The agony of youth, the fleeting torment of childhood, the isolation and loneliness of the pre-adolescent, the time when personalities are formed and life’s grand design begins to take form. Tomas Alfredson’s screen adaptation of John Avjvide Lindqvist’s novel tackles these themes (amongst others) with relish and abandonment of genre concerns.

Tomas Alfredson's highly successful Swedish vampire tale is one of the very best films of 2009 so far - this episode attempts to decipher why.

The Director: Bela Tarr has been working in film since the late 1970’s, his first feature was released in 1979, but from then till now he has only directed eight feature films. His latest, The Man from London was released at the end of last year.

An extended examination of Bela Tarr's modern masterpiece about the boundaries between civility and barbarism. Also featuring a look back at the first eight feature films of Tarr's career.

The Director: His work is as visceral as it is ethereal. Simultaneously naturalistic and fantastic; often subtextually metaphysical. Wong is a visual poet telling human stories, with a natural sense of pace he has achieved his status as one of the worlds finest contemporary directors by combining seemly contradictory elements, creating singular themes of loneliness, isolation, and human connections within the plurality of modern life in Asia.

This weeks show examines two Kar Wai Wong masterpieces, and takes a look back at the films and themes of his career.

Much has been written and spoken about this film in the many decades since Jean Vigo’s short but fruitful career came to an abrupt end. A French director who’s complete cannon of work includes three short films and one feature all made in the 1930’s. Given the quality of this work, had the man lived beyond his twenty-nine years he would have quite possibly delivered a substantial number of films which we would have come to consider classics.

This week is an examination of Jean Vigo's influential film L'Atalante - a true masterpiece of world cinema.