• Helmut Käutner – Die Rote AKA Redhead (1962)

    1961-1970DramaGermanyHelmut KäutnerRomance

    Quote:
    The film can be best described as Käutner goes Antonioni with Fellini’s cinematographer on the camera. The critics slaughtered the film as they did with many films of the era which only get rediscovered today and it didn’t help that the author attacked during a press conference the film which he had himself written following his own novel unwisely too closely while Käutner fought against that. Don’t let that disturb you, it’s quite a remarkable film and a great showcase for the cool understated beauty of Ruth Leuwerik who was correctly labeled the German Deborah Kerr.Read More »

  • Fredi M. Murer – Grauzone (1979)

    1971-1980DramaFredi M. MurerSwitzerland

    After his remarkable documentary about mountain farmers, We Who Dwell in the Mountains Cannot Be Blamed for Being There (1974), Zurich-born filmmaker Fredi M. Murer came down to the city to film the gray suburbs and their anguished inhabitants embedded in what he called a “fictional documentary” written in collaboration with a number of scriptwriters (including writer Adolf Muschg). Set in a black and white world with an air of the fantastic, the story revolves around a young couple confronted with a mysterious epidemic the government is trying to cover up. A portrait of an urban Switzerland utterly disconnected from its roots, Grauzone (1979) is one of the most powerful works about the Swiss society of control that prefigures the social movements that had their heyday in Zurich in 1980 (“Züri Brännt”).Read More »

  • Anatole Litvak – The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)

    1931-1940Anatole LitvakCrimeDramaUSA

    Plot:
    A wealthy society doctor decides to research the medical aspects of criminal behaviour by becoming one himself. He joins a gang of thieves and proceeds to wrest leadership of the gang away from it’s extremely resentful leader.Read More »

  • Kinuyo Tanaka – Ruten no ôhi AKA The Wandering Princess (1960)

    1951-1960AsianDramaJapanJapanese Female DirectorsKinuyo Tanaka

    Pu Zhe, the younger brother of the Emperor of Manchukuo, Pu Wen, marries Ryuko the daughter of a long-established aristocratic family – all in the interest of the Japanese rulers, which legitimizes the relationship between Japan and its Chinese puppet state. To the surprise of all , a deep love between Pu Zhe and Ryuko develops. It is put to the test when Japan loses the war, Manchukuo is dissolved and the imperial court must flee. The lovers now have to separate: Pu Zhe tries to escape to Japan with his brother, while Ryuko flees with her daughter Eisei over the country. A film on the relationship between Pujie (1907-94), brother of the “last emperor” Puyi and his second wife, Marquise Hiro Saga (1914-87).Read More »

  • Emile Degelin – Dock (1954)

    1951-1960BelgiumEmile DegelinShort Film

    Synopsis:
    “In Dock Emile Degelin shoots a floating dock and follows its journey on the Scheldt River.”
    – CinematekRead More »

  • Arthur Barron – Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream (1990)

    1981-1990Arthur BarronDocumentaryUSA

    Comment from IMDb:
    The tragic life of Rita Hayworth, one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood’s golden years, is examined in this documentary directed by Arthur Barron. Her life, during her ascent into glory, was the stuff that filled the pages of the fan magazines of that era. She was adored by her fans and envied by others because she had it all.

    Her daughter, Princess Yasmin Khan, talks about her mother in a caring manner. It is obviously they had a bond that was only shattered by a horrible disease that took away her dignity, which was the crowning blow to a woman whose life was full of sadness and misery, in spite of the glamorous appearance. The men in her life didn’t give her the happiness she deserved, but used her in whatever way they could.Read More »

  • Saul Bass – The Searching Eye (1964)

    1961-1970Saul BassShort FilmUSA

    The simple actions of a young boy on the beach provide visual metaphors for the normally unseen world. The camera adds a profound dimension to what the boy has seen, giving us a deeper understanding of visual awareness.Read More »

  • Akira Kurosawa – Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi AKA The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)

    1941-1950AdventureAkira KurosawaClassicsJapan

    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail, the fourth film from Akira Kurosawa, is based on
    a legendary twelfth-century incident in which the lord Yoshitsune, with the help of a group of samurai, crosses enemy territory disguised as a monk. The story was dramatized for centuries in Noh and Kabuki theater, and here it becomes one of the director’s lightest, most farcical films.Read More »

  • Stephen Elliott – About Cherry (2012)

    2011-2020DramaStephen ElliottUSA

    Quote:
    A troubled young woman moves to San Francisco, where she becomes involved in pornography and aligns herself with a cocaine-addicted lawyer.Read More »

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