Drama

  • Satyajit Ray – Ashani Sanket aka Distant Thunder (1973)

    Satyajit Ray1971-1980DramaIndia

    The film is set in a village in the Indian province of Bengal during World War II, and examines the effect of the Great Famine of 1943 on the villages of Bengal through the eyes of a young Brahmin doctor-teacher, Gangacharan, and his wife, Ananga.Read More »

  • Alain Corneau – Le cousin (1997)

    Alain Corneau1991-2000DramaFranceThriller

    From IMDB:
    Nounours is the nickname of a “cousin” an informer with a special arrangement with the police: he gets 10% of the drugs seized thanks to his help. When his personal contact, inspector Maurin, commits suicide, inspector Gérard Delvaux takes over. Meanwhile, judge Lambert is uncovering the illegal practices of the policemen. Her persistent investigations, which had cornered Maurin, are leading to Gérard, and also to Nounours as the source of heroin that led to recent cases of deadly overdoses. Nounours promises Gérard increasingly bigger catches which he is intent on realising before he is forced to reveal who Nounours is to judge Lambert. Written by Eduardo CasaisRead More »

  • Akira Kurosawa – Kumonosu-jô AKA Throne of Blood (1957)

    Akira Kurosawa1951-1960DramaEpicJapan

    A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare’s definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.Read More »

  • Ana Kokkinos – Head On (1998)

    1991-2000Ana KokkinosAustraliaDramaQueer Cinema(s)

    Quote:
    Nineteen-year-old Ari confronts both his sexuality and his Greek family. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for having entombed themselves in insular tradition. Ari is obsessed with gay sex, although he does make an unenthusiastic attempt to satisfy the sister of one of his best friends. While all of this is going on, he’s facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual activities.Read More »

  • Pascal Bonitzer – Petites coupures aka Small Cuts [+Extras] (2003)

    Pascal Bonitzer2001-2010DramaFrance

    Journalist Bruno (Auteuil) is swithering between a wavering wife (Devos) and a much younger girlfriend (Sagnier), and politically undecided after the collapse of communism. Realising a break in routine is required, he answers a call for help from his uncle (Yanne), which takes him to the countryside near Grenoble. Charged with delivering a letter to the old man’s romantic rival, he’s soon deep into uncharted territory and a disorienting encounter with the volatile Béatrice (Scott Thomas). All this resolves itself into a narrative homily about needing to lose yourself in order to find your way again, but you get the feeling that Bonitzer (former Cahiers du Cinéma editor and frequent Rivette collaborator) is less interested in the destination than the uncertainties of the journey. Read More »

  • Sofia Bohdanowicz – Never Eat Alone (2016)

    Sofia Bohdanowicz2011-2020CanadaDocumentaryDrama

    Quote:
    Never Eat Alone is an unorthodox, feature length docu-fiction that subtly explores an expired romance. Constructed with minimal narrative, the film follows an elderly woman’s interest in connecting with an ex-lover from long ago.Read More »

  • Velimir Stojanovic – Cetiri kilometra na sat AKA Four Kilometers per Hour (1958)

    Drama1951-1960ComedyVelimir StojanovicYugoslaviaYugoslavian Cinema under Tito

    Quote:
    Inert petit-burgeoisie place in pre-war Yugoslavia. Two politicians are fighting for voters, while their children fall in love…Read More »

  • Stuart Heisler – Among the Living (1941)

    Stuart Heisler2011-2020250 Quintessential Film NoirsDramaFilm NoirUSA

    A mentally unstable man, who has been kept in isolation for years, escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.

    Letterboxd review
    ★★★½ Rewatched by DopeAssGhost 26 Aug 2019

    AMONG THE LIVING (1941)

    Casting shadows of Southern Gothic overtones and sending shivers of noir through the body, Among The Living is a mix of subgenres including social drama, suspense thriller, and even a bout of horror. It’s a short 67 minute black and white picture that offers a simplistic story- mentally unstable twin brother of an affluent man breaks out of his mansion room prison, kills a couple of people on the outside, and becomes manipulated by an attractive dame. It’s an enjoyable looking film that kept me entertained for the most part, but it doesn’t really have any impact in thematic scope or rewatchability. Plus besides a slightly suspenseful on-foot chase sequence, I didn’t really get any suspense vibes.Read More »

  • Halit Refig – Teyzem AKA My Aunt (1987)

    1981-1990DramaHalit RefigTurkey

    (warning: you may not want to read this review before watching film.)
    If I am not mistaken, the scenario of this film is based upon an award winning story from Cumhuriyet,a prestigious paper in Turkey.Teyzem( My maternal aunt) is a very sentimental and successfully- managed story of relation between a young aunt in Istanbul and her nephew coming to the city to visit her and his grandparents.The aunt and her nephew, Baris,manage to construct a sound and secret friendship and alliance amongst each others during summer holiday and arrange visits to the former’s boyfriend who is a handsome guitarist in a local band. Noone in the family is aware of these secret visits.In the film, the audience is given opportunity to observe daily life of an Istanbul family making his way through a very moderate economic resources.For grandparents, nothing could be more important than their daughter’s eventual marriage with a decent man.Read More »

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