On Compiling A Film Canon. February 2017 Update.

Welcome to this month’s canon update.

In an article for Hope Lies and across social media I declared Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday a timely tribute to the newspaperman, a creature which faces potential holocaust in the face of the Trump administration. The timing for the film’s release couldn’t have been more perfect.

Rather than simply being “timely”, Alain Resnais’ Je t’aime, je t’aime might just be the best film about time ever made. It’s certainly the most interesting time travel movie ever made. Je t’aime, je t’aime will be explored more fully in the pages of Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second in the coming weeks, alongside a number of other works from Resnais.

On a more contemporaneous note, Martin Scorsese’s Silence is one of the most exhilarating works on faith of the modern age. Had it been released in 2016 it would likely have topped my ‘best of’ list for that year. As it is, 2017 is off to a great start, but has a lot to live up to.

More information on the Hope Lies film canon can be found at our ongoing and regularly updated Letterboxd list.