Innocence (Lucile Hadzihalilovic. 2004)

This is a current favourite of mine. By turns Beguiling, sinister and implausibly beautiful, the world of this film hovers somewhere between a dark fairytale and an allegory of the pubescent rite of passage. It's a romantic paean to childhood and, of course, innocence. Yet, its Gothic overtones also suggest the cruelty of the passage into the adult world and, perhaps, say something about the modern female condition. It's a puzzle; I've seen it three or four times now and find new things each time.

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson. 2008)

This is being touted as the Citizen Kane of our era. I don't disagree; it's certainly epic in its scope and length and D D-L gives a really magnificent, brutal performance (he deserved that Oscar the other night - well done that Daniel). I think it might be a film that can only be understood fully after multiple viewings. It's obviously about many things: oil, religion, greed, alienation (one could go on). However, the most interesting aspect of the film, to me, was the way in which the characters performed their identities to one another. No one can tell the difference between faking it and being real in this film- your identity is what you sell yourself as. Pretty existential and Johnny Greenwood's pulsating score is fab!

Grey Gardens (Maysles Brothers. 1975)

I don't think this film is exploitative (although many critics seem to think it is - apparently the cameraman has his nose up Young Edie's arse at some point...I think it was just an unfortunate angle and he happened to be behind her on the staircase, ho hum). I do think it's desperately sad and also very funny at times. Amongst the decaying grandeur, I think there's a serious point being made about the fluidity of human identity and the nature of love / dependency. It's quite Chekovian actually...these characters say they are going to leave and everything is going to change, but you know they never will and everything will stay the same. Apparently, it's being re-made as a feature film starring Drew Barrymore, which should be interesting and I'll defintiely go and see it.