Drama

  • Val Guest – The Camp on Blood Island (1958)

    1951-1960DramaHammer FilmsUSAVal GuestWar

    Plot Synopsis:
    An intensely stoic Andre Morell leads a group of POWs, interned under the sadistic rule of Commander Yamamitsu, who has vowed to massacre them all and raze the camp to the ground should Japan surrender to the Allies. When the British prisoners find out via their radio that this has indeed happened, they must keep the news from their captors at all costs. Their task is made even more difficult when the Japanese capture an American pilot, who they are determined to strip of any useful information. The POW’s must find a way to escape before it’s too late.Read More »

  • Anna Karina – Vivre ensemble (1973)

    1971-1980Anna KarinaDramaFranceThe Female Gaze

    Quote:
    A history teacher mets a hippy girl in Paris, he drops his job and starts a relation with her. So they start live together (vivre ensemble). A some point they do a trip to NY. Then they come back… Well this is the first film of Anna Karina as writer and director. Some images of Paris and NY in 72 are nice as an old postcard.Read More »

  • Krzysztof Kieslowski – La double vie de Véronique AKA The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaFranceKrzysztof Kieslowski

    Synopsis:

    Two parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don’t know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.

    Review:

    It is important to resist the temptation to figure out every last detail of “The Double Life of Veronique,” the mysterious and poetic new film by Krzysztof Kieslowski. That way lies frustration.Read More »

  • Abdellatif Kechiche – Vénus noire AKA Black Venus (2010)

    2001-2010Abdellatif KechicheDramaFrance

    Synopsis:
    The story of Saartjes Baartman, a Black domestic who, in 1808, left Southern Africa, then ruled by Dutch settlers, for Europe, following her boss Hendrick Caesar , hoping to find fame and fortune there. Once in London her master turned manager does nothing but exhibit her as a freak in a phony and humiliating carnival show. After a series of troubles caused by their act, Caesar, Saartje and their new friend, bear-tamer Réaux, head for Paris where once again, and against her will, she has to mimic savagery and expose her body, first in carnivals, then in the aristocratic salons of Paris, later on among the libertines and finally in brothels where she ends up being a prostitute. Read More »

  • Robin Hays – Anthem of a Teenage Prophet (2018)

    2011-2020CanadaDramaRobin Hays

    Quote:
    Anthem tells the story of Luke (Monaghan) a teenager who foresees the death of his new best friend Stan (MacNicoll), the most popular guy in school. When this premonition becomes reality, Luke must deal with the trials and tribulations of being dubbed “The Prophet of Death” and being titled a freak by the entire town. It doesn’t help that he’s fallen in love with Faith (List) who just happens to be Stan’s girl or that he’s on the outs with his childhood best friend Fang (Grayson Gabriel) or that the premonitions just keep coming – In a story that expertly navigates that often rocky, at times inspiring road to adulthood, Anthem authentically balances the teenage experience of confusion, anxiety and rage with those exceptional moments of clarity, self discovery and human connection. Hormonal, funny, exhilarating and wise, Anthem slyly explores the need to belong, the isolation of youth and the powerful brew of fear truth and noise that plays inside us all.Read More »

  • Noah Baumbach – Kicking and Screaming (1995)

    1991-2000ComedyDramaNoah BaumbachUSA

    Synopsis:
    After college graduation, Grover’s girlfriend Jane tells him she’s moving to Prague to study writing. Grover declines to accompany her, deciding instead to move in with several friends, all of whom can’t quite work up the inertia to escape their university’s pull. Nobody wants to make any big decisions that would radically alter his life, yet none of them wants to end up like Chet, the professional student who tends bar and is in his tenth year of university studies.Read More »

  • Salvatore Samperi – Malizia AKA Malicious (1973)

    1971-1980ComedyDramaItalySalvatore Samperi

    A widower and his sons fall in love with Angela (Laura Antonelli), the beautiful housekeeper. Each man uses his particular way to approach and capture the – apparently innocent and naive – young woman, and to see more of her sexy body. But only one of them succeeds in dominating and conquering her.Read More »

  • Niles Atallah – Lucia (2010)

    2001-2010ArthouseChileDramaNiles Atallah

    Lucia is a young woman who works as a seamstress in a factory and lives with her father in an old house in Santiago, Chile. The film occurs in December 2006 during the weeks that take place from the ex-dictator Pinochet’s funeral to Christmas. Through the simple observation of Lucia’s daily life, the spectator is allowed access into a hidden and neglected world of a generation of Chileans striving to recover from the military dictatorship.Read More »

  • Agnès Varda – Lions Love (1969)

    Drama1961-1970Agnès VardaAmos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtArthouseFrance

    Quote:
    Agnes Varda directed this drama which combines formal dramatic structures with the openness of improvisational cinema verite. Independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke plays an avant-garde film director attempting to work with a major studio to finance her next project, in which she hopes to collaborate with James Rado and Jerome Ragni, creators of the musical Hair (who play themselves). She also wants to use Andy Warhol superstar Viva (who also appears as herself) as her leading lady. However, after much give and take between herself and the moneymen, the director learns that the plug has been pulled on her project, pushing her to the brink of suicide.Read More »

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