Mystery

  • Jafar Panahi, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, David Lowery, Dominga Sotomayor, Anthony Chen, Laura Poitras, Malik Vitthal – The Year of the Everlasting Storm (2021)

    Apichatpong Weerasethakul2021-2030Anthony ChenDavid LoweryDominga SotomayorDramaJafar PanahiLaura PoitrasMalik VitthalMysteryUSA
    The Year of the Everlasting Storm (2021)
    The Year of the Everlasting Storm (2021)

    Featuring seven stories from seven auteurs from around the world, the film chronicles this unprecedented moment in time, and is a true love letter to the power of cinema and its storytellers.

    Life by Jafar Panahi
    Night Colonies by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
    Dig Up My Darling by David Lowery
    Sin Titulo by Dominga Sotomayor
    The Break Away by Anthony Chen
    Terror Contagion by Laura Poitras
    Little Measures by Malik VitthalRead More »

  • Jacques Tourneur – Cat People (1942)

    Jacques Tourneur1941-1950HorrorMysteryUSA
    Cat People (1942)
    Cat People (1942)

    Quote:
    Serbian national Irena Dubrovna, a fashion sketch artist, has recently arrived in New York for work. The first person who she makes a personal connection with there is marine engineer Oliver Reed. The two fall in love and get married despite Irena’s reservations, not about Oliver but about herself. She has always felt different than other people, but has never been sure why. She lives close to the zoo, and unlike many of her neighbors is comforted by the sounds of the big cats emanating from the zoo. And although many see it purely as an old wives’ tale, she believes the story from her village of ancient residents being driven into witchcraft and evil doing, those who managed to survive by escaping into the mountains. After seeing her emotional pain, Oliver arranges for her to see a psychiatrist to understand why she believes what she does. In therapy, Dr. Judd, the psychiatrist, learns that she also believes, out of that villagers’ tale, that she has descended from this evil.Read More »

  • Claude Goretta – La Mort de Mario Ricci AKA The Death of Mario Ricci (1983)

    Claude Goretta1981-1990DramaMysterySwitzerland
    La Mort de Mario Ricci (1983)
    La Mort de Mario Ricci (1983)

    Quote:
    A country road glimpsed through a dirty windscreen… a mangled car wreck on a garage forecourt…Volonté blowing up an inflatable coat hanger and reminding his assistant that ‘it’s the details that count’. And so they clearly do in Goretta’s film, although quite what they add up to is never sharply defined. A crippled TV journalist (Volonté) arrives in a Swiss village to interview a specialist in world food shortages disillusioned by the non-application of his theories. But he soon becomes embroiled in a web of local intrigue resulting from the death of a young immigrant worker. Goretta counterpoints his two stories with deft assurance, letting them strike subdued ironies off one another; there are thematic strands galore here, clearly signposted but seemingly left deliberately smudged. Yet there is no shortage of delights either: fine atmospherics, immaculately fluid camerawork, and a towering performance from Volonté, sympathy and disdain flickering back and forth across those marvellously expressive features.Read More »

  • Banmei Takahashi – Doa AKA Door (1988)

    Banmei Takahashi1981-1990HorrorJapanMystery
    Doa (1988)
    Doa (1988)

    Tokyo housewife Yasuko Honda (Keiko Takahashi, the director’s wife) has a workaholic husband named Saturo (Shirô Shimomoto) who has been called away for out-of-town duty for a few days, so she is home alone with her elementary-school–age son Takuto (Takuto Yonezu). Already fed up with the frequent intrusions of door-to-door salesmen, because of whom she keeps her door locked and latched, she is highly frustrated when salesman Yamakawa (Daijirô Tsutsumi) slips his hand through her chained door to offer a brochure. She slams the door on his hand, instantly making an enemy of the man, who becomes bent on revenge.Read More »

  • Gregory Ratoff & Orson Welles – Black Magic (1949)

    Gregory Ratoff1941-1950DramaMysteryOrson WellesUSA
    Black Magic (1949)
    Black Magic (1949)

    Synopsis:
    A gypsy man discovers that he is a natural hypnotist, and decides to make a fortune off of his ability. When he meets the Viscount who had ordered the execution of his parents and his own whipping and blinding (the latter from which he escaped), he uses his abilities to gain vengeance. Of help to him is a woman who has a startling resemblance to Marie Antoinette. Soon, his lust for power and his love for the woman gain control of him.Read More »

  • Ted Post – Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate (1971)

    Ted Post1971-1980ComedyMysteryUSA
    Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate (1971)
    Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate (1971)

    Four elderly ladies with a lot of time on their hands get the idea to create a fictional “girl” for a computer dating service. However, things take a turn for the worse when their description of the “girl” attracts a psychopath.Read More »

  • Edgar Neville – El crimen de la calle de Bordadores (1946)

    Edgar Neville1941-1950CrimeMysterySpain
    El crimen de la calle de Bordadores (1946)
    El crimen de la calle de Bordadores (1946)

    On a dark night, the body of a well-known society woman is found; the investigators immediately suspect that the killer was the woman’s maid. For her part, the maid demands that the woman’s fiancé be brought in for questioning. Some journalists covering the story decide to follow up on the maid’s suggestion and gradually piece together the chain of events that led to the murder.

    Suave and good-looking, the fiancé was taking advantage of the dead woman, his attentions more focused on a much tougher young lady. Yet just as the narrative of the crime starts to come together, sudden revelations challenge all the information already discovered by the journalists. As someone renowned for his own storytelling abilities, Edgar Neville used this philosophical thriller as way of meditating on how stories are created, as well as the complex relationship between a tale and its teller.Read More »

  • Kamal El Sheikh – El-Lailah el-Akhirah (1963)

    1961-1970EgyptKamal El SheikhMysteryThriller
    El Lailah el Akhirah (1963)
    El Lailah el Akhirah (1963)

    During 1942, Nadia Burhan lives with her mother in Alexandria, Fawzia lives with her husband Shaker, whom she married against her family’s will. Nadia meets Salah and agree to get married. Fawzia dies from a German bombardment of the city, and Nadia has amnesia and Fawzia’s husband tries to delude Nadia that she’s Fawzia.Read More »

  • Jean Renoir – La nuit du carrefour AKA Night at the Crossroads (1932)

    Jean Renoir1931-1940CrimeFranceMystery
    La nuit du carrefour (1932)
    La nuit du carrefour (1932)

    Inspector Maigret investigates the mysterious murder of a Dutch diamond dealer, found dead in a stolen car. The car belongs to an insurance agent, Michonnet, and has been abandoned in the garage belonging to Carl Andersen.Read More »

Back to top button