Drama

Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Most modern-day viewers are familiar with German author Alfred Doeblin’s naturalistic novel Berlin Alexanderplatz from its epic TV miniseries presentation, directed in 1980 by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The Doeblin work was previously filmed on the very brink of the Nazi takeover in 1933, with Heinrich George as the ex-convict protagonist. Yearning for respectability, George finds he cannot escape the influence of his old criminal cohorts. When George refuses to pay “hush money” to the mob, his faithful wife Margarete Schlegel is killed. George resignedly returns to a life of crime, ultimately descending into madness. The 1933 adaptation of Berlin Alexanderplatz ran a brisk 90 minutes; Fassbinder’s 1980 TV version ran ten times longer.Read More »

Synopsis:
Sound of the Mountain is the story of the love between a daughter-in-law Kikuko (Setsuko Hara) and the father Shingo (So Yamamura) of her neglectful and selfish husband (Ken Uehara). Kikuko is locked into a loveless marriage. They live with his parents, and she is closest to her father in law. Kikuko doesn’t complain while her husband is having an affair. You want her to confront him, but she doesn’t. Kikuko finds out she is pregnant, doesn’t tell anyone and gets an abortion. As Shingo becomes more aware of Kikuko’s unhappiness, he takes ever more unconventional steps to rescue his son’s marriage.Read More »

La Bataille du Rail (Battle of the Rails) is regarded by many cineastes as the one truly great French “resistance” film. Based on fact, the episodic plotline details the courageous efforts by French railray workers to sabotage Nazi reinforcement-troop trains. The film’s thesis is that this underground activity was largely responsible for the allied victory on D-Day. Writer-director Rene Clement enhanced the reality of the story by filming on actual locations and using genuine railway employees and resistance fighters in the cast. Admittedly slow going at times, La Bataille du Rail is more successful as a morale-booster than as pure entertainment.Read More »

There is a lot to admire in Emil Loteanu’s film My Tender and Affectionate Beast aka Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver (1978). First of all, the music by Evgeniy Doga, especially the Wedding Waltz, lives its own life, has become very popular and often performed piece in Russia, and is truly amazing. Camera work is very attractive, so are costumes, sets, and landscapes. Very famous and talented actors play principal characters. Among them -Oleg Yankovsky, the narrator, the tender beast of the title, Kirill Lavrov, a weak and corrupted count, and Georgiy Markov, the middle-aged widower who had hopes for new love with the girl of his dreams. Read More »

Former Miss Egypt and international recording artist Dalida sings and stars in this steamy 1950s drama, following a conniving nurse’s (Dalida) attempts to seduce a married doctor (Nabil Al alfi) and his jealous wife’s subsequent downfall. Midriff-baring enchantress Samia Gamal — who plays the physician’s envy-consumed spouse — makes a memorable splash by performing a classic Oriental belly dance. Kouka and Sirag Mounir co-star.Read More »

In 1979, Carole and Jerome arrive in Odessa posing as a couple to contact other Jews and help them sneak out of the country.Read More »

Quote:
Dreams of fame take Diana from Madrid to Hollywood. She seems to be on the right path when a powerful agent notices her, but he only wants someone for a sham marriage with a secretly gay star.Read More »

In their final semester of school, a group of six college friends get together to pull the ultimate prank on a fellow classmate. The joke goes awry, resulting in a series of tragic events. Can they explain their way out of this one?Read More »

For this ambitious screen version of one the most powerful works of classic Greek theater, director Michael Cacoyannnis (ZORBA THE GREEK, THE CHERRY ORCHARD) unleashes the talents of four of the screen’s most exciting actresses(NY DAILY NEWS). Four time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn (THE LION IN WINTER, A DELICATE BALANCE), Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave (JULIA), Oscar nominee Genevieve Bujold (ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS) and Greek screen legend Irene Papas (ANTIGONE, Z) seamlessly mesh into an unprecedented ensemble cast that one could never hope to see on stage (Pauline Kael, NEW YORKER).Read More »