Drama

  • Stuart Rosenberg – WUSA (1970)

    1961-1970DramaPoliticsStuart RosenbergUSA

    The Egyptian Theatre writes:
    COOL HAND LUKE director Stuart Rosenberg reunites with Paul Newman on this overlooked and underrated adaptation of Robert Stone’s Hall of Mirrors (Stone also wrote Dog Soldiers, which was filmed as WHO’LL STOP THE RAIN). Newman is an itinerant, hard-drinking disc jockey who shows up in New Orleans looking for a job. Con man buddy Laurence Harvey, masquerading as a fundamentalist preacher, points Newman to WUSA, a right-wing radio station run by megalomaniac Pat Hingle. Taking a gig reading news, Newman gradually becomes disgusted by the blatant lies spewed by the station.Read More »

  • Jacques Doillon – Raja (2003)

    2001-2010DramaFranceJacques Doillon

    Quote:
    Venice Film Festival winner RAJA is the March selection in The Film Movement Series. Raja is a nineteen year old orphan literally and figuratively scarred by life. Fred is an emotionally bankrupt westernet living amid his plush gardens and palm trees. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Marrakech, RAJA is a cross-cultural drama about a wealthy middle-aged Frenchman’s complex relationship with a local youth. Fred’s attempt at seduction, and their mutual attempt at manipulation, are fractured by their gross disparity of income and cultural sophistication. The New York Times wrote “What distinguishes Raja from every other movie to contemplate the treacherous intersection of passion, avarice and power is its unsettling emotional honesty. Read More »

  • Joyce Buñuel – La jument vapeur AKA Dirty Dishes (1978)

    1971-1980DramaFranceJoyce Buñuel

    Diary of a housewife, going mad. Armelle is nearly 30, with a husband and two sons. It’s the early 80s in France, unemployment is high, and she’s not worked (outside the home) since she was a dancer at age 20. She cooks, cleans, shops, takes her boys to school, and her guilty pleasure is to have her hair shampooed, an addiction she tries to hide from her husband. An architect in her building leers at her. She becomes depressed and tries to find a job. When the brakes on the family car go out as she’s taking it to a garage and she narrowly misses several pedestrians, she snaps. The architect assaults her, and desperation sets in. Has she any options or any hope? -Written by jhaileyRead More »

  • Patricia Moraz – Les indiens sont encore loin (1977)

    1971-1980ArthouseDramaPatricia MorazSwitzerland

    “Jenny (Isabelle Huppert) is a disconnected 16-year old schoolgirl who is so taken with a story of Native Americans coming to take someone into their tribe that she wanders out into the snow in search of them and dies. Was it an accident, or suicide? This drama explores the last week of Jenny’s life in order to find out the answer.”Read More »

  • Jean Renoir – The River (1951)

    Drama1951-1960FranceJean Renoir

    Ignatiy Vishnevetsky wrote:
    Is there a more pathetic object of desire than Captain John (Thomas E. Breen), the one-legged American who becomes a figure of romantic fantasy in The River? Breen was all of 26 at the time of filming, though like so many of the World War II generation, he seems a good decade older. His red hair is gelled back in sticky waves, his pants are belted mid-abdomen, and his shirts and jackets are cut baggy. His clothes drape awkwardly over his body, and at the pivotal moment of the film—the moment when Captain John’s false leg gives out from under him—they seem to drift an inch behind him, like parachutes unfurling too late.Read More »

  • Adolfo Aristarain – Lugares comunes AKA Common Ground (2002)

    2001-2010Adolfo AristarainArgentinaDrama

    In Buenos Aires, a few days before traveling to Spain with his beloved wife Liliana Rovira to visit their son Pedro, the leftist Literature professor Fernando Robles is compulsory retired in the University. The ongoing economic crisis does not allow Fernando to get a new job. Liliana decides to sell her family’s apartment and the couple move to a small farm near Villa Dolores to reduce their expenses. Fernando comes up with the idea to grow lavender and sell the oil to the perfume industry.Read More »

  • Lila Avilés – La camarista AKA The Chambermaid (2018)

    2011-2020DramaLila AvilésMexico

    Eve, a young chambermaid at a luxurious Mexico City hotel, confronts the monotony of long workdays with quiet examinations of forgotten belongings and budding friendships that nourish her newfound and determined dream for a better life.Read More »

  • Xavier Dolan – The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018)

    2011-2020CanadaDramaQueer Cinema(s)Xavier Dolan

    Quote:
    A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces the written correspondence he shared with him, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.Read More »

  • Nacer Khemir – Looking for Muhyiddin (2014)

    2011-2020African CinemaArthouseDramaNacer KhemirTunisia

    A man (played by the filmmaker Nacer Khemir) returns home to Tunisia to bury his mother. After the burial, his father gives him an “amana” to be handed to a certain Sheikh named Muhyiddin. Taken by his father’s request, the man immediately sets out on an epic journey to find the long lost Sheikh and deliver the “amana.” Throughout the trip, he is guided by a mysterious spiritual master and the many friends of the Sheikh he encounters along the way. As the adventure unfolds, we discover the rich life of this Sheikh and his uncompromising love for humanity. For under his teachings, different beliefs, faiths, and ways of life can only converge and become one.Read More »

Back to top button