1991-2000

  • Robert Frank – Last Supper (1992)

    1991-2000ExperimentalRobert FrankShort FilmUSA

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Quote:
    ‘Exterminating Angel’

    ‘Parts of Last Supper resemble an educational film with directions for its use. It deals with the impossibility of depicting something. Is it about the impossibility of depicting something? What is real? What is staged? What can be staged by coincidence? And which reality does a video camera record?
    ‘Guests arrive at a vacant lot in New York, which is surrounded by rundown apartment buildings. The host is a writer, and he intends to celebrate the publication of his latest book with his friends and acquaintances. A buffet has been laid out. Waiting for the writer. Waiting for Godot. He fails to show up. This level of the film is constructed in the same way as a theatrical work. The dialogues seem holographic: almost every quotable phrase reflects the meaning of the entire statement.Read More »

  • Greta Schiller – Paris Was a Woman (1995)

    1991-2000DocumentaryGreta SchillerUnited Kingdom

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    “Paris was a Woman” is a film portrait of the creative community of women writers, artists, photographers and editors who flocked to the Left Bank of Paris in the early decades of the 20th century, when Paris was the undisputed capital of the world. Using groundbreaking research and newly discovered home movies, “Paris” uses intimate storytelling as it intertwines interview with anecdote. “Paris Was a Woman” recreates the mood and flavor of this female artistic community in Paris during its most magical era.Read More »

  • Chantal Akerman – Sud AKA South (1999 )

    1991-2000Chantal AkermanDocumentaryFrance

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Synopsis
    A look at the troubled area of America’s Deep South, primarily focusing on the sadistic murder of James Byrd, an African-American man dragged to his death by three white supremacists. The film contains interviews with local inhabitants who discuss the problems caused by racism in the area both before and after the advent of the Civil Rights movement. Read More »

  • Youssef Chahine – Al-mohager AKA The Emigrant (1994)

    1991-2000AdventureEgyptEpicYoussef Chahine

    The biblical tale of Joseph is told from an Egyptian perspective in this interesting character study. In this film, Joseph is called Ram. Ram, tired of his family’s backward superstitious life, and tired of being picked on by his brothers, wants to go to Egypt to study agriculture. His brothers travel with him across Sinai, but then suddenly sell him to Ozir, an Egyptian who works for a Theban military leader, Amihar. Amihar is impressed by Ram’s drive and personal charm and so grants Ram some desolate land outside the capital. Ram soon finds himself a pawn in the political and sexual games between Amihar and his wife Simihit, a high priestess of the Cult of Amun.Read More »

  • John Sayles – Passion Fish (1992)

    1991-2000DramaJohn SaylesUSA

    Character and dialogue are the driving forces in writer-director John Sayles’ movies. In Passion Fish, Sayles delivers a quality screenplay, and Mary McDonnell and Alfre Woodard do his script justice with some of the most accomplished work of their careers. McDonnell — who also stood out in the director’s Matewan — brings surprising originality to the role of the haggard, self-pitying accident victim, and Woodard never becomes a stereotypical provider of “tough love.” Vondie Curtis-Hall and Sayles regular David Strathairn offer colorful supporting turns. Passion Fish was the director’s simplest, most elegant work since his second feature, 1983’s Lianna. McDonnell and Sayles would be nominated for Academy Awards, and Sayles would also be nominated for his screenplay. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Valeriy Todorovskiy – Podmoskovnye Vechera AKA Katya Ismailova (1994)

    1991-2000DramaRussiaValeriy Todorovskiy

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Quote:
    A wife finds her life transformed after a torrid affair in this story of murder. Katia is a rather dull young woman who types manuscripts for Irina, her husband’s mother and successful writer of romance novels. Katia’s husband is a real momma’s boy. They go to Irina’s summer house to work. There Katia encounters the intense and sexy Serguei who creates passionate longings with in her. Overcome she and Serguei engage in vigorous love-making upon a windowsill where Irina sees them. Irina has a weak heart. Quiet Katia, having rediscovered the joys of sex, changes and becomes more assertive and flighty. Serguei quickly loses interest in her. Strange and deadly things begin happening at the summer house which calls the attention of a judge who is extremely familiar with Irina’s writing. ~ Sandra Brennan, RoviRead More »

  • Christopher Hampton – Carrington (1995)

    Drama1991-2000ArthouseChristopher HamptonQueer Cinema(s)United Kingdom

    Quote:
    Carrington is the true story of the tragic relationship between the English painter Dora Carrington and writer, Lytton Strachey. Between the First World War and the early 1930’s, they experimented with a way of life beyond the conventional standards of their time, a life which broke all the taboos of society of their desire to live as freely and honestly as they could. They acknowledged openly what most of us are aware of but still reluctant to discuss: that a great many differences can exist between spiritual love and physical desire.Read More »

  • Ryuichi Hiroki – Futei no kisetsu AKA I Am an S+M Writer (2000)

    1991-2000ArthouseEroticaJapan

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Synopsis:
    A writer draws inspiration for his erotic stories from vivid bondage scenes performed right in front of his writing desk. Still, he prefers to novelize his fascination rather than participate actively. As a consequence, the already ambivalent relation with his wife turns into an intriguing reflection of himself. HIROKI’s growth as a director is evident when he subordinates apparent obscenities to mildly humorous romance, employing his background as a pinku director to create a highly dramatic effect.Read More »

  • Toshiharu Ikeda – Kagi AKA The Key (1997)

    1991-2000DramaEroticaJapanToshiharu Ikeda

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Ikuko is a mature, reserved Kyoto woman married for many years to a respectable, now-middle-aged man. The only problem in their relationship has been that her husband is dissatisfied with her lack of passion during lovemaking. All this changes after they meet the young Mr. Kimura. After the three spend the evening drinking together and Kimura has gone home, Ikuko’s husband discovers that his wife, in her alcohol-induced haze, has become far more passionate than she ever was before. The one drawback, however, is that her ardor is clearly fueled by Kimura, and not by him. Though he decides that his wife’s new- found passion is worth this unusual price, the long-term consequences may be more than he bargained for.Read More »

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