Based on the short story “A Gentle Being” by Dostoievski.
“St. Petersburg. The capital. Hardly any other place could influence a man’s soul in such dark, harsh and mysterious ways … like St. Petersburg does it. Now, see for yourselves what is happening in those big black dusky houses of St. Petersburg. Look closer. And see for yourselves – what kind of life this is.”
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Poignant and poetic, The Fugitive Kind is a challenging film that works more often than it doesn’t. Based on Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending—a play that had been critically panned and did little business in its original Broadway run—this adaptation boasts terrific performances, atmospheric direction by Sidney Lumet (The Verdict), and excellent cinematography by Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront).Read More »
BAROCCO, from director André Téchiné is an entrancing and operatic take on a political thriller that invokes the plot twists and bizarre narrative elements of Alfred Hitchcock’s VERTIGO as it creates a world of crooked politicians, virtuous prostitutes, doppelgangers, and destiny.
On the eve of a local election in Amsterdam, Samson (Gérard Depardieu), a boxer, is paid to create a scandal by saying he had a homosexual affair with one of the candidates. Although Samson is reluctant to get involved, his girlfriend, Laure (Isabelle Adjani), persuades him to agree and use the money to escape the city. As Laure and Samson are attempting to leave the city, a gangster who looks exactly like Samson (played also by Depardieu) emerges from nowhere and murders him. An intricate chase ensues as the assassin tries to find Laure (and the money), the politicians and gangsters try to find the assassin, and Laure attempts to re-create her lost love in the form of the look-alike killer. The characters’ dancelike movement through the shadow world of Amsterdam and the evocative settings (a gleaming storefront brothel and a sinister underworld spa) provide austere backdrops to this metaphorical thriller. The dark side of politics and human nature are uncovered as Laure begins to love the assassin and the government attempts to control it all.Read More »
A loner (Johnson) drives into a small Texas town and gets himself a job at a used car dealership. He gets an idea for robbing a small local bank after he tries to open a new bank account at the same time a fire occurs nearby. The bank was left open while all of the employees went to fight the fire. The manipulative boss’ wife (Madsen) wishes to use him for her own purposes: “I always get what I want, Harry”. He resists, however, as he finds himself falling in love with the accountant (Connelly) at work, who has her own problem to work out.Read More »
After breaking parole for self defensive manslaughter, Sailor Ripley and his girlfriend Lula Fortune head down the highway for sunny California. Lula’s mother sends out a private detective and a hitman after them. Sailor and Lula encounter an assortment of extremely bizarre “people” while discovering hidden secrets about one another. Full of lurid imagery and references to The Wizard of Oz. (Written by Jennifer Harrison)
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If you are moved by the death of a parakeet at the beginning of The Elementary Particles (Elementarteilchen), you are in for a bumpy ride, as all of humanity as we know it will be wiped out by the film’s end in a brief written epilogue. Of course, those who have read the novel (Les particules élémentaires in its original French, Atomised in its UK version) saw this coming, but for those who are unfamiliar with Michel Houellebecq’s cult hit that explosively mixes sex, death and science to annihilate mankind – and blames the flower power generation for it in the process – this might come as something of a shock.Read More »
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Coquettish socialite Kay Elliott has set her cap for Alan Ward, an associate in her father’s law firm. But while pursuing Alan, she must fend off the advances of a greedy fortune-hunter, who is aided and abetted by his equally voracious sister.Read More »
The Duchess of Langeais, as beautiful as she is brilliant, is a woman who likes to seduce but who does not give in. Until the day when she falls in love with General de Montriveau, a cabal goes up against her.Read More »
A small comedy drama about the life and sex adventures of an amorous window cleaner, in the hip and swingin’ London of the 60’s. Ginger (Victor Henry) divides his time between picking up the cleaning rag and picking up women in the London pubs. One girl he meets is the pretty and demure Jill (Susan George), who his best friend Dwyer (Jack Shephard) takes a shine to. When Ginger agrees to becomes a caretaker at an old man’s mansion and a wild party results, he asks Dwyer to look after Jill. Dwyer takes that invitation as a chance to seduce Jill. Later, when Ginger is informed by Jill that she is pregnant.Read More »