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The Ipcress File (1965)
Director: Sidney J. Furie By Marilyn Ferdinand The Cold War that pitted Western Europe and the United States against the Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe proved fertile to the imaginations of...
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The Conformist (Il Conformista, 1970)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci By Marilyn Ferdinand The Conformist is a film that has attained legendary status. A beautiful and surprisingly assured work by preeminent director Bernardo Bertolucci and...
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
Director: Martin Ritt By Marilyn Ferdinand “What the hell do you think spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They’re not! They’re just a bunch...
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The Passenger (Professione: Reporter, 1975)
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni By Marilyn Ferdinand It’s not often that I think the English translation of a title is better than the original, but in the case of Antonioni’s haunting search for...
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Black Test Car (Kuro no tesuto kaa, 1962)
Director: Yasuzo Masumura By Marilyn Ferdinand One stop I make almost daily on my Internet travels is Cinebeats. Kimberly Lindbergs makes all things 60s and 70s fascinating and always offers gems to...
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The Good Shepherd (2006)
Director: Robert De Niro By Roderick Heath Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) seems a nondescript Washington public servant, to the extent of taking the crowded bus to work. Yet he is a CIA boss who finds his...
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The Mysterious Lady (1928)
Director: Fred Niblo By Marilyn Ferdinand In 1928, the silent film era was nearing its end, Greta Garbo was at the height of her popularity, and her frequent director, Fred Niblo, was four years from...
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Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File (Bunt. Delo Litvinenko/Rebellion:...
Director: Andrei Nekrasov By Marilyn Ferdinand In 2006, the world was shocked when a former member of the KGB and its successor after the fall of Communism—the FSB—named Alexander “Sasha “Litvinenko...
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Famous Firsts: Dr. No (1962)
Focusing on the debut feature work of famous, and infamous, figures of film Director: Terence Young Debut film of: James Bond, character By Roderick Heath Dr. No was more than just the first entry in a...
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Breach (2007)
Director/Coscreenwriter: Billy Ray By Marilyn Ferdinand Billy Ray’s third feature, State of Play, opens widely today, so, naturally, I’m reviewing his second feature. (We at Ferdy on Films are nothing...
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The Prisoner (TV, 1967-1968)
Directors: Don Chaffey, Pat Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Peter Graham Scott, David Tomblin By Roderick Heath The Prisoner, an epochal surrealist-satiric thriller series, feels as much a commentary on the...
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CIFF 2010: The Last Report on Anna (Utolsó jelentés Annáról, 2009)
Director/Coscreenwriter: Márta Mészáros 2010 Chicago International Film Festival By Marilyn Ferdinand The fall of the Berlin Wall opened not only borders and opportunities to the Soviet bloc countries...
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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (TV, 1979)/Smiley’s People (TV, 1982)
Directors: John Irvin/Simon Langton By Roderick Heath The Cold War seems to be coming back into fashion as a storytelling subject. Twenty years after it ended, and following the fragmentary anxieties...
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Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)
Director: Lewis Gilbert By Marilyn Ferdinand On the eve of the 2011 American Independence Day celebrations, I shake my head in disgust at the infighting and class warfare that has paralyzed our state...
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CIFF 2012: The Exam (A Viszga, 2011)
Director: Péter Bergendy 2012 Chicago International Film Festival By Marilyn Ferdinand Do the words “homeland security” make you feel protected? Do they make your skin crawl? Do you look around you in...
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A Most Wanted Man (2014)
Director: Anton Corbijn By Marilyn Ferdinand The entertainment world and fans of thoughtful, fine acting mourned mightily this past February when actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose...
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The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Director: John Frankenheimer By Roderick Heath Almost since the day it was released, The Manchurian Candidate has known an aura of perceptiveness bordering on the prophetic. This quality extends from...
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Live and Let Die (1973) / The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) / For Your Eyes Only...
Directors: Guy Hamilton, Lewis Gilbert, John Glen By Roderick Heath Roger Moore’s death at the age of 89 last week was a sad moment in spite of what was obviously a well-lived life reaching a natural...
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Our Time Will Come (Míng Yuè Jǐ Shí Yǒu, 明月幾時有, 2017)
Director: Ann Hui By Marilyn Ferdinand At a time when the outlook for women working in Hollywood appears just as bleak as ever, it’s wonderful to note that directors like Ann Hui are still working at...
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