First Films – Michigan Quarterly Review

First Films

First Films: Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda”

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* Eric McDowell *

More so than any of the other films I have considered over the course of this series, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda (2012) is a film of firsts: not only is it Al-Mansour’s feature debut, but it’s also the first feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first feature directed by a female Saudi filmmaker, and Saudi Arabia’s first submission to the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category.

First Films: Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” Read More »

* Eric McDowell *

More so than any of the other films I have considered over the course of this series, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda (2012) is a film of firsts: not only is it Al-Mansour’s feature debut, but it’s also the first feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first feature directed by a female Saudi filmmaker, and Saudi Arabia’s first submission to the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category.

First Films: Jane Campion’s “Sweetie”

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* Eric McDowell *

Sweetie is a film about sisters and—like just about all, I think, of Campion’s films—it easily passes the Bechdel Test. But it’s also a film about romance and heterosexual love—a woman’s fated relationship with an “important” man.

First Films: Jane Campion’s “Sweetie” Read More »

* Eric McDowell *

Sweetie is a film about sisters and—like just about all, I think, of Campion’s films—it easily passes the Bechdel Test. But it’s also a film about romance and heterosexual love—a woman’s fated relationship with an “important” man.

First Films: P.T. Anderson’s “Hard Eight”

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* Eric McDowell *

In fact it makes more sense I think to speak of P.T. Anderson’s worlds, in the plural—a variety not only of specific places and times but also of narrative, formal, and stylistic choices and strategies.

First Films: P.T. Anderson’s “Hard Eight” Read More »

* Eric McDowell *

In fact it makes more sense I think to speak of P.T. Anderson’s worlds, in the plural—a variety not only of specific places and times but also of narrative, formal, and stylistic choices and strategies.

Bottle Rocket still

First Films: Wes Anderson’s “Bottle Rocket”

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* Eric McDowell *

In that same spirit, I would like to put The Grand Budapest Hotel aside and travel back to 1996, the year of Anderson’s feature film debut, Bottle Rocket.

First Films: Wes Anderson’s “Bottle Rocket” Read More »

* Eric McDowell *

In that same spirit, I would like to put The Grand Budapest Hotel aside and travel back to 1996, the year of Anderson’s feature film debut, Bottle Rocket.

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