BFI | Sight & Sound

July 2007

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Features

Ken Russell: Sweet Swell Of Excess

The wild exuberance, surreal imagination and sheer vulgarity of Ken Russell's films of the 1970s and 1980s have earned him a place as patron saint of British extreme, argues Linda Ruth Williams. She talks to the director about the melody of image-making and his ongoing digital record of a cycle of seasons PLUS David Thompson remembers Russell's invention of the BBC television arts documentary

Beyond the Horizon

To celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday, Viennese arts festival New Crowned Hope commissioned six films from Asia, Africa and South America that reflect the spirit of his music. Mark Cousins applauds their ambition PLUS James Bell talks to Dry Season director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and Geoffrey Macnab explains why funding cinema from developing nations has become a badge of honour for European festivals

Cannes 2007: Tout va Bien

Cannes celebrated its 60th edition with a programme of films from such big-name directors as Wong Kar-Wai, Harmony Korine, Gus Van Sant, Aleksandr Sokurov, Catherine Breillat and Michael Winterbottom that promised entertainment to rival the partying. It was a year to admire actresses and to cheer the death of national cinema, says Nick James PLUS Jonathan Romney surrenders to the seductions of Carlos Reygadas' Silent Light; Geoff Andrew talks to Béla Tarr about The Man from London; and jury president Stephen Frears offers an insider's insights

Cannes 2007: Blood Money: The Coen Brothers

The maverick Americans have proved the perfect choice to translate the harsh landscapes and laconic characters of Cormac McCarthy's elegiac borderland thriller No Country for Old Men into stunning cinema. By Nick James

An American in Paris

Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, was demonised by his European counterparts as the embodiment of US cultural imperialism. But was it justified, asks Bertrand Moullier