Sight and Sound: the Summer 2022 issue

Sight and Sound celebrates its 90th anniversary in style. Plus: the Cannes bulletin, Pedro Almodóvar, Ukrainian cinema, The Innocents and Edgar Wright interviewing Daniels.

Sight and Sound, Summer 2022

Since its inception in 1932, Sight and Sound has produced hundreds of issues, tens of thousands of pages, millions of words; it has championed the best of cinema for nine decades. As current editor-in-chief Mike Williams says: “Much has changed in the pages of S&S over the past 90 years… but its commitment to the culture of film and the moving image, in the UK and internationally, remains steadfast.” In this special issue, an anniversary feature looks back through the archives at some of S&S’s most special moments, including contributions from filmmaking legends.

Also in this issue: we report from Cannes film festival, with a state-of-the-fest report, Mark Jenkin’s Cannes diary and 50 brand new films reviewed; Pedro Almodóvar spends a quiet day in Madrid reflecting on loneliness; we dig into the cinematic history of Ukraine, from the birth of modern cinema to new offerings at Cannes; Eskil Vogt talks The Innocents and children in horror; and Edgar Wright interviews Daniels, the directorial duo responsible for breakout indie hit Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Features

90 years of Sight and Sound

90 years of Sight and Sound

Editor-in-chief Mike Williams introduces a selection of Sight and Sound’s most iconic covers from its 90-year history, from educational beginnings in 1932 to S&S’s modern era.

Plus, nine articles written for S&S by renowned filmmakers including Mai Zetterling, Lotte Reineger, Andrea Arnold, Lizzie Borden, Jean Renoir and:

Alfred Hitchcock: My own methods

In 1937, two years before his move to Hollywood, Hitch explained how he developed his ideas, how he set about the task of manipulating his audience and why he was so drawn to thrillers.

Stanley Kubrick: Words and movies

Nearly all Kubrick’s features had their origins in a book or short story. For our Winter 1960‑61 issue, he wrote about what a screen adaptation can and should preserve of its literary source.

Quentin Tarantino: A rare sorrow

A couple of years after his searing debut, the Reservoir Dogs director wrote about his passion for Ride in the Whirlwind, one of a pair of little-known and even less appreciated westerns by Monte Hellman.

Tilda Swinton: The view from here

On the eve of a BFI retrospective, and following her in-depth cover feature, Swinton wrote a beautiful, dreamlike poem about films and love for Sight and Sound

The Cannes bulletin

The Cannes bulletin

The 75th edition of Cannes featured glitzy cameos from Tom Cruise and Elvis but the sparkle was missing from a Competition with a divisive winner. By Isabel Stevens.

+ 50 films from Cannes reviewed

First-look reviews of all of Cannes’ biggest titles. By Thomas Flew and Isabel Stevens.

+ Mark Jenkin’s Cannes diary

The Bait director documents his panic-inducing trip to the festival to screen his eerie folk horror Enys Men.

+ Cannes at 75

George Miller, Baz Luhrmann and Tilda Swinton reflect on their most striking Cannes memories.

Memory of an empty day

Memory of an empty day

Alone in Madrid during Holy Week, the great Spanish director reflects on loneliness, New York night life in the early 1990s and his memories of Andy Warhol. By Pedro Almodóvar.

Ukrainian cinema in focus

Ukrainian cinema in focus

Boasting a formidable cinematic heritage that stretches back to the early days of film, the country has recently seen a renewed flowering of auteur cinema. By Jonathan Romney.

+ Sergei Loznitsa: film historian

As The Natural History of Destruction hits Cannes, the Ukrainian director discusses the dark truths of history with Jonathan Romney.

Eskil Vogt interviewed

Evil under the sun

Eskil Vogt’s The Innocents, a haunting tale of a group of children in the Norwegian countryside who find they have special powers, plays on our fears about kids’ capacity for evil. Here he discusses his journey into the mysterious, locked-off world of childhood. By Kelli Weston.

+ Tiny terrors

Eskil Vogt on his favourite horror films about children.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert interviewed by Edgar Wright

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert interviewed by Edgar Wright

The director of Last Night in Soho and long-time Daniels admirer Edgar Wright sits down with the filmmakers to talk maximalist cinema, the creative benefits of impostor syndrome and ADHD – and their exhilarating Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Steven Spielberg interviewed

From the archive: “I got away with murder on Jaws”

In our Spring 1977 issue, we joined an animated Steven Spielberg during the production of his fourth feature, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to discuss casting François Truffaut, the primal elements of his box-office smash Jaws and his filmmaking ethos.

Opening scenes

Birth of a tragedy from the spirit of music

Birth of a tragedy from the spirit of music

Yorgos Lanthimos’s new short, silent film, commissioned by the Greek National Opera, is a haunting goat story. By Jonathan Romney.

Editors’ choice

Recommendations from the Sight and Sound team.

In production: Loach’s last orders

Director Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty are reuniting once again for The Old Oak, on which principal photography commenced last month. By Thomas Flew.

News: Back to life for Bristol fest

Cinema Rediscovered returns to cinemas in Bristol and around the UK for a packed four-day festival. By Thomas Flew.

In conversation: Michaelangelo Frammartino

The director of Le quattro volte on shooting his new film Il buco 700 metres underground. By Isabel Stevens.

Under the influence: Juho Kuosmanen

The Finnish director takes us on a whistlestop tour of his favourite train films and the inspirations behind his own bittersweet railroad movie, Compartment No. 6. Interview by Katie McCabe.

Dream palaces: Cinemateket, Oslo

Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, whose melodic black comedy The Worst Person in the World is out now, reminisces about his days as a young cinephile and being inspired by Fritz the Cat. Interview by Katie McCabe.

Our Talkies section

Talkies

The long take

Nearly a century ago, the beauty of Ukraine was captured by the man with a movie camera. By Pamela Hutchinson.

Cine wanderer

Visconti and Roeg’s tourist-gaze classics epitomise Venice as the city of death and mystery. By Phuong Le.

Poll position

Film history is a long book so when choosing the Greatest Films, don’t ignore the early chapters. By Farran Smith Nehme.

Directors’ chair

The most chilling thing about horror is getting asked what it’s like to be a woman within the genre. By Prano Bailey-Bond

Our Editorial page

Regulars

Editorial

As Sight and Sound turns 90 our raison d’être is clear. By Mike Williams.

Rediscovery: The Beast Must Die

It took an Argentinian director and stars to make the most of the passions buried in a very English detective story. By Robert Hanks.

Archive TV: The Persuaders! Take 50

The classic 1970s playboy pairing of faux-toff Roger Moore and Brooklyn boy made good Tony Curtis has dated better than you might think. By Robert Hanks.

Lost and found: I Want to Go Home

Alain Resnais’ comedy about an aggrieved American cartoonist on the loose in France is a reminder that comic-books and film art can be allies, not enemies. By Peter Tonguette.

Our Wider screen section

Wider screen: No Master Territories

A utopian celebration of feminist film cultures from the 1970s to the 1990s seeks to smash the notion of the artistic ‘masterpiece’. By Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg.

Endings: Sanjuro

The swift, brutal death of the duelling samurai at the end of Kurosawa Akira’s 1962 drama represents a startling shift in mood in one of the director’s most light-hearted films. By Philip Kemp.

Our Reviews contents

Reviews

Film

  • The Afterlight reviewed by Jonathan Romney.
  • Men reviewed by Kim Newman.
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once reviewed by Ben Walters.
  • Earwig reviewed by Anton Bitel.
  • The Good Boss reviewed by Maria Delgado.
  • Brian and Charles reviewed by Leigh Singer.
  • All My Friends Hate Me reviewed by Philip Kemp.
  • Tigers reviewed by Tim Hayes.
  • Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War reviewed by Philip Concannon.
  • Pleasure reviewed by Jessica Kiang.
  • Hit the Road reviewed by Leigh Singer.
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness reviewed by Kim Newman.
  • Futura reviewed by Giovanni Marchini Camia.
  • Nitram reviewed by Carmen Gray.
  • Everything Went Fine reviewed by Elena Lazic.
  • Moon, 66 Questions reviewed by Catherine Wheatley.
  • Good Luck to you, Leo Grande reviewed by Pamela Hutchinson.
  • Il buco reviewed by Ben Nicholson.
  • Fire of Love reviewed by Violet Lucca.
  • Dashcam reviewed by Anton Bitel.
  • Swan Song reviewed by Alex Davidson.

Television

  • The Essex Serpent reviewed by Kate Stables.
  • Pistol reviewed by Graham Fuller.
  • We Own This City reviewed by Guy Lodge.
  • Tokyo Vice reviewed by Jason Anderson.
  • My Name is Leon reviewed by Nicole Flattery.
  • Conversations with Friends reviewed by Ruairí McCann.

DVD and Blu-ray

  • Lake Mungo reviewed by Trevor Johnston.
  • Sodom and Gomorrah reviewed by David Thompson.
  • The Men reviewed by Hannah McGill.
  • The Osterman Weekend reviewed by Brad Stevens.
  • Luminous Procuress reviewed by Sophia Satchell Baeza.
  • The Funeral reviewed by Trevor Johnston.
  • Outside the Law reviewed by Philip Kemp.
  • Revolver reviewed by Kate Stables.
  • Film starring WC Fields reviewed by Michael Atkinson.
  • The Pemini Organisation reviewed by Trevor Johnston.

Books

  • The Red Years of Cahiers du Cinéma (1968-1973) reviewed by Helen Hughes.
  • Mad Eyed Misfits: Writings on Indie Animation reviewed by Alex Dudok de Wit.
  • Filmmakers Thinking reviewed by Jason Anderson.