Contributions from David Pountain | Little White Lies

Contributor David Pountain

An older man in a tan jacket stands in a doorway, with a woman and child visible behind him.
In Praise Of

How Unforgiven laid the classic movie western to rest

by David Pountain

Clint Eastwood’s grit­ty 1992 film dis­pelled many of the myths which he helped to popularise.
Two people embracing in a dimly lit room, one in a suit and the other wearing a striped shirt.

How the cinema of Wong Kar-wai reflects a Hong Kong in transition

by David Pountain

The director’s work has long echoed the under­ly­ing anx­i­ety felt in his homeland.
Two partially clothed men, one embracing the other with a camera in hand.
In Praise Of

The bitter romanticism of Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together

by David Pountain

The Hong Kong master’s 1997 film is a deeply affect­ing por­trait of a fail­ing relationship.
Two people, a woman with blonde hair and a man in a flat cap, standing by a wooden structure in a rural setting.
In Praise Of

How Bonnie and Clyde brought the French New Wave to Hollywood

by David Pountain

Arthur Penn’s sem­i­nal crime thriller owes a lot to the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut.
Two individuals, a woman in a blue dress and a man in a white blouse, sitting together in an intimate setting.
In Praise Of

The emasculation of Clint Eastwood in The Beguiled

by David Pountain

Don Siegel’s peri­od thriller shows this icon of screen mas­culin­i­ty at his most pathet­ic and vulnerable.
A man with a serious expression holds a rifle in a dramatic scene.
In Praise Of

The high-octane homoeroticism of John Woo’s Hard Boiled

by David Pountain

The director’s explo­sive spec­ta­cle decon­structs mas­culin­i­ty, sex­u­al­i­ty and the action genre itself.