Drama

Synopsis
Angela Schanelec’s first feature since 2010 is the much-anticipated Der traumhafte Weg, a serious work that is deliberately constructed image upon image and allows the viewer to read a seemingly realistic, yet artificially created world as it is being experienced, yet ultimately works against any simple narrative comprehension. The best way to tackle Der traumhafte Weg is to proceed, scene by scene, with a description of the shots, of how within the shots the characters are framed, how the characters gaze, how they hold their bodies… In other words, it is an Angela Schanelec film, where attention is required and rewarded, and the characters are at the mercy of the elements of chance.Read More »

On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder. According to the accusation by GHQ, Toyomatsu “attemped to kill a US prisoner”, which was nothing but an order by his superior and failed after all with hurting the prisoner by weak Toyomatsu. Also, Toyomatsu was driven to corner at the trial by the fact that he fed the US prisoner some burdock roots to nourish him. Toyomatsu believes nothing but being not guilty, but he is sentenced to death by hanging. Prior to the execution, Toyomatsu writes a long farewell letter to his family, the wife and the only son: “If I ever incarnate, I hate to be a human being any more…. Oh yes, I would like to be…a shellfish living on the rock-bottom of the sea.”Read More »

Quote:
Based on a gekiga (adult orientated manga) penned by Kazuhiko Miyatani,this is director Ikeda’s first movie after leaving Nikkatsu over censorship disagreement. It’s a unique variation of the standard vengeance theme,sort of classy (albeit very bloody) version of I Spit On Your Grave. A fisherman,opposed to the construction of a nuclear power plant,is murdered by a gang of right-wing extremists who are puppets of the corrupt contractor.The dead man’s devoted wife concocts a plan of revenge.She slaughters the men in the goriest,the most grisly ways imaginable,thus removing any suspicion from her.In fact,the newspapers soon begin reporting stories of “a blood-fiend from the lake” and “a ghost mermaid.”Read More »

In 2002, 12-year-old Maria, living in dire poverty with her family, is sold by her fisherman father to prostitute recruiter Seu Tadeu, who takes her to a low-class brothel in the Amazon region. While she suffers innumerable abuses, Maria only thinks of escaping the horrible conditions she’s faced with.Read More »

Parallel lives of two couples destined to suicide, one, and unhappiness, the other.Read More »

The new teacher at a severely administered boys’ boarding school works to positively effect the students’ lives through music.Read More »

A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch Magazine”. The staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.Read More »

Summary:
This film is a story of a close, but complex friendship between two women against the backdrop of the military dictatorship. They swear everlasting friendship and promise to become actresses. Twenty years later, Raquel has indeed become a famous Argentine actress. Maria is married to an electrician and has three children.
1976. The military take over the government. Carlos, Maria’s oldest son, is taken away by a special commando. Despairing, Maria turns to her influential girlfriend, Raquel. The two women begin their search for Carlos. The two go to police departments, barracks, official bureaus. But nobody will give them information. And those who ask questions are themselves suspicious. Raquel is also threatened.Read More »

A middle-aged man leaves his wife for another woman. Shortly after, his ex-wife also begins a relationship with a younger partner. The film follows their struggles to find love amongst each other.Read More »