Ian Haydn Smith
Read articles by Ian Haydn Smith
Article
Rebellious Spirit: The Provocative Worlds of Pedro Almodóvar
Emerging from the vibrant Madrid art scene of the 1970s, Pedro Almodóvar has forged a style of cinema that has made him one of the world’s most distinctive filmmakers.
List
Best Christopher Nolan Films
Ahead of The Odyssey, we offer a guide to the mind-bending master Christopher Nolan's most impressive movies.
Article
La Grazia Offers a Surprising Portrait of Italian Politics
Paolo Sorrentino’s new drama, his seventh with actor Tony Servillo, presents a refreshingly atypical portrait of an Italian president, for whom power is more of an enervation than an aphrodisiac, writes Ian Haydn Smith.
Interview
Director Oliver Laxe Wants You to Feel Sirāt in Your Body
A knife-edge existential drama, Cannes winner Sirāt is one of the awards season’s most strikingly original films. The filmmaker behind it talks spirituality, ceremonial dancing and the choreography of images with Ian Haydn Smith.
Article
Baz Luhrmann’s Maximalist Mythmaking
There’s nothing quite like excess in the worlds of Baz Luhrmann. As he returns to the life of Elvis in music documentary EPiC, Ian Haydn Smith explores the director’s love of myth in his narrative filmmaking.
Interview
How the Sentimental Value House was Designed
The centrepiece of Joachim Trier’s sensitive drama is a characterful family home that has been passed down for generations. Here, production designer Jørgen Stangebye Larsen tells Ian Haydn Smith how he evolved its look to indicate the passage of time.