Film criticism

Cinema

A close reading begins with something small. A hand in front of a lens. A tune carried from one room into another.

Close readings

In Jane Campion’s The Piano, the audience looks through Ada’s hands before anyone asks what she has to say.

In Claudia Llosa’s The Milk of Sorrow, a melody travels from a worker’s voice to a concert piano. Its author makes a different journey.

Original journal illustrations accompany these film readings.

Viewing practice

Keep a record of a single shot, then watch how a cut changes your first account of it.