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editorial welcome to Issue 14 of our journal! "For me, making films and not making films are not two different ways of life. Filming should be a part of living, something normal and natural. Making films hasn't changed my life very much, because I made them before by writing criticism, and if I had to return to criticism, it would be a way of going on making films" -JLG (p.64 of Cahiers du Cinéma – 1960-1968)

The House of Mirth

The act of writing with the cinema, and by extension thinking with the cinema, is one that belongs famously to cinema’s revolutionary, Jean-Luc Godard. Godard’s willingness to incorporate filmmaking and film criticism as "something normal and natural", as simply another aspect of living and being, is truly inspiring and noble. It in fact points to the ultimate concept of an artist: a direct relation between thinking and being, a value-system that infuses every level of one’s life from the tiniest detail to the grandest gesture. Godard once wrote that Nicholas Ray was a ‘man of the cinema’, one who could not possibly perform any other profession besides that of a filmmaker. This statement could just as easily apply to Godard himself. A major conference, Forever Godard, is to be held in London this month and Senses of Cinema marks this event with two special parts devoted to Godard. The first part, in this issue, includes an excellent essay by Fergus Daly on the philosophy and aesthetic of Godard’s dismissed recent work Forever Mozart and equally fascinating essays by David Sterritt and John Conomos. The second part will appear in the next issue. It seems there is still plenty of thinking and writing to do when it comes to the cinema of Jean-Luc Godard. This issue also celebrates Australia’s own "artisan" filmmaker, Bill Mousoulis. A career spanning almost two decades and one that has included not only filmmaking but also programming and writing, Mousoulis’ latest film Desire is a ‘filmmaker’s film’ and by that I mean that it continues in a strong and visionary way the cinephile/cineaste spirit derived from Godard. And he is one of Australia’s very few in this regard. The spate of recent Australian films is a mixed bunch: Moulin Rouge, which has elicited diverging critical responses, sits alongside smaller yet well realised and well crafted films like Mullet and Sensitive New Age Killer. John Flaus’ essay on the former is as carefully modulated and rewarding as the film itself, arriving at an understanding and appreciation of the film with a subtlety and nuance rare in film criticism today. From features to shorts: the 18th St. Kilda Film Festival, held recently in Melbourne, also profiles a healthy and high level of short film activity in this country. The large program is reported on from different angles by various writers in this issue. If Senses of Cinema capitalises on the Internet’s utopian possibilities, then this is given thematic substance in this issue under the section "Planet Cinema" – a collection of essays that cross borders and limits in their concepts and ideas and that trace such a cinema of ‘villages’. In keeping tabs on ‘global cinema’, this issue also contains a good deal of international festival reports. Now, for the credits. A very big thankyou goes to all the writers who made the issue what it is. But also, and equally, thanks must go to this issue's co-editor and Senses of Cinema's Godfather, Adrian Martin, and to the indispensable editorial assistants: Mairead Phillips and Grant McDonald. This issue also marks the departure of Bill Mousoulis as Senses of Cinema's webmaster and the arrival of Chris Howard. Finally, this issue is dedicated to Bill Mousoulis. Fiona A. Villella                    go to Contents, Issue 14 our mission Senses of Cinema is an online film journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema. It has been set up to address a lack of cinephilic writing in local discourse, that is, writing sprung from the desire to think and write seriously, knowledgeably and passionately about film. Senses of Cinema is unique in its eclecticism: it encourages articles of all styles (casual, personal, academic, critical, impressionistic and poetic - or a combination of these), analytical approaches (thematic, psychoanalytic, etc) and subject matter. The only criteria that we prescribe are that all articles are demonstrably passionate, serious, intelligent and insightful reflections and/or analyses on the topic of cinema. Senses of Cinema promotes various divergent "voices" that speak to a wide and diverse audience. It aims to bring together a mix of writers:  established and emerging, theorists and un-published cinephiles, filmmakers and film programmers, and local and international writers. We are particularly committed to discussing art, independent, experimental and third world cinemas (everything from Renoir to Antonioni to Solàs to Oshima to Morrissey to Jost to Friedrich to Snow, feature films as well as short films) , theorising new encounters with digital technologies, and promoting writing that increases one’s understanding and appreciation of cinema. We recognise that an object as ephemeral and ethereal as cinema continues to fascinate, to provoke, to inspire, to turn on, to evolve. And it is in relation to this object that we seek to facilitate and encourage expression and appreciation. Want to contribute to this journal? Click on the words above to read our guidelines for writers. about us Editor / Managing Director - Fiona A. Villella, 27, studied film at Melbourne University and has since gone on to write for many publications, including Metro, Real Time, IF and C'TEQ annotations.  She is also an independent filmmaker, has worked around the film scene, and lived and worked in NYC for 6 months.  She is also co-curator of the Melbourne Filmoteca and a board member of the Melbourne Cinémathèque.  Her favourite directors are Martin Scorsese, Robert Bresson, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, Spike Lee, Claire Denis and Julie Dash. You can email Fiona. Webmaster - Chris Howard, 29, studied film at La Trobe University and is again this year involved with the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, for which he is hellbent on having ready in time a video clip for his band ilk, who can regularly be found playing and staging unlikely events around Melbourne.  Favourite directors include Dario Argento, Luis Buñuel, Shinya Tsukamoto, Buster Keaton, Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Jan Svankmajer, Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski and Andrei Tarkovsky. And Kubrick, Bergman, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Gilliam, Bava, Almodóvar etc… You can email Chris. Co-editor / Editorial Godfather - Adrian Martin, 41, is one of Australia's foremost film critics. He is the the author of the books Phantasms (McPhee Gribble, 1994) and Once Upon a Time in America (BFI, 1998). His reviews of new releases can be read in The Age (Melbourne). He is currently working on books on Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma and the Mad Max series. Founding Editor / Top Tens compiler - Bill Mousoulis, 38, is an independent filmmaker with over 60 films to his name, including four low-budget features.  He was involved with the formation of the Melbourne Super 8 Film Group in 1985, and was its administrator for six years.  He founded Senses of Cinema in late 1999 and was its webmaster until May 2001.   His favourite directors are Roberto Rossellini, Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Frank Borzage and Chantal Akerman.  Check out his website, Innersense. You can email Bill. Assistant to the Editor - Grant McDonald, 36, studies film at the University of Melbourne. He orignally studied in the Italian Department and has a special love for Italian cinema. Two of his favourite directors are Brian De Palma and Pedro Almodóvar You can email Grant. Senses of Cinema (ISSN 1443-4059) is published approximately bi-monthly by Senses of Cinema Inc., with the financial assistance of the Australian Film Commission. Copyright lies with the individual authors. All views expressed in this journal are those of the authors and not the editors (unless indicated). As under the Copyright Act 1968 (Australia), no part of this journal may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of the editors except for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review.  These works may be read online, downloaded and copied for the above purposes but must not be copied for any other individuals or organisations. The work itself must not be published in either print or electronic form, be edited or otherwise altered or used as a teaching resource without the express permission of the author. Senses of Cinema Inc. - 2 Furzer Street, West Preston, Victoria, 3072, Australia. Senses of Cinema is indexed in the MLA (Modern Language Association of America) International Bibliography and is listed in the MLA Directory of Periodicals. All Australian content in Senses of Cinema is indexed in APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) of the National Library of Australia. Senses of Cinema acknowledges the financial assistance of the Australian Film Commission

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