Arthouse

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The plot of the film is taken from two traditional Portuguese tales: A donzela que vai a guerra («The maiden who went war» 15th Century?), of Judeo-Iberian origin, and a novella, The dead one’s hand, orally transmitted, which forms part of the Bluebeard cycle.

Dom Rodrigo has two daughters, one legitimate, the other bastard, Silvia and Susana. Growing old, and without male heir, Dom Rodrigo decides to marry off Silvia to his neighbour, a rich nobleman, Dom Paio, with the aim of securing and expanding his domain. After a brief visit from the fiancé, a great glutton and skirt-chaser, Dom Rodrigo leaves for the court to invite the king to the nuptials. Upon his departure, he instructs the girls not to open the doors of the mansion to any stranger.Read More »

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What young Samuel (Dinis Neto Jorge) was doing at that time of night on the deserted quay, nobody will ever know for sure. In fact, when Mr. Eloi (Henrique Canto e Castro), an old retired sailor, approached him, he was staring at the waters of the Tagus. Tired as he was of his days, Mr. Eloi could not have thought any other way: Samuel was there to put an end to his life. And when Samuel, symbolically or not, invites him to share his last dive, Eloi, as a last resort, stops him from throwing himself in the river and, saying that Heaven can wait, takes him on a tour of the city. So the two characters go off for two long nights of roving during the Saint Anthony festivities.Read More »

Set in Brooklyn, New York this Dutch film is based on a true story that appeared on a New York newspaper in 1980. Desirée lives in the past. A series of flashbacks expose us to her psychologically troubled childhood very much affected by a promiscous mother. Her present life evolves around three people: her employer Mrs. Resnick, Freddy, her lover and Father Siego, leader of the church “The True Confessors”. Desirée’s relationship with each one of these characters is at the origin of her falling apart. Freddy is an insecure black man who finishes their love affair with a sad note, Father Siego is the leader of a rigid narrow-minded religious sect and Mrs Resnick is a racist, prejudiced white woman who feels black people are inferior and incapable of living their own live. Rejected by all because of her pregnancy, Desirée blames her child as the source of evil. She is then possessed by evil and wants to exorcise it. The only way is to get rid of her daughter…Read More »

Scott B and Beth B, successful makers of short, experimental films made The Vortex an attempt at a “camp” film with a pessimistic “noirish” atmosphere. The detective Lunch (Lydia Lunch, a popular underground musician and poet) investigates a band of corporate businessman who seek government defense contracts through real “corporate wars” and the manipulation of politicians. Though a bit confusing, this film does have an excellent performance by Lunch, as the detective. – AllMovieGudeRead More »

Improvisation by Paul Vecchiali and Françoise Lebrun – On Paul’s initiative, Françoise and Paul met after a long separation, on the pretext to search in commun for a lost memory, a song. It soons appears that Paul’s objective is to win her back.

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Quand j’écrivais le scénario de En haut des marches, je me suis trouvé en panne à un moment du récit. Impossible de discerner ce qui me bloquait. En sortant d’Auditel, qui comptait une dizaine de salles de montage où travaillaient, entre autres, Jacques Demy et Éric Rohmer, j’ai croisé Françoise Lebrun, connue elle aussi au Studio Parnasse.Read More »

A soundtrack plays folk rock as a woman prepares, at noon, to take her Borzois for a walk. She goes through her dresses, all 1920’s style flapper gowns, holding them one at a time, shaking them as if they are dancing. She picks one – in puce. She puts it on, delighted, adds perfume, languishes on a chaise for a few minutes, then goes for her walk. It all has a 20’s feel.

Puce Moment was to be called Puce Women, but only this 6 minute fragment was finished. Situated in the 1920’s, it depicts a lady, Yvonne Marquis, selecting a dress to go out with her dogs. Puce is a colour, a hue of violet, popular in those times.Read More »

Tatyana Prokofievna is an ageing woman with a diva’s behavior, but her life is uneventful, ordinary and dull. To escape the everyday slumber she seeks companionship of young men. She provides shelter and becomes involved in their problems. Her ex-boyfriend has married a younger woman. Tatyana is forced to keep her loneliness hidden because of her role as hostess.

Won grand prix “Golden Leopard” at the Locarno International Film Festival, 1990Read More »

Over a span of five years, a wing of the Kunstahlle Mannheim is torn down and rebuilt.Read More »

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This engaging and sentimental 1961 Mexican tale begins when a little boy (Ricardo Ancona) starts manifesting a greater and greater talent at music and at the same time, a supersensitivity to sounds. His overly astute hearing drives him into the woods and away from the cacophony of the town’s hustle and bustle. Once in the woods, he meets a kindly old hermit who teaches him how to play the violin he made. After the old man dies, the violin ends up at a pawn shop, and each night the boy sneaks in to play it in secret. It is this haunting, nightly music that sets the town on edge — people think an evil spirit is on the loose.Read More »