When the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens was issued in Paris in 1789, the scope of applicability was not limited to France. The declaration was intended to apply to the entire world, or at least to Europe. When Napoleon Bonaparte conscripted Frenchmen into the army, the objective was to topple the monarchs […]

The biopic Ted Bundy, directed by Matthew Bright, spares no obscenity in depicting the world’s worst mass murderer. With more than one hundred deaths in his path of rape, titles at the end tell us that the term “serial killer” was coined to describe him. Although the film begins with stills of Bundy (played by Michael

Talk to Her, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, is a story about love of men for women. On-screen titles tell us of three pairings. Marco and Lydia, the first pair, are brought together because Marco (played by Darío Grandinetti) is a travel writer who gets himself assigned to do a feature story about Lydia (played by

When an ordinary man loves an extraordinary woman who puts her career above all else in her life, we have the ingredients for a romantic story. In Life or Something Like It, director Stephen Herek takes a feminist approach toward that romantic plot. The woman is Lanie Kerrigan (played by Angelina Jolie), who is a television

  Immigrants from India to the United States, according to census statistics, have the highest incomes of all ethnic groups, including Caucasians. But economic success does not mean that they are without cultural, family, and personal problems. Leela, directed by Somnath Sen, focuses on why the conflicts arise and how they are handled within Indian culture.

When The Last Supper, directed by Fereydoun Jeyrani, begins, Afagh (played by Sorayya Ghasemi) is in a police station, providing an explanation of the death of someone. The story centers on Mihan Mashreghi (played by Katayun Riahi), a professor of architecture. Afagh is her longtime servant. Mihan’s husband Mohsen (played by Atila Pesiani), a bank manager,

To enjoy a long-term loving relationship is a goal sought by most mature people. Why, then, is the goal so elusive for gay men? Lan Yu, directed by openly gay Hongkongian Stanley Kwan, explores that question. Although the film directs our attention to the title role (played by Liu Ye), the person whose character is most

Grace Dalrymple Elliott’s friendship with the Duc d’Orleans forms the basis for the French film The Lady and the Duke (L’Anglaise et le duc), directed by Eric Rohmer, which highlights the events of the French Revolution from the viewpoint of the aristocracy. When the film begins, in 1790, not long after the storming of the Bastille,

If the traditional way in which relationships emerge is that parents select partners who marry, have children, and stay together is the uncomplicated paradigm, what is the paradigm for success in complex twenty-first century America, where relationships are formed by individual entrepreneurs who do not have to fit into stereotypic roles? In Kissing Jessica Stein, directed

“Shakespeare’s Richard the Third in 21st Century Los Angeles” is the tagline of King Rikki, directed by James Gavin Bedford. Rikki Ortega (played by John Seda) was born in Los Angeles, but his povertystriken mother gave him away to relatives in Fresno. When Rikki reached the age of twelve, he returned home for revenge, gradually learning