"I'm sure the irony is not lost on our readers that this new issue of the journal, substantially devoted to two filmmakers, Eric Rohmer and Solrun Hoaas, who both passed away in recent months, coincides with the Easter period of resurrection," writes editor Rolando Caputo, introducing Senses of Cinema #54. "Purely coincidental, of course, but the symbolism is inescapable, if strictly unintentional. And yet, filmmakers do live on in their works and to devote critical attention to such works evokes a form eternal return."
The commemorative tribute to Rohmer is an outstanding collection of over a dozen pieces, many addressing specific films, others addressing aspects of the life and work, plus an introduction, yet another collection of "Short Take Tributes," and an interview that originally appeared in Cahiers du cinéma in 1970 ("Cahiers talks politics, Rohmer talks aesthetics"). "The deaths of Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni, within days of one another in 2007 was not only the occasion for mourning these individuals, but also the symbolic death of the kind of late 50s and 60s European modernist cinema they embodied," write Caputo and Michelle Carey. "Rohmer's death did not carry any symbolic supplement; what was mourned was the singular individual and his films."
Along with the dossier on Solrun Hoaas ("writer, director, producer and, more recently, a visual artist," notes Lisa French, introducing her 1994 interview), the new issue features eight festival reports, six book reviews, another round of "Cinémathèque Annotations" and three more feature articles.
"Joachim Gatti (2009), a video by Jean-Marie Straub, is available for viewing online at the beautiful Revue Leucothéa," notes Andy Rector, who provides a translation of the video's text. It is a gorgeous journal — and it is in French.
Speaking of film magazines in other languages, I've mentioned via Twitter but don't think I've noted here yet that Cargo #5 is out. One of Germany's very best.
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