Drama

  • Morten Arnfred & Lars von Trier – Riget II AKA The Kingdom II [+Extras] (1997)

    Morten Arnfred1991-2000DenmarkDramaTV

    Danish television mini-series, created by Lars von Trier in 1994, and co-directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred.

    The series is set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen’s Rigshospitalet, the city and country’s main hospital, nicknamed “Riget”. “Riget” means “the realm” or “the kingdom” and leads one to think of “dødsriget”, the realm of the dead. The show follows a number of characters, both staff and patients, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural. The show is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down Syndrome who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital.Read More »

  • Marcel Pagnol – Jofroi AKA Ways of Love (1933)

    Marcel Pagnol1931-1940ComedyDramaFrance

    IMDB wrote:
    Jofroi sells his orchard to Alphonse. Alphonse wants to use the land for crops, so he starts to cut down the trees. Jofroi is furious: how can someone cut down those trees? He threatens to commit suicide so that the small town will blame Alphonse and Alphonse’s life will be miserable. Alphonse, the curate, the teacher, and some of the townsfolk spend the rest of the movie trying to keep Jofroi from committing suicide… This is not complicated… the movie is not about the plot; it is all about the characters and the dialogue.Read More »

  • Jeff Lipsky – Flannel Pajamas (2006) (DVD)

    Romance2001-2010DramaJeff LipskyUSA

    AMG: When a blind date arranged by mutual friends results in a whirlwind courtship for an enchanted young couple, the pair soon discover that fate may not ultimately be so kind in director Jeff Lipsky’s affecting romance. As the rain poured down on the night that they first met, Stuart and Nicole sat mesmerized in a small diner, wondering if life could truly get any better than it was in those early, magical moments. In the coming weeks they found that indeed life could get better, but as the young couple embarks on a dizzying romance their initial enchantment soon gives way to a painful reversal of fortunes. With human flaws eclipsing the perceived initial perfection and the disparities of their backgrounds prying open an ever deepening chasm filled with selfishness and religious conflict, Stuart and Nicole soon find that the heartbreak of their failing romance is as emotionally devastating as their early moments together were intoxicating.Read More »

  • Georgis Grigorakis – Digger (2020)

    2011-2020DramaGeorgis GrigorakisGreece

    A father and a son long lost. Love and hate. Digging deep into mud to find their roots. Revenge and Redemption. A Western, revisited.Read More »

  • Jacques Rivette – La bande des quatre AKA Gang of Four (1989)

    Jacques Rivette1981-1990ArthouseDramaFrance

    Quote:
    Gang of Four (French: La Bande des quatre) is a 1989 French drama film directed by Jacques Rivette. It was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won an Honourable Mention.

    La Bande des Quatre (domestically known as Gang Of Four) is Jacque Rivette’s 1988 film that meanders through the close knit lives of a group of female acting school students in Paris. When I say meander, I REALLY mean meander, because Rivette chooses to let his film gradually unfurl at a hypnotically slow pace that at times borders on the voyeuristic, with it’s long, static shots of breakfast and dinner conversations and the like. At first, this style of filmmaking straddles the line between dull and engaging, but Rivette’s film is saved by a quartet of strong young actresses.Read More »

  • Bertrand Tavernier – L.627 (1992)

    Bertrand Tavernier1991-2000CrimeDramaFrance

    In Paris, Lulu, a passionate policeman, works with the faith of a rookie, despite the sclerotic bureaucracy and the incompetence or negligence of some of his colleagues. In his new position as a narcotics inspector, he tries to keep his sanity as he witnesses the worst of the human condition.Read More »

  • Nanni Moretti – Tre piani AKA Three Floors (2021)

    Nanni Moretti2021-2030ComedyDramaItaly

    The story of three families living in three apartments in the same bourgeois condominium.Read More »

  • Mengqiao Li – Bipolar (2021)

    2021-2030ChinaDramaMengqiao Li

    IMDB synopsis:
    Based on the myth of Orpheus: in Lhasa, a young woman encounters a lobster that will change her life.

    Quote:
    A journey that takes the myth of Orpheus as a starting point and that accompanies the protagonist on a pilgrimage that is physical, but also psychological. In her journey she meets different characters who represent a dysfunctional society. The memories and hallucinations seem real, and reality seems like a hallucination. As a viewer, the journey however has not led me anywhere.Read More »

  • Jonas Bak – Wood and Water (2021)

    2021-2030ArthouseDramaGermanyJonas Bak

    As she enters retirement, a mother leaves behind her solitary life in rural Germany and memories of a once perfect family life and travels to protest-ridden Hong Kong, a place that has kept her son away from her for many years.

    Quote:
    “Clocking in at a lean 80 minutes, Wood and Water is one of those films that gets so much right for so long that it’s actually a bit nerve-wracking. Is the filmmaker going to make a misstep? First-time feature director Jonas Bak doesn’t err, exactly. His film is a stately, poetic examination of self-discovery, the pull of family, and the backdrop of history that tinges our relationships even when we aren’t aware of it. But for the first 45 minutes or so, Wood and Water is really something bold and new. It sets up a connection between its subject and its viewer, one that asks us to consider alienation as something more than just a common festival-film trope.”
    – Michael SicinskiRead More »

Back to top button