BFI | Sight & Sound

July 2005

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Features

Funny Peculiar

Bald, gangly and nervous-looking, Alastair Sim was one of British cinema's great eccentrics. And among its finest actors, argues Michael Brooke.

Alain Delon and Monica Vitti adorn L'eclisse, a chilly, formally daring tale of a brief relationship that is the crowning moment for Michelangelo Antonioni's brand of stringent modernism. Guido Bonsaver explains the director's appeal.

The Right Stuff

Cannes Special Reporting from a vintage Cannes festival, Nick James is cheered by a strong line-up from big-name auteurs. Plus Ali Jaafar on cinema from the Middle East, Jonathan Romney on the laughter of critics and Andrew Pulver on a very British controversy.

Cape Fear

Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins returns to the caped crusader's comic-book origins. Kim Newman identifies the influences.

H.G.Wells: The Man Who Knew Too Much

With the imminent release of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, Sylvia Hardy assesses its original author H. G. Wells' contribution to early cinema.

Less Than Zero

Olivier Assayas' Clean has a strong lead role for Maggie Cheung, his former wife, and a note-perfect evocation of the grungy fringes of contemporary rock. The director talks to Jonathan Romney.