In this video, Bruce Isaacs looks at Rome, Open City. Made in 1945, it was Roberto Rossellini’s neorealist response to the end of German occupation, and Italy’s history of Fascism under Benito Mussolini.
Back to the Future is one of the most loved films from the 1980s, and galvanised audiences across every demographic. In this episode of Close-Up, Bruce Isaacs looks at the politics underpinning the film.
When it was released in 1999, The Matrix introduced a new type of image: bullet-time. Bruce Isaacs explains why it has become one of the most influential special effects in the history of cinema.
Bruce Isaacs dissects a scene from Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream. In this video, Isaacs looks at the director’s unique use of camera technique to create a deeply subjective and intimate sequence.
While Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette may not be faithful to historical events, the film is a rhythmic, impressionistic and comical retelling of the young queen’s life by a sophisticated filmmaker.
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey broke all the rules of science fiction cinema, and allowed the audience to experience a uniquely philosophical film about the evolution of human consciousness.
In this episode of Close-up, Bruce Isaacs contrasts the unsettling musical score from Hitchcock’s Psycho with Howard Shore’s score for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.
The 1975 film Jaws launched the career of a young Steven Spielberg. In this scene, the town’s police chief Martin Brody witnesses the shark’s brutal attack for the first time - taking the viewer along for the ride.
Bruce Isaacs analyses the deceptively complex closing scene of Charlie Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), starring Jim Carey and Kate Winslet.
Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Passenger (1975), starring Jack Nicholson, explored time and memory. We look at a single scene, featuring one of the most influential camera moves of ‘70s cinema.
What makes a film a classic? In a new monthly column, film scholar Bruce Isaacs analyses a single sequence from a great film. Here, we look at a scene from Vertigo.