Reel Talk: VES Edition

Harvard’s Department of Visual and Environmental Studies is home to some of the most creative minds in film, fine arts, and environmental studies. FM caught up with two VES faculty members—Dan J. Rowe, a teaching assistant, and Ruth S. Lingford, director of undergraduate studies in the department—to hear about their favorite films.

What is Rowe’s favorite film? The TF cites Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth,” featuring David Bowie, as his all-time favorite. “It’s also my favorite musical and my favorite family movie. It’s the greatest film ever made,” says Rowe. Other favorites include “Grave of the Fireflies,” “Team America: World Police,” and “Barefoot Gen.”

“It’s all first hand nightmare imagery: a child running through the city, hallucinating,” says Rowe of “Barefoot Gen,” a Japanese film chronicling the bombing of Hiroshima through the eyes of a child. “It’s horrifying, but theoretically completely accurate to the events, even though it’s made in a silly seventies cartoon style.”

On a somewhat related note, Rowe remarks that he has a predilection for “stupid superhero movies.” More specifically, he mentions Marvel films including “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” He clarifies, “Action movies that make me cry a little bit.”

Lingford mentions “My Neighbor Totoro” as a personal favorite. “I think it’s wonderful because all the characters in it are completely sweet and yet it manages not to be kitsch. I think that’s because it creates a narrative about death. The mother is in the hospital, and the daughters are dealing with her illness,” Lingford notes.

Rowe has a few favorite horror films; he cites“Horror Rises from the Tomb,” “Ghost Galleon,” and “House Next to the Cemetery” as the best “bad horror movies.” He explains, “They’re great because they’re sort of spooky bad, but there are also anthropological elements because they’re foreign amalgams, ripoffs of American horror film tropes.” Lingford added the original “Let the Right One In” as a terrific horror film.

When it comes to romantic comedies, Rowe says “The Red Shoes” is his favorite. Lingford also lists “West Side Story” as the best movie musical and “Nymphomaniac” as a model romantic comedy.

“No, that’s a joke,” she clarifies. “There’s no way ‘Nymphomaniac’ would be a romantic comedy.”