Arthouse

  • Sally Potter – Orlando (1992)

    1991-2000ArthouseFantasyQueer Cinema(s)Sally PotterUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    Young nobleman Orlando is commanded by Queen Elizabeth I to stay forever young. Miraculously, he does just that. The film follows him as he moves through several centuries of British history, experiencing a variety of lives and relationships along the way, and even changing sex.Read More »

  • Fudong Yang – Mosheng tiantang AKA An Estranged Paradise (2002)

    Drama2001-2010ArthouseChinaFudong Yang

    Quote:
    Filmed over five years from 1997 to 2002, Yang’s first black and white movie tells the story of Zhuzi, a young intellectual, who has consulted countless doctors over his “illness”. Without any physical symptoms pointing to a definitive diagnosis, one is led to assume that the character’s illness is far more deep-seated and psychologically driven. A central theme of Yang’s work is the urban intellectual’s psyche, the generation who is old enough to remember life before the re-opening of China’s economy, while spending their formative years in a modernizing China.Read More »

  • Aleksandr Sokurov – Elegiya dorogi AKA Elegy of a Voyage [+Extras] (2002)

    2001-2010Aleksandr SokurovArthouseDocumentaryRussia

    From Kinoglaz.fr
    In this film, the artistic transformation of the objects of reality reaches the pinnacle of the author’s alteration of this reality. The author’s thoughts and words anticipate the appearance of visual images crystallised from flickering impressions of reality, composed in a manner that is eloquent yet austere, fantastic yet truthful.
    In this voyage the names of people and places are alienated: this unfettered dream, a dream about the infinitude of space and time, needs no frontiers or passports.Read More »

  • Joe Swanberg – Build the Wall (2020)

    2011-2020ArthouseDramaJoe SwanbergUSA

    Kent is turning 50 and his plans for a fun birthday weekend with Sarah are upended when his friend Kev arrives to build him a wall. Joe Swanberg (“Hannah Takes The Stairs,” “Drinking Buddies,” Netflix’s “Easy”) returns to his no-budget roots for “Build the Wall,” a low-key relationship comedy/drama set in the woods of Vermont. After drunkenly agreeing to let Kev build him a stone wall for his upcoming milestone b-day, Kent is surprised and frustrated when a pile of stones shows up to his house, and work on the wall begins. This conflicts with his more soberly devised plan to host a friend from L.A., Sarah, to discuss an artistic partnership and possibly a romantic connection.Read More »

  • Kyle Henry – Room (2005)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaKyle HenryUSA

    Plot:
    Julia (Cyndi Williams) works in a bingo-hall near her home, in a suburb of Houston, Texas. A haggard-looking mother of two daughters, Julia is perhaps in her mid-30s but could pass for a decade older. Her husband Bobby (Kenneth Wayne Bradley) is sympathetic and attentive, but Julia is rapidly reaching the end of her tether. Christmas is looming; she’s underpaid and overworked; is underappreciated at home; conscious that she’s getting no younger, no thinner, no happier. Read More »

  • Luis Buñuel – El AKA This Strange Passion (1953)

    1951-1960ArthouseDramaLuis BuñuelMexico

    Francisco is rich, strict on principles, and still a bachelor. He meets Gloria by accident, and is intent on marrying her and courts her until she agrees. Now he is a dedicated husband, but his passion starts to exhibit disturbing traits.Read More »

  • Shinji Aoyama – Yurîka AKA Eureka (2000)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaJapanShinji Aoyama

    Quote:
    Following a deadly bus hijacking in southwest Japan, the three survivors–Makato (Koji Yakusho), the bus driver; Kozue (Aoi Miyazaki), a young girl; and Naoki (Masaru Miyazaki), her older brother–find further tragedy in their personal lives. When the traumatized Makato eventually contacts Kozue and Naoki two years later, he moves into their home and becomes a father figure for the two children, who have stopped speaking. The trio are then joined by Akihiko (Yohichiroh Saitoh), Kozue and Naoki’s college student cousin, and together this odd surrogate family embarks on a road trip across Japan. However, a string of murders appears to be following them and threatens to permanently disrupt their quest to regain normal lives.Read More »

  • Robert Bresson – Journal d’un curé de campagne aka Diary of a Country Priest [+ commentary] (1951)

    1951-1960ArthouseClassicsFranceRobert Bresson

    Quote:
    A new priest (Claude Laydu) arrives in the French country village of Ambricourt to attend to his first parish. The apathetic and hostile rural congregation rejects him immediately. Through his diary entries, the suffering young man relays a crisis of faith that threatens to drive him away from the village and from God. With his fourth film, Robert Bresson began to implement his stylistic philosophy as a filmmaker, stripping away all inessential elements from his compositions, the dialogue and the music, exacting a purity of image and sound.Read More »

  • Manoel de Oliveira – Amor de Perdição AKA Doomed Love (1979)

    1971-1980ArthouseManoel de OliveiraPortugalRomance

    Quote:
    Made by Manoel de Oliveira, the Portuguese cinema’s leading figure, Amor de Perição is undoubtedly one of the most original films made in the last decade, but its riches are difficult to capture in a few sentences. Based on a famous novel by Camilo Castelo Branco, it centers on several love affairs, notably between the offspring of antagonistic noble families, and shows how social and moral laws conspire to defeat the lovers.Read More »

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