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A retelling of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary as a surreal story of universal suffering, the film emphasizes the heroine’s internal transformation as she slowly loses her grip on reality. Her erotic fascination with rich clothing and her almost childish desire to seduce and to be lost in passion is brilliantly contrasted with the small-town life that leaves Emma tragically isolated in her passionate attempt to bridge the gap between spirituality and sensuality.Read More »
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From the Screenwriter of “Who’s Singin’ Over There”,”The Marathon Family”,”Balkanski Spijun” (flicks that are Serbian Cinematography at its best) comes (Writing Credits) this brilliant movie set in the surreal atmosphere of an archaeological site in northern Serbia in the second half of the 20th century. During the excavations of ancient Roman ruins, an old archeology professor discovers a Roman tombstone for which he has been searching all of his life. The tomb actually covers the passage from this world to the “other” one. In an attempt to move it from its place, the professor suffers a heart attack and soon dies. However, he only appears to be dead; in fact he is in a state “between life and death.” Being half-dead, half-alive, he can now establish a connection between the living and the dead. Speaking with his loved ones who passed away he can suddenly see his life in a different perspective. With the help of the professor, even the dead, led by the desire to see their relatives and loved ones, pass through the same corridor only to find out that the world of the living is not quite as they remembered or imagined it.Read More »
Jean-Charles Fitoussi’s second short movie (rather experimental), before he goes on making his masterpieces.
Short in seven days, in Rome, with two friends, a 16mm camera and no scenario.
A cinematic essay about time — an ode to life, however tragic it may be.
Essai cinématographique sur le temps — et ode à l’existence, pour tragique qu’elle soit.Read More »
Plot:
Pierre, a young man of privilege, whose anonymously-published novel is a hit and who’s about to marry his blond cousin, Lucie, abandons all when a dark-haired vagrant tells him her secret late one night in the woods: that she is Isabelle, his sister, abandoned by their father. Pierre breaks off with Lucie and his doting mother, heading for Paris with Isabelle, intent on knowing the dark side of human nature. He begins a novel, sending chapters under a pseudonym to his publisher; his relationship with Isabelle moves beyond the fraternal; and, in winter, the frail Lucie comes to live with them. Family jealousies mount, and Pierre may have discovered despair instead of the truth.Read More »
In the 1800s a naturalist marries into a family of British aristocrats.
based on A.S. Byatt’s creepy, wonderful, novel… And there’s nothing creepier than Patsy Kensit’s doughy pig-face.
from allmovie:
A 19th-century British naturalist falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, but he soon discovers that her family’s perfect facade disguises unexpectedly grim secrets. Director and co-screenwriter Philip Haas’s adaptation of A.S. Byatt’s Morpho Eugenio eschews the usual gentility of Victorian period pieces in favor of subtle creepiness. The unsettling mood is emphasized by the film’s detailed attention to its protagonist’s scientific endeavors, which center on the study of insects and their behavior.Read More »
After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their household. Soon Tom has taken to dressing as a girl whilst Sue has become increasingly reticent, confiding only to her diary, meanwhile Jack and Julie sense an attraction developing for each other. However Julie’s new beau, Derek, threatens to unearth the many dark secrets within this family as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Jack. -IMDbRead More »
Synopsis:
A wealthy couple, with a daughter Angela, a young teen who walks with crutches, tells each other they are off for the weekend on business (he to Oslo, she to Milan). Actually, both are meeting their lovers, and both go to the family’s county home, Traunitz castle. Surprising each other, there’s sophisticated laughter; they decide to continue as planned. Dinner, however, is interrupted by the arrival of Angela and her mute attendant, also named Traunitz. The next day, the child initiates a game of “Chinese roulette,” in which one team tries to guess which of them the other team is thinking of by asking questions. The game has an edge of cruelty and the results are explosive.Read More »
Synopsis
A frustrated war correspondent, unable to find the war he’s been asked to cover, takes the risky path of co-opting the I.D. of a dead arms dealer acquaintance.
IMDb.comRead More »
Quote:
In Liliana Cavani’s scintillating drama, a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte Rampling) discovers her ex-torturer/lover (Dirk Bogarde) working as a night porter at a hotel in postwar Vienna. When the couple attempt to re-create their sadomasochistic relationship, his former SS comrades begin to stalk them. Operatic and disturbing, The Night Porter deftly examines the cruelty and decadence of Nazi culture.Read More »