#1341c: BASSORI, Timité: The Woman with the Knife (1969)

-
BASSORI, Timité (Cote d'Ivoire)
The Woman with the Knife [1969]
Spine #1341c
4K


Equal parts symbolist psychodrama and shamanic ghost story, The Woman with the Knife delivers a surreal investigation of fractured identity. The sole feature by trailblazing Ivorian filmmaker Timité Bassori stars the writer-director himself as a bourgeois intellectual whose life is thrown into turmoil after he experiences a disturbing vision of a mysterious, knife-wielding woman—the beginning of a crisis that forces him to confront his deep-seated sexual repression and social alienation. Capturing the streetscapes of 1960s Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in New Wave–cool black and white, and set to a dreamy mix of American jazz and West African pop, this touchstone work of African cinema is a daring and complex journey into the postcolonial unconscious.

77 minutes
Monaural
Black and White
In French
1:37:1
Criterion Release 2027

Director/Writer

Timité Bassori was 36 when he wrote and directed The Woman with the Knife.

The Film


The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

99

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#1271: LONERGAN, Kenneth: You Can Count On Me (2000)

-
Image
LONERGAN, Kenneth (United States) You Can Count On Me [2000] Spine #1271 Blu-ray Celebrated playwright Kenneth Lonergan first brought his rich, humanist vision to the screen with this soulful look at the complexities of a sibling relationship whose roots are as knotted as they are deep. Years after Sammy (Laura Linney) and her younger brother, Terry (Mark Ruffalo), lost their parents in a car crash, small-town single mother Sammy is plunged into another crisis when the troubled, adrift Terry comes home for what turns out to be an extended stay—one that could either bring them closer together or tear them apart. With infinite grace and his peerless ear for dialogue, Lonergan offers something all too rare on-screen: beautifully flawed human beings whose journeys offer achingly relatable insight into what changes when you grow up—and what doesn’t. 111 minutes 5.1 Surround Color 1:85:1 Criterion Release 2025 Directors/Writer Kenneth Lonergan  was 38 when he wrote and directed You Can...
Read more

#190: KUROSAWA, Akira: Throne of Blood (1957)

-
Image
KUROSAWA, Akira (Japan) Throne of Blood [1957] Spine #190 DVD/ Blu-ray A vivid, visceral Macbeth  adaptation, Throne of Blood , directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare's definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood  fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. 109 minutes Black & White Monaural in Japanese 1:37:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2014 Director/Writers Akira Kurosawa was 47 when he directed  Throne of Blood . Screenplay by  Hideo Oguni ,  Shinobu Hashimoto ,  Ryûzô Kikushima  and Kurosawa. Based on Macbeth by  Shakespeare . Other Kurosawa films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 23: Sanshiro Sugata...
Read more

#588: KIEŚLOWSKI, Krzysztof: Three Colors: Blue (1993)

-
Image
THREE COLORS {Spine #587} KIEŚLOWSKI, Krzysztof (France) Three Colors: Blue [1993] Spine #588 Blu-ray In the devastating first film of the Three Colors trilogy, Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter. But Blue  is more than just a blistering study of grief; it's also a tale of liberation, as Julie attempts to free herself from the past while confronting truths about the life of her late husband, a composer. Shot in sapphire tones by Sławomir Idziak and set to an extraordinary operatic score by Zbigniew Preisner, Blue is an overwhelming sensory experience. 98 minutes Color 2.0 Surround in French 1:85:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2011 Director/Writers Krzysztof Kieślowski was 52 when he directed  Blue . Screenplay by Krzsztof Piesiewicz and Kieślowski. Screenplay consultants: Agnieszka Holland , Edward Zebrowski and Slawomir Idziak . Dialogue tra...
Read more