• Patrice Leconte – Tango (1993)

    1991-2000ComedyDramaFrancePatrice Leconte

    Synopsis (possible spoilers):
    ‘Vincent, a stunt pilot, is acquitted of murdering his wife and her lover. However, a few years later, L’Elegant, the Judge in the case, comes to blackmail him. The Judge’s nephew, Paul, is having trouble with his wife and they demand that Vincent kill her. The Judge, a confirmed bachelor, takes Paul and Vincent on the road to search for Paul’s wife Marie. The three men get on well together, and spend their time discussing their relationship with women.’
    – Will Gilbert (IMDb)Read More »

  • Jean Negulesco – Humoresque [+Extras] (1946)

    1941-1950ClassicsDramaJean NegulescoUSA

    A moment of personal tragedy prompts concert violinist Paul Boray (John Garfield) to re-evaluate his life. He recalls happier times when, as a small boy, his mother gave him a violin for his birthday. After years of dedicated study, Paul becomes an accomplished violinist, but he finds it impossible to work so he can pay his way. One day, his pianist friend Sid Jeffers (Oscar Levant) takes him along to a party hosted by the wealthy socialite Helen Wright (Joan Crawford). The latter is trapped in a loveless marriage with an older man and finds the headstrong young violin player a tempting proposition. She decides to act as Paul’s patron, financing his debut concert and providing him with a manager. Through Helen’s money and contacts, Paul soon becomes an established musician, and he shows his gratitutde in just the way Helen hoped he might. But just when Helen thinks she has won her man, she realizes that she will never be able to compete with his one true love: his music…Read More »

  • Jacques Doillon – Ponette (1996)

    1991-2000DramaFranceJacques Doillon

    Les Inrockuptibles wrote:
    A 4-year-old child loses her mother. From this violent and irremediable situation, Jacques Doillon builds with Ponette a relentless film on pain and confinement. Contrary to the usual creamy imagery, he recreates with force and truth the magical and cruel world of childhood, a secret universe where adults have no place.Read More »

  • Kon Ichikawa – Biruma no tategoto aka The Burmese harp (1956)

    Drama1951-1960AsianJapanKon Ichikawa

    Captain Inouye is a music lover and he taught his unit to sing. One of his soldiers, Mizushima, learned to play harp to accompany the chorus of his comrades, discovering a gift unknown to himself before war. The music will save the company when Japan surrenders but now the country and its soldiers has to split his spirit in two: either accept, either refuse… either live, either die… but the film finds even more subtle separations, as if receiving like the burman soil it begins and ends with all the scars and tugs of postwar Japan.Read More »

  • Gilles Delannoy & Isabelle Pierson & Michel Campioli – Carré blanc (1986)

    1981-1990DocumentaryExploitationFranceGilles DelannoyIsabelle Pierson

    Quote:
    so, what we have here is a bunch of journalists gathering up at night in some kind of secret meeting where they share their best stories, for the purpose of selling them to the first issue of a new magazine….so, somehow the action takes places all during one night…and the magazine is going to be a paper, but the stories come in video footage…go figureRead More »

  • Nobuhiko Obayashi – Futari aka Chizuko’s Younger Sister (1991)

    1991-2000DramaFantasyJapanNobuhiko Obayashi

    Synopsis
    The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.Read More »

  • Sam Soko – Softie (2020)

    2011-2020DocumentaryKenyaPoliticsSam Soko

    Political activist Boniface “Softie” Mwangi runs for office in a regional Kenyan election, which puts pressure on his young family and his convictions.Read More »

  • Shuji Terayama – Les Fruits de la passion AKA Fruits of Passion (1981)

    1981-1990DramaEroticaFranceShuji Terayama

    Shuji Terayama adapted his 1981 film, The Fruits of Passion, from the eponymous Pauline Reage’s sequel to her well regarded book, The Story of O. However, ‘adapted’ is used very loosely in this instance, as Terayama uses the opportunity to completely reshape the structure of the novel, and use only it’s themes and characters to create a story that is uniquely his. According to the credits, the text of the narration and O’s dialogue itself was taken directly from the short novel, but everything else is pure Terayama.Read More »

  • Leslie Stevens – Hero’s Island (1962)

    Drama1961-1970AdventureLeslie StevensUSA

    IMDB:
    In 1718, on a small island off the Carolina coast, a recently freed family of indentured servants plans to settle and homestead there but they run into conflict with a group of fishermen also claiming ownership of the island.Read More »

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