Traffic in Souls (1913)
Film review by Dan Willard. Popular and controversial, Traffic in Souls is one of the earliest U.S. feature films and the earliest U.S. feature not based on a preexisting literary or dramatic work.
Author: Dan Willard
Faithless (2000)
Film review by Dan Willard. Liv Ullman directs from a screenplay by Ingmar Bergman the story of a disastrous extramarital affair. This film deserves a place alongside Bergman’s best directorial efforts.
Case for a Rookie Hangman (1970)
Film review by Dan Willard. The second and final feature film from one of the lesser known exponents of the Czech New Wave, Pavel Juráček, is a loose adaptation of the third part of Gulliver’s Travels and an absurdist satire of Communist rule.
The Grifters (1990)
Film review by Dan Willard. Dark and disturbing was Jim Thompson’s trademark. He often wrote about grifters, losers, and psychopaths in order to express his nihilistic point of view.
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Film review by Dan Willard. One of John Ford’s most Expressionistic films, The Long Voyage Home is based on four one-act plays by Eugene O’Neill who considered it his favorite cinematic adaptation of his work.
Rojô no reikion (1921)
Film review by Dan Willard. Considered a landmark in Japanese cinema, Rojô no reikion or Souls on the Road, as it is referred to in English, is based on Maxim Gorky’s Lower Depths which was also adapted by Akira Kurosawa in his 1957 film Donzoko.
Korczak (1990)
Film review by Dan Willard. The true story of Janusz Korczak who tried to protect 200 Jewish orphans from the horrors of life in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The film had a profound influence on Steven Spielberg which is evident in SCHINDLER’S LIST.
Lady of the Camelias (1981)
Film review by Dan Willard. Supposedly the true story of Marie Duplessis, the French courtesan who inspired the novel LA DAME AUX CAMELIA, which when adapted into a play became the inspiration for Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA and numerous films.
Ostia (1970)
Film review by Dan Willard. Cowritten and produced by Pier Paolo Pasolini, OSTIA is the story of two brothers who turn on each other after a beautiful woman comes between them.
Via Margutta (1960)
Film review by Dan Willard. A slice of life type of film set in Rome where a group of artists struggle for recognition and in their love lives.
