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The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

  In medias res: Loud, booming, clanging in an industrial factory.  Bottles and other loose articles shake and nearly crash to the floor with each successive pounding, rattle of the building.  A figure falls to a low crouch holding a drawn pistol while glancing about like a cornered animal.  Two calm men enter the room and...

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Filmlog: Liliom

  Frank Borzage may well be the best film director born in the United States, and I haven’t forgotten John Ford, who was also a master.  Borzage, the son of Italian-Swiss immigrants, achieved much in his films that can only be understood as Catholic art, which is why his movies are now mostly unwatched or,...

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Filmlog: Liliom

Frank Borzage may well be the best film director born in the United States, and I haven’t forgotten John Ford, who was also a master.  Borzage, the son of Italian-Swiss immigrants, achieved much in his films that can only be understood as Catholic art, which is why his movies are ...

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Faust

German movies of the 1920's receive a remarkably poor press in conservative circles.  Some critics regard them as little more than obvious reflections of Weimar decadence, as some of the lesser films doubtless are.  Sometimes even the ubiquitous use of expressionist technique is presented as definitive proof that the mental ...