CineNiche

Tony Williams describes the undercurrent in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist by writing, “In an era of recession, oil embargoes, the debilitating effects of Vietnam, and crisis of confidence in presidential leadership, cinema provides an ideological answer by invoking a traditional enemy - Satan (107).” Everything terrible that occurs in our lives, by Christian standards is the work of the devil. It is never the work of humankind, we could never be that horrible, it must be the devil working through us. Human’s represent a duality between good and evil, if we can recognize something to be good or an action that we have to be right than we must have known wrong or evil within our lives. We are light and dark, we are the shadow and the ego, we are the id and the superego, we are heaven and hell, yet we cannot admit to this. The Exorcist can be interpreted as a lashing out on the family structure. Ragan played by Linda Blair has no father and an actress mother who is sleeping w...

"Peace is stronger than love" Carlos Reygadas creates a haunting meditation in his brilliantly nuanced Silent Light . This is not a film for the easily distracted, its transcendence is gradual yet from the beginning you know it is one that requires contemplation. You have to be in the right state of mind to gain pleasure from its artistry. It is slow moving and isn't conceived from a lot of action. The plot itself is easy to describe: A husband has fallen in love with another woman and as a result has placed himself in an existential crisis of what to do next. The opening to Silent Light is a fantastic six minute transition from night to dawn through the use of slow - nearly invisible - dissolves, and it provides us the opportunity to learn how to watch the film by setting the tone perfectly. This contemplative pace continues to the end where day slowly gives way to night. Bookended by these transitions is a story of family, love, adultery, faith, a...