Thomas Brasch lived many lives: he was a writer and a worker; a rebel, protesting the oppression in the East Germany; a controversial figure in West Germany; and an internationally renowned filmmaker. And that was “just“ his real life – in his head there were so many more lives … With an impressive ensemble, including a tour de force by Albrecht Schuch, and mesmerizing black-and-white cinematography, director Kleinert crafts an inventive, breathless portrait of a complex character.Read More »
Quote: One of the most controversial productions by the late German writer-director Rainer Werner Fassbinder was his stage play The Garbage, the City and Death; when he sought to film the play in Germany, Fassbinder was denied state funds on the basis of a charge of anti-Semitic content. Swiss filmmaker Daniel Schmid, a film-school colleague and longtime friend of Fassbinder’s, undertook the project in 1976, employing Fassbinder’s now-familiar repertory company including Fassbinder and his then-wife Ingrid Caven. Set amid the Frankfurt lowlife–prostitutes, pimps, sadistic police and perverted businessmen–the story concerns a streetwalker (Caven) who is reportedly too chic for her own good and can’t make a go of it among her only available clientele. She is brutalized by her pimp (portrayed by a very slim Fassbinder), who continues to send her out on the streets while he indulges his preference for men. Luck comes her way in the form of a Jewish businessman (Klaus Lowitsch); he hires her only to listen to him talk and, occasionally, pose as his bride in the murky nocturnal street scene.Read More »
Joan Webster is an ambitious and stubborn middle-class English woman determined to move forward since her childhood. She meets her father in a fancy restaurant to tell him that she will marry the wealthy middle-aged industrial Robert Bellinger in Kiloran island, in the Hebrides Islands, Scotland. She travels from Manchester to the island of Mull, where she stays trapped due to the windy weather. Whilst on the island, she meets Torquil McNeil and as the days go by they fall in love with each other.Read More »
A young art teacher hopes to be transfered to Istanbul after completing his mandatory duty in a remote village school in Anatolia. After accusations of innapropriate contact with a student surface, his hopes of escape fade and he descends further into an existential crisis.Read More »
Hirayama lives a life of blissful contentment, spending his days balancing his job as a caretaker of Tokyo’s public toilets with his passion for music, literature, and photography. His structured routine is slowly interrupted by unexpected encounters that force him to reconnect with his past.Read More »
In a small town, crushed by the heat of summer, in 1919, a war hero was held prisoner in a deserted barracks. In front of the door, his whipped dog barks day and night. Not far away, in the countryside, a young woman worn out by the work of the land, too educated to be a simple peasant, wait and hope. The judge who arrives to unravel this case is an aristocrat whose war has made the principles falter. Three characters and, in the middle of them, a dog, which holds the key of the drama.Read More »
Adam Lemp, the Dean of the Briarwood Music Foundation, has passed on his love of music to his four early adult daughters – Thea, Emma, Kay and Ann – who live with him and his sister, the girls’ Aunt Etta, in the long time family home. Of the four, Kay has the greatest promise as a musical performer, specifically as a singer. Theirs is a loving family, however much the girls exasperate their father with their love of popular music, since he loves only the classics, most specifically Beethoven. The girls support each other however they can, but each is an individual with her own distinct personality and wants, including the type of man each wants as a husband. Practical but deep in her heart romantic Emma has long been courted by their next door neighbor, unassuming florist Ernest Talbot, and clever Thea wants to be Mrs. Ben Crowley, he a wealthy up and coming banker with prospects. Only the youngest, the fun loving Ann, states that she doesn’t want to get married. Their collective … Written by HuggoRead More »
Originally released in 1942, Four Steps in the Clouds (Quattro Passi fra le Nuvole) was a major stepping stone in the starring career of Gino Cervi. The story begins as young unwed mother-to-be Maria (Adriana Benetti) desperately casts about for a means of avoiding disgrace. Making the acquaintance of good-natured Paolo Bianchi (Cervi), Maria persuades him to pose as her husband and meet her family.
Immediately ingratiating himself with Maria’s parents, Paolo plays his part so well that only a completely unforeseen disaster could spoil the charade. And when that disaster inevitably arrives, it is Paolo who comes to the rescue…Read More »