authenticity and poetry. Against the brutal reality of manual labour, the unlikely romance that develops between Ma (Wu Renlin) and Guiying (Hai Qing), two middle-aged outcasts herded into an arranged marriage by their apathetic siblings, is at once tender and fragile. Echoing a quote from the film, their existence is like the brittle wheat that gets listlessly blown in the wind. As a means to eradicate poverty, the government seeks to bulldoze rural China’s rudimentary homes; forced to relocate by their relatives who are after the monetary compensation, the pair become wandering souls whose only comfort is their burgeoning companionship. Continue reading... | | | | | When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm – review | | by Tim Adams Oct 31, 2022 | | New York Times reporters Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe’s devastating investigation into the consulting firm uncovers a story of secrecy, delusion and untold harm Two hundred thousand of the world’s brightest graduates apply for jobs at McKinsey & Company every year. Each of them, perhaps, does so in the belief that not only will a successful application guarantee a shed-load of cash – those with MBAs might earn $195,000 in their first year – it will also allow them to create, as the PowerPoint slides declare, “change that matters”. The world’s original and most successful management consultancy has, for a century, wanted to sell itself to clients and employees as a “values-driven organisation”. This detailed account of the firm’s activities – the result of a five-year investigation by two senior New York Times reporters – provides an often devastating insiders’ story of the ways in which McKinsey fails in that mission. Continue reading... | | | | | |
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