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editorial
welcome to Issue 24 of our journal!
One of the most significant aspects of Australian cinema in 2002 was the spate of films concerned with Australia's race relations and colonial past. This topic provoked a diverse range of styles and thematic foci – anti-realist aesthetic, the notion of 'performance' in race relations (The Tracker); universalising history (Rabbit-Proof Fence); social-realism with a 'heart' (Australian Rules); minimalist and allegorical (Beneath Clouds). The very number of these films also suggests an audience interested and willing to reflect on, discuss, and enter into dialogue about Australia's race relations.
This issue offers an abundance of riches: from the 'light reading' of contributors' 2002 favourites to Patricia MacCormack's rigorous, highly original piece on Christopher Lee. Senses of Cinema's auteur-driven focus continues also with spotlights on Alfred Hitchcock, Fruit Chan, and Alex Cox. The continuing output of books on Hitch, to this very day, is a testament to a rich, complex and fascinating cinema. Several recent books are reviewed in this issue – most prominently the late Raymond Durgnat's A Hard Look at 'Psycho', reviewed by Ken Mogg and Charles Barr separately. Tag Gallagher's discussion highlights the genius of Hitch, in particular, the fine tension in his cinema between the expressionist and the experimental, and David Kelly, in a fine, highly informed piece, explores the dimension of the 'tragic' in Rope. From Hitch to Chan: the fact that Chan's films have not made it to local festivals (let alone theatrical release) says enough about his cinema. However, he remains an innovative artist in contemporary world cinema, and so we felt it important to profile his latest film and earlier work. A substantial section is also devoted to Alex Cox, whose overlooked Walker is emerging as an ever-important work in today's political climate.
And as the war drums beat ever louder, emanating as always from the US, cinema becomes more and more a multi-faceted 'tool': a means of consciousness-raising, as Bowling for Columbine (reviewed in this issue) illustrates in its own crass, sensationalist way; or a means of responding to world events and to delivering non-mainstream viewpoints, such as 11'09”01- September 11 (also reviewed in this issue). Within this climate and any other really, what's crucial is that networks for the distribution of art and information remain open and available; that audiences are able to make fair choices about what they read and watch.
The Great Directors section, compiled editorially by Michelle Carey and presented design-wise by Albert Fung, also includes in this issue a range of exciting entries on, among others, Jean-Luc Godard, Orson Welles, Edgar G. Ulmer and Kenneth Anger.
Special thanks for this issue go to: Michelle Carey, Ken Mogg and Ray Privett.
Fiona A. Villella
go to Contents, Issue 24
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?
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Senses of Cinema
(ISSN 1443-4059) is published approximately bi-monthly by Senses of Cinema
Inc.
Copyright 1999-2003 Senses of Cinema Inc and the contributors.
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.
All views expressed in this journal are those of the authors and not the editors (unless indicated).
Senses of Cinema Inc 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.
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