Reflections on the James Bond films Stuart Fernie 2018-05-27 | Reflections on the James Bond films – their humour and their development, and the portrayal of Bond.
Reflections on Michael Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate”. Stuart Fernie 2024-10-14 | Discussion and analysis of characters, themes, strengths and weaknesses in “Heaven’s Gate”, written and directed by Michael Cimino and starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt and Isabelle Huppert.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Civil War” Stuart Fernie 2024-08-16 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Alex Garland’s “Civil War”.
A Scottish Sojourn Stuart Fernie 2024-07-22 | A record of the time spent in Scotland by Rozenn, Thierry, Erwan and Annaig in April 2023
Reflections on characters and themes in “The Ghost and Mrs Muir” (1947) Stuart Fernie 2024-07-17 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Joseph L Mankiewicz’s adaptation of “The Ghost and Mrs Muir” starring Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison and George Sanders.
Reflections on duality in 19th century literature, its philosophical forebears and its successors. Stuart Fernie 2024-06-13 | Discussion of the nature and implications of duality in examples of 19th century literature, how it was influenced by the Enlightenment Movement, and how it evolved into Existentialism and beyond.
Reflections on characters and themes in James Gray’s “Ad Astra”. Stuart Fernie 2024-06-13 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in James Gray’s “Ad Astra” starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones.
Brief reflections on the meaning of the phrase “Il faut cultiver notre jardin”. Stuart Fernie 2023-10-08 | Discussion of the meaning of “Il faut cultiver notre jardin” in the context of the end of Voltaire’s “Candide”, where the phrase appears, as opposed to interpretations of the stand-alone phrase.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Living” (2022), starring Bill Nighy Stuart Fernie 2023-10-08 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in “Living”, a remake of Akiro Kurosawa’s “Ikiru”, directed by Oliver Hermanus and starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood and Alex Sharp.
Brief reflections on “Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and other modern action films. Stuart Fernie 2023-10-08 | Subjective discussion of qualities and issues in “Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, and issues concerning character development, plot integrity and audience engagement in many modern adventure films.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Oui, mais…” (Yes, but…) (2001) directed by Yves Lavandier. Stuart Fernie 2023-09-28 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in “Oui, mais…” or “Yes, but…”, a French film directed by Yves Lavandier and starring Émilie Dequenne and Gérard Jugnot.This film could be used as part of a French course with senior pupils to stimulate discussion and perhaps produce a written response to the characters and themes treated in the film.
Brief reflections on characters and themes in John Boorman’s “Hell in the Pacific” (1968). Stuart Fernie 2023-09-22 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in “Hell in the Pacific”, starring Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune, focusing on the need for collaboration between opposing sides in the face of common challenges.
Reflections on characters and themes in John Boorman’s “Point Blank”. Stuart Fernie 2023-09-18 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in “Point Blank” (1967), focusing on the nature of the main character, Walker. Starring Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson and Keenan Wynn.
Brief reflections on characters and themes in “Vera Cruz”. Stuart Fernie 2023-09-18 | Thoughts on elements of film noir and existentialism in “Vera Cruz” which predated and influenced later films that explored similar themes.
Some personal thoughts on the place of acting in society and personal identity. Stuart Fernie 2023-07-09 | Discussion and analysis of when, how and why we “act” (or adapt to our circumstances) in society, and thoughts on consequences for personal identity of such conduct.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Babette’s Feast” based on the short story by Karen Blixen. Stuart Fernie 2023-06-10 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Gabriel Axel’s “Babette’s Feast” starring Stéphane Audran, Brigitte Federspiel and Bodil Kjer.
Reflections on the principal characters and broad themes in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car”. Stuart Fernie 2023-06-10 | General discussion and analysis of the main characters and principal themes in “Drive My Car”.
Reflections on characters and existential themes in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” Stuart Fernie 2023-05-19 | Discussion and analysis of how the central characters in “The Batman” are influenced and developed by the nature of society in Gotham City.
Reflections on characters and themes in “The Banshees of Inisherin” Stuart Fernie 2023-02-24 | Discussion and analysis, from an existential perspective, of characters and themes in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin”, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan
Reflections on characters and themes in “Full Metal Jacket” Stuart Fernie 2023-02-24 | By special request, discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket, focusing on “the duality of man”.
Reflections on characters and themes in “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947). Stuart Fernie 2022-12-04 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in one of my favourite Christmas films, Henry Koster’s charming fantasy drama with comic undertones, “The Bishop’s Wife”, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven.
Reflections on themes and issues in “Molière” (2007) Stuart Fernie 2022-11-06 | A brief discussion of some of the themes touched upon in Laurent Tirard’s film starring Romain Duris and Fabrice Luchini, and in Molière’s work in general.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Soylent Green” Stuart Fernie 2022-10-16 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Richard Fleischer’s renowned science-fiction film starring Charlton Heston, Edward G Robinson and Leigh Taylor-Young.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1954) Stuart Fernie 2022-09-23 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes, especially racism and McCarthyism, in “Bad Day at Black Rock” directed by John Sturges and starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Dean Jagger, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin and Anne Francis.
Reflections on “The First Great Train Robbery” (1978). Stuart Fernie 2022-09-02 | Discussion and analysis of the tone and film noir roots of Michael Crichton’s entertaining but underrated heist film starring Sean Connery, Lesley-Anne Down and Donald Sutherland.
Reflections on The Dreyfus Affair. Stuart Fernie 2022-08-30 | Discussion and analysis of the Dreyfus Affair with reference to “I accuse” (1958), “Prisoner of Honor” (1991), “J’accuse” / “An Officer and a Spy” (2019) and The Enlightenment Movement.
Reflections on characters and themes in Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona”. Stuart Fernie 2022-08-04 | A personal interpretation of characters and themes in Bergman’s “Persona”, starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann.
Reflections on characters and themes in Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” Stuart Fernie 2022-07-26 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Bergman’s famed work starring Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Bibi Andersson, Nils Poppe et al
Reflections on characters and themes in Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” Stuart Fernie 2022-05-30 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Kubrick’s film version of the original work by Anthony Burgess, starring Malcolm McDowell.
Reflections on “Night Moves” as a film noir and Harry Moseby as an existential hero. Stuart Fernie 2022-04-13 | Discussion and analysis of the development of Harry Moseby and neo-noir themes in Arthur Penn’s “Night Moves”, written by Alan Sharp and starring Gene Hackman.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Lonely are the Brave” (1962) Stuart Fernie 2022-03-04 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in David Miller’s film, scripted by Dalton Trumbo and starring Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands and Walter Matthau.You may also be interested in a presentation on this wonderful film by The Flix Files, available at youtube.com/watch?v=lGFFOTFjQ7g.
Reflections on themes and characters, especially Tibbs and Gillespie, in “In the heat of the night”. Stuart Fernie 2022-01-21 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Norman Jewison’s “In the heat of the night” starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, focusing on the principal characters and their relationship.
Reflections on style, character and themes in Basil Dearden’s “The League of Gentlemen” (1960) Stuart Fernie 2021-12-13 | Discussion and analysis of style, tone, characters and themes in this lightly told tale which borders on film noir territory.
Reflections on the nature of Film Noir. Stuart Fernie 2021-11-14 | Attempts to define films noirs through research and personal suggestions as to how existentialism may contribute to their creation, with reference to Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon and Dirty Harry.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Seven Days in May” (1964) Stuart Fernie 2021-10-21 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in John Frankenheimer’s film starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Fredric March.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Star Trek” and “Star Trek ll: The Wrath of Khan” Stuart Fernie 2021-09-24 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Star Trek with reference to the original series and “The Wrath of Khan”.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Les Misérables” (1995) Stuart Fernie 2021-09-13 | Brief discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Claude Lelouch’s 1995 French language adaptation of Hugo’s famous tale, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alessandra Martines and Michel Boujenah.
Reflections on characters and themes in “La Rafle” (The Round Up). Stuart Fernie 2021-09-13 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes, especially that of The Holocaust, in the French film written and directed by Rose Bosch.
Brief reflections on Glenn Holland in “Mr Holland’s Opus” Stuart Fernie 2021-09-13 | Short discussion and analysis of the character of Glenn Holland in Stephen Herek’s film, written by Patrick Sheane Duncan.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Dead Poets Society”. Stuart Fernie 2021-08-23 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Peter Weir’s film, written by Tom Schulman and starring Robin Williams.
Reflections on characters and themes in “Good Will Hunting”. Stuart Fernie 2021-08-09 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes, especially that of success, in Gus Van Sant’s film written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Reflections on characters and themes in Callan (TV series 1967 - 1972) Stuart Fernie 2021-06-09 | Discussion and analysis of themes and characters in the classic TV show created by James Mitchell and starring Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter.
Reflections on themes and characters in The Hill (1965) Stuart Fernie 2021-06-04 | Discussion and analysis of themes and characters in Sidney Lumet’s film starring Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry and Ian Bannen, written by Ray Rigby.
Reflections on characters and themes in Cool Hand Luke (1967) Stuart Fernie 2021-05-25 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in the film starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, co-written by Donn Pearce and Frank R Pierson.
Reflections on characters and themes in The Hustler (1961) Stuart Fernie 2021-05-14 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in the film starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie and George C Scott, directed and co-written by Robert Rossen.
Reflections on characters and themes in Road to Perdition (2002) Stuart Fernie 2021-04-23 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in the film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, directed by Sam Mendes.
Reflections on characters and themes in The Verdict (1982) Stuart Fernie 2021-03-25 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Sidney Lumet’s film starring Paul Newman.
Reflections on characters and themes in Kieslowski’s Three Colours Trilogy. Stuart Fernie 2021-02-13 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in the Three Colours Trilogy, with a focus on an existential interpretation, in four parts:Introduction and general points from 0.0 to 2.08, Blue from 2.09 to 7.59, White from 8.00 to 12.20 and Red from 12.21 to the end (20.55)
Reflections on “Jojo Rabbit” (2019) Stuart Fernie 2021-01-20 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in Taika Waititi’s film.
Reflections on “The Bridge at Remagen” Stuart Fernie 2020-12-28 | Discussion and analysis of characters and themes in John Guillermin’s film starring George Segal, Ben Gazzara and Robert Vaughn.
Reflections on Boublil and Schonberg’s “Miss Saigon” Stuart Fernie 2020-12-28 | Brief discussion and analysis of themes in the musical, with comparison to themes in “Les Misérables”.
