Drama

  • Tony Palmer – Wagner (1983)

    1981-1990DramaTony PalmerTVUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    Wagner is a giant, unwieldy beast. Eight hours devoted to the German composer, from the age of 35 to his death. Its sheer length allows the screen to play house to his politics, his person and his loves all within the frame of his music. Yet is enacts a precarious balance between the epic and the personal, between reverence and irreverence and between high art and high camp. Indeed, at its centre is not Wagner, nor Richard Burton who portrays the composer, but director Tony Palmer who grapples with the material throughout, sometimes succeeding and sometimes falling flat on his face.Read More »

  • Rob Nilsson – Heat and Sunlight (1987)

    1981-1990ArthouseDramaRob NilssonUSA

    Over 16 hours, in February, 1987, a man confronts jealously and rage as a love affair falters. Photojournalist Mel Hurley returns home to San Francisco on the eve of his birthday, expecting his lover, Carmen, to meet him at the airport and tell him if she will be exclusively his. She’s not there, she wants more time. Almost 20 years ago, he’d photographed civil war in Biafra, wanting to tell a story that would save people. He now equates that war with his personal struggle: can his photographs save this relationship? He goes to Carmen to talk to her; first he acts the fool, then they seem to connect. But, can he control his jealousy and not force things with her?Read More »

  • Hsiao-Hsien Hou – Feng gui lai de ren AKA The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

    Drama1981-1990AsianHsiao-hsien HouTaiwan

    Synopsis:
    Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.Read More »

  • Ahmed El Maanouni – Alyam, alyam AKA Oh the Days! (1978)

    1971-1980Ahmed El MaanouniDramaMorocco

    Quote:
    Set in a small village in the Moroccan countryside, Alyam, Alyam tells a story culled from the lived reality of young men almost forty years ago while still remaining very much of the present day. A young man named Abdelwahed pins his dreams of a better life for himself and his family on travelling to France and finding work there. As the eldest of eight children, he becomes the principal caretaker and breadwinner for his family after his father passes away. He fills out forms and waits for his work permit to arrive. Meanwhile, Hlima, his recently widowed mother who’s reticent to let him go, tries in vain to dissuade him and enlists the help of Abdelwahed’s grandfather too. As the days flow by to the cadence of life in the countryside, marked by the hardships of farming, Abdelwahed waits. All he can do is wait. Straddling fiction and documentary, Alyam, Alyam is Ahmed El Maanouni’s first narrative feature, and the first Moroccan film ever to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival. Recently restored, the film’s splendor and finely crafted editing has become available once again for cinéphiles and new generations to discover.Read More »

  • John Ford – Tobacco Road (1941)

    1941-1950ComedyDramaJohn FordUSA

    Shiftless Jeeter Lester (Charley Grapewin) and his family of hillbilly stereotypes live in a rural backwater where their ancestors were once wealthy planters. Their slapstick existence is threatened by a bank’s plans to take over the land for more profitable farming; subplots involve the affairs and marriages of son Dude (William Tracy) and daughter Ellie May (Gene Tierney).Read More »

  • Paul Schrader – Light of Day (1987)

    1981-1990DramaMusicalPaul SchraderUSA

    Quote:
    The siblings Patty and Joe live in an industrial suburb. While Patty’s ambition is their rock band “The Barbusters” only, Joe also cares for the family and the upbringing of Patty’s young son Benji. Their pious mother reproaches them for their way of life, especially when they quit their jobs and go on tour, taking Benji with them.

    The original title of the script was “Born in the USA.” ‘Paul Schrader’ asked Bruce Springsteen to write a title song for the movie. After Springsteen wrote it, he liked the song so much, he used for his multi-platinum album of the same name instead. As a replacement, Springsteen later wrote the song “Light of Day”. That is why Springsteen thanks Schrader in the liner notes of the album.

    [Trent Reznor] Nine Inch Nails’ frontman plays keyboard for featured band ‘The Problems’. His voice can be heard during their song.Read More »

  • Arnaud Desplechin – Frère et soeur AKA Brother and Sister (2022) (HD)

    2021-2030Arnaud DesplechinDramaFrance

    Synopsis:
    The story revolves around a brother and sister who are nearing their fifties – Alice is an actress, Louis was a teacher and a poet. They no longer speak to one another and have been avoiding each other for over twenty years, but the death of their parents will force them to cross paths.Read More »

  • Merve Bozcu – Plastic Dream (2021)

    2021-2030DramaMerve BozcuShort FilmTurkey

    Belma’s self-confidence gets damaged when the doctor she went to for her skin rash problem tells her that she should get botox. She becomes a woman who is uncomfortable with her skin and gets botox but things do not go as she expected.Read More »

  • Roberto Gavaldón – Sombra verde AKA Untouched (1954)

    1951-1960AdventureDramaItalyRoberto Gavaldón

    Synopsis:
    With the purpose of using barbasco roots in the production of cortisone, a pharmaceutical company sends a scientist to investigate the possibilities of exploitation in Veracruz, but the man gets lost in the jungle and lives a strange romantic adventure in a remote location called Paradise.Read More »

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