Movies in 2026 143

 

I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)

One of the corners on the Criterion Channel website (which, again, offers me more films than I can ever watch) is the section on Films Leaving This Month. I don't want to be that idiot who had the chance to watch a classic film and somehow missed the opportunity because I didn't get around to it. It also foregrounds films or directors that may have gotten lost in the shuffle, and also puts me on the clock. And I'm glad the Criterion Channel put me on the clock, because this morning I watched one of the best films I've seen in years: Rungano Nyoni's 2017 film I Am Not a Witch. It's a Zambian film that focuses on a nine year old girl who is accused of being a witch, but it's really much more broadly about misogyny and corruption in Africa. Shula(Maggie Mulubwa) ends up accused of being a witch, and ends up being sent to a camp for witches, which is one part tourist trap of one part source for slave labor. Mr. Banda (Henry B.J. Phiri) plays the government official is charged with looking after Shula, but in the end exploits her. The film gets its point across, but it's never clumsy or preachy, and it's both funny and also heartbreaking. I suppose all the time I've spent in Africa, including far too briefly in Zambia, help me appreciate some of the more subtle points, but I think anyone would love this film. Highly, highly recommended.

Movies in 2026 142

 

Viridiana (Luis Bunuel, 1961)

As I work my way through the Luis Bunuel collection - or at least the Bunuel films available on the Criterion Channel - I recently re-watched his 1961 film Viridiana. This is a film that routinely makes Best Of lists, not only of best Bunuel films but more generally of all films, but it's also one that I've never warmed to. It has fine performances (including Silvia Pinal in the title role) and some classic Bunuel moments, but it's also a film that seems almost determined to crowd the screen with as many unlikeable characters as possible. Viridiana is set to take her vows as a nun, but she's ordered by the mother superior to go home to visit her allegedly dying uncle. She gives in, even though she feels nothing towards him and wants to stay in the nunnery. Her uncle Jaime is utterly depraved, and his son Jorge, who eventually arrives with his girlfriend, is just about as bad.  Viridiana decides not to return to the nunnery, but instead brings in as many local beggars as possible in an attempt to do a good deed. While Viridiana and Jorge are away from the house the beggars break into the main house, embark on a drunken orgy, and then almost kill Jorge and rape Viridiana when they return. At the end of the film it is made to appear that Viridiana has given up on her loftier ambitions, and seems to have agreed to a threesome with Jorge and the servant Ramona (how the censors let that one get through is beyond me, which is especially amazing considering that it was the revised ending after the censors balked at the original ending). It's as if the message is that life is simply horrible and irredeemable and it's not worth the effort of trying to fix it. I appreciate the criticism of societal hypocrisy, including another classic Bunuel shot at the church, but, like I said, I've simply never warmed to it. Maybe it's because in the end I do think it's worth the effort to try and make the world a better place, or my lack of sophistication caused by growing up in Indiana leaves me too much of a dope to appreciate the film. No matter what, you should definitely check it out, and feel free to reach out to me and explain my ignorance. It is recognized as a classic film, and, if for no other reason, it's worth a viewing.

A Child's Doll

"No empire justifies breaking a child's doll. No ideal is worth the sacrifice of a toy train."

Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet, text 454

I think these lines jumped out at me because of the Vermont Public Philosophy Week talk that I gave a couple weeks ago, but also because of the Trumpian horror story that we're living through. My talk focused on Thucydides, especially his Melian Dialogue and how power and empire negatively impacted the Athenians. Many Greeks at the time thought that the Athenian slaughter of the Melians cursed them, but Thucydides wasn't willing to go that far. However, he did make it clear that endless war and aggression and ambition would corrupt human nature. I keep watching these news reports which complain that Trump's unlawful war on Iran was driving up gas prices and how this aggravated people. Somehow, the price at the pump is more important than bombing a girls' school and killing over a hundred children. This is exactly what Thucydides was warning us against. I'm now sixty-six, and it seems like that for my entire life the US has been at war, almost universally punching down at weaker countries. It has so corrupted our soul that we can no longer feel, let alone realize that we have become the bad guys.

Movies in 2026 141

 

Simon of the Desert (Luis Bunuel, 1965)

And, as promised, I'm more deliberately tackling the Luis Bunuel filmography. With that in mind, this morning I watched his 1965 film Simon of the Desert. It very imaginatively and audaciously tells the story of the 5th century Syrian saint Simeon Stylites, who spent over thirty years sitting on top of a series of pillars as part of his devotion to God. Amazingly, he drew followers. I can remember how in my early days of teaching more traditional history classes my students were amazed/appalled by his story. Bunuel does an interesting job both celebrating and parodying him, or at least his parodying his often hypocritical followers. In a classic Bunuel moment the film ends up with Simon (Claudio Brook)  and Satan (Silvia Pinal) in a New York City discotheque. Recommended.

Movies in 2026 140

 

El (Luis Bunuel, 1953)

Over the years it seems like I've seen a lot of Luis Bunuel films, but I think it's been over so many years and in so many different circumstances - essentially, I've watched them haphazardly - that I don't have a true sense of him as a filmmaker. I'm going to do my best to address that. This morning I watched his 1953 film El, which is currently playing on the Criterion Channel. El was filmed during Bunuel's years of exile in Mexico. If you think you have an unhappy marriage, you should watch El and focus in on the marriage of Francisco (Arturo de Cordova) and Gloria (Delia Garces), because you'll feel a lot better about your situation. Both de Cordova and Garces are very good in roles that could have slipped into simple melodrama in the hands of weaker actors and a less talented director. By this point Bunuel had moved beyond his surrealist roots, although several of the scenes hint at his earlier films. Francisco is jealous bordering on pure paranoia, and Bunuel does a great job including critique of a society, including the church and Gloria's own mother who are naturally going to believe the man's side of the story. Highly recommended. Expected to see many more Bunuel films discussed in the near future.

Movies in 2026 139

 

Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)

The other day I made the point, when talking about how incredible it seems to me that Jacques Tourneur directed Out of the Past (he's not a bad director, but, come on, Out of the Past is an all-time classic), I proposed that Cat People might be his second best film (again, I don't know how passionately I'd make that argument, but I having trouble coming up with a clear #2 on his list). Anyway, this is by way to saying that I watched (for the bazillionith - or at least some number larger than ten) his 1942 film Cat People. Simone Simon (who won the role in a big talent search - mainly they were looking for an actress with an "exotic" look) plays Irena Dubrovna, a Serbian refugee who has dark memories and dreams of her haunted village back home, and who may turn into a black panther if she is sexually aroused. Apparently Simone Simon was dating a double agent at the time of the filming (and the guy later swiped most of her money), and was under investigation. It's not a great film, but there's a reason why I watched it a bazillion (or at least some number larger than ten) times, and you should check it out. Alan Napier, who later played Alfred on the 1960s Batman TV show, is one of Oliver's (Irena's husband, played by Kent Smith) co-workers. Tom Conway, who normally played characters who were a bit too clever or a bit too slimy, played Dr. Louis Judd, Irena's psychiatrist, a character who was both too clever and too slimy, and pays for it with his life. Jane Randolph plays Oliver's non-supernatural love interest, and survives Irena's jealousy, including the iconic swimming pool scene. If nothing else, it's worlds better than the ridiculous 1980s remake (this month the Criterion Channel is featuring 1980s remakes, double-billed with their earlier inspirations - not to give it all away, but with the exception of John Carpenter's The Thing remake of Christian Nyby's - although it might be better to say Howard Hawks's - The Thing from Another World - both are great - the 1980s remakes are crap). 

At Least One Student

 I think there was a time when I was widely and wildly popular with students (and I don't think I'm romanticizing my teaching career), with a few students who actively disliked me and the majority who liked me a lot - and then a few years ago it switched and now most students dislike me and a few like me a lot; which I guess is more proof that it was time to retire. One of the few students who really liked me over the last few years is the excellent Leah Baker, who took me three or four times. She even dragged her boyfriend (not fiancé) out to Adamant for one of my Vermont Philosophy Week Talks a few years ago. I had been presenting on Proust, and I tend to mention Proust so often in class that she had eventually borrowed a copy of Swann's Way (which in the end I just gave to her - I mean, come on, who drags their boyfriend out to Adamant to listen to a talk on Proust? That's pretty epic.). Anyway, Leah is one of my all-time favorite students. Today, completely out of the blue, she emailed me to let me know that they had just moved to Nashville, and she wanted to send me a picture of a section of her bookcase which features books that I either gave to her or suggested to her. She told me that she's having trouble tracking down copies of all the volumes of Remembrance of Things Past, which is not surprising, since most bookstores only stock Swann's Way (to their shame). I think I've found a new home for my old complete copy of Proust.

So, the moral of the story is that at least one student liked my classes.