Arthouse

  • Hal Hartley – Fay Grim (2006)

    USA2001-2010ArthouseHal HartleyThriller

    Hal Hartley’s dark comedy “Henry Fool” was an indie masterpiece that effectively and accessibly meshed Hartley’s literary influences with his specific minimalist style and some of the most memorable characters of the last decade. Now, Hartley takes the characters he created for that world and launches them into a surprisingly different direction in “Fay Grim,” a worthy follow-up and rare art house sequel.Read More »

  • Andrzej Zulawski – La note bleue AKA The Blue Note (1991)

    1991-2000Andrzej ZulawskiArthouseDramaFrance

    Ultimately a story about destiny, “La Note Bleue” seems a personal reflection of Zulawski’s experiences, for both he and Chopin were Polish expatriates in France.

    The film is highly theatrical and occasionally hilarious, but despite its ups and downs, the movie’s highlight is Chopin’s music, brilliantly performed by Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczak.Read More »

  • Sara Driver – Sleepwalk (1986)

    1981-1990ArthouseSara DriverUSA

    Quote:
    Sara Driver’s first feature–a luminous, oddball comic fantasy about ancient Chinese curses and Xerox machines, set in Manhattan’s Chinatown and its immediate environs–may well be the most visually ravishing American independent film of its year (1986). Set in an irrational, poetic universe that bears a certain relationship to Jacques Rivette’s Duelle, this dreamy intrigue breaks a cardinal rule of fantasy by striking off in a number of directions: an executive barks in the street, a young Frenchwoman (Ann Magnuson) loses her hair, and machines in a copy shop start to purr and wheeze on their own initiative.Read More »

  • Marco Ferreri – Nitrato d’argento AKA Silver Nitrate (1996)

    1991-2000ArthouseFantasyItalyMarco Ferreri

    This documentary celebrates the 100th anniversary of the cinema birth. It is an historic running through the technical and artistic evolution of the 7th art. We move from mute to sound, from B&W to color, trough all the genders (musical, Lyric, politic…). Beside it we have a kind of resume of the historic contest in which cinema lived till now, events and movements (neo-realism, classical etc.). All the aspects are taken in consideration: fashion, star system till the end, the sad end, of cinema in the theaters.Read More »

  • Frank Cassenti – L’affiche rouge AKA The Red Poster (1976)

    1971-1980ArthouseDramaFranceFrank Cassenti

    “Blood-red posters featuring portraits of wanted ‘terrorists’ decorated every street wall in occupied France during World War II, and this account of how 23 foreigners working for the Resistance were caught and executed dramatises one of the heroic myths of the Occupation. But Cassenti adopts a radically different perspective from the humanist ‘honesty’ of L’Armée des Ombres or even Lacombe Lucien, and instead attempts a Marxist analysis of the myth and what it means, historically, to re-enact it. As it moves from one level of representation to another with a Brechtian approach to performance, the film occasionally obscures its aims but never fails to challenge the way we receive history in the cinema.” – Time Out Film Guide
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  • Jacques Baratier – Goha (1958)

    1951-1960ArthouseFranceJacques Baratier

    synopsis
    As far as can be determined, Goha was Tunisia’s first entry in the Cannes Film Festival. Omar Sharif stars as a naïve young man who is taken for granted by friends and family. Little do they know that he has more intelligence, tenacity and imagination than all of them put together. The story takes an unexpectedly dramatic turn when the man falls in love with the young wife of his village’s elderly “wise man”. Based on an ancient Tunisian folk tale, Goha boasts impressive production values and sure-handed direction (by Jacques Baratier).Read More »

  • Jos Stelling – Duska (2007)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaJos StellingNetherlands

    Plot / Synopsis
    A socially inept middle-aged man is confronted with an unexpected guest even more clueless than himself in this comedy. Bob is a film critic from the Netherlands who loves and understands the movies but doesn’t have the same knack with the real world, especially the opposite sex. Bob is deeply infatuated with a woman who works at the popcorn counter of his favorite movie theater, but while she sometimes flirts with him, he’s too nervous to follow through. Bob decides he needs to be more bold if he wants to win his dream girl, but just as he’s gathering his courage to lure her back to his apartment, he suddenly finds himself entertaining an unexpected guest.Read More »

  • Jean-Claude Biette – Saltimbank (2003)

    2001-2010ArthouseFranceJean-Claude Biette

    Quote:
    The Saltim Brothers: younger Frédéric runs the family bank, while older brother Bruno turned down the executive position in exchange for financing a theater. Between them and among them, various characters navigate. The brothers each try to control their elegant niece Vanessa’s future. Café owners Eve and Jim complicate matters with their lies and betrayals, and a strange exiled stage director arrives. The lack of money reveals everyone’s true colors on- and offstage.Read More »

  • Åke Sandgren – Et Rigtigt menneske AKA Truly Human (2001)

    2001-2010Åke SandgrenArthouseDenmarkDogma FilmsDrama

    A modern fable about an invisible man who gets the chance to become a real human being. He has to learn to be brave, honest and conscientious. ‘P’ is a fantasy figure, living behind the wallpaper in seven year-old Lisa’s bedroom. Due to the destruction of the building in which Lisa lives, P leaves Lisa and her fantasy world. He ends up at a refugee center, where he learns Danish and becomes an integrated member of society. An apartment is assigned to P and he gets a job in a shoe store. P’s naiveté and good will makes him an easy prey. Without being guilty, he becomes under suspicion of being a wanted child molester. This is the story of P’s dramatic journey through the Fall of Man in an attempt to become a good citizen.Read More »

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