Classics

Synopsis:
War veteran Rick Dadier is one of three new teachers hired at North Manual High School, an inner city boys school. This is his first teaching assignment, which he needs to support himself and his insecure pregnant wife, Anne. Despite Principle Warnecke’s assertions to the contrary, Dadier quickly learns that the rumors of student discipline problems at the school are indeed true. The established teachers at the school try to counsel the newcomers, all inexperienced in such situations, as how best to handle the rowdy students. Regardless, Dadier tries to exert discipline in his class, which provokes a violent response. Dadier believes the student leaders against him are Artie West, but more specifically Gregory Miller, who he thinks uses the fact of being black as a means of racial provocation. Dadier has to decide either to leave and teach at a “real” school, or stay and figure out how to get through to his students. If he decides to stay, he has to figure out who the real disruptive influences are, especially as they have resorted to attacks of a personal nature that affect especially Anne.Read More »

Kekec is one of those films people in Slovenia usually see in their childhood and keep it in their memories as a precious gift for the rest of their lives. It is a double memory: firstly, of one’s childhood, and seconly, of an environment that doesn’t exist in the modern world. In fact, the setting looks so ancient the things you see there could be taken straight from a museum – and this is not far from the truth, since every detail has been made with such accuracy it could also serve as a student’s book of ethnographic elements in rural Alpine settlements. Today, these mountains are suffering greatly from the global warming, and most of the green empty planes you see are filled with small tourist houses. All in all, a film as a memory par exellence!Read More »

Based on Noël Coward’s play “Still Life,” Brief Encounter is a romantic, bittersweet drama about two married people who meet by chance in a London railway station and carry on an intense love affair. Sentimental yet down-to-earth and set in pre-World War II England, the film follows British housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), who is on her way home, but catches a cinder in her eye. By chance, she meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), who removes it for her. The two talk for a few minutes and strike immediate sparks, but they end up catching different trains. However, both return to the station once a week to meet and, as the film progresses, they grow closer, sharing stories, hopes, and fears about their lives, marriages, and children. Read More »

Sidney Lumet’s pretty brilliant film version of Arthur Miller’s play, starring Raf Vallone in a shattering performance as troubled Brooklyn longshoreman Eddie Carbone. Interesting genesis here: The film was actually shot in Italy, its original IMDB title is French, and the cast is a surprising international mix.Read More »

Waterloo is a German made movie that depicts the soldiers of Belgium + The Netherlands; Brunswick; England, Ireland, Scotland + Wales; Hanover; Nassau; and Prussia’s victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.Read More »

This trilogy was broadcast in three weekly instalments as Agamemnon, Grave Gifts (the production’s title for Choephoroi, the play also known as Libation Bearers) and Furies (the production’s title for Eumenides). The three plays went out at 9.25pm on BBC2 on Wednesday nights (95, 85, and 75 mins respectively). The trilogy was followed by a half-hour ‘sophisticated modern comedy’ in the style of the ancient satyr play which traditionally followed tragic trilogies: Raphael and McLeish’s Of Mycenae and Men—which follows the reunion of Helen (Diana Dors) and Menelaus (Freddie Jones) after the fall of Troy—was directed by Hugh David.Read More »

Probably Früh’s most unique work: an elliptical sort-of-biopic about Karl Tellenbach, a barber from Bern, who was known in the whole city for his strange, unhinged jokes. Also, a dark, desperate film about alcoholism and loneliness. In a way, DÄLLEBACH KARI sees an old master discovering modernism – indeed, today the film is thought of as an important part of the New Swiss Cinema. At the same time, the film might be seen as a reflection of Früh’s own personal and artistic struggles.Read More »

PLOT: A red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.Read More »

Plot Summary:
A young entertainer, Carole Beaumont (Anna Neagle), is wooed by actor-producer Charles King (David Farrar) but, uncertain of her feelings, she resists his attentions. During an air raid, a bomb explosion rocks the cafe and Carole is knocked unconscious. In her confused state, fantasies flash through her mind, and she seems to become Nell Gwyn of Old Drury, with Charles King looking very much like King Charles. Recovering, she is advised by her doctor to take a rest in the country and, there,another beau, Albert Gutman (Peter Graves), prompts his grandmother, Lady Drayton (Helen Haye), to invite Carole to their family home at Windsor. Read More »