Accredited director of erotica and kung-fu films Chu Yuan, combines stars from both genres in Sex, Love And Hate, a masterpiece about Hong Kong society’s differing emotional views on love and what women want when it comes to happiness in love. The provocative Ching Li (Chu Tai), the exotic Lily Ho (Pai Mei) and the princess of kung-fu films Hsu Feng (Yao Yao), play three women who live together and compare notes as to what would make them happy in love, in life, then go out to find it. Pai Mei wants money at all costs, Chu Tai will marry as soon as the opportunity arises and Yao Yao is saving her virginity for Mr. Right.Read More »

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Doctor Kees Pulder is unexpectedly visited by his old study pal Hans van Inge Liedaerd. They recall youth memories until they’re totally boogaloo. The next morning, Pulder discovers that Hans left quietly and stole his medicines, including a bulk of morphine. In the evening a brick is thrown through the window with a note from Hans. Not long after, Hans dies from an overdosis. Following his funeral, Pulder gets under the spell of Hans’ past. He meets one of his old lovers, Mies, who tells him they were planning on committing suicide together. Pulder starts visiting Mies regularly. In the end they sow poppies in her backyard, with the juice of which Mies wanted to kill herself. For Kees, it’s still not too late.Read More »

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“We tried to draw a broad picture showing that the class which, theoretically at least, was said to be the ruling class, had somewhat different views from those which were printed on the front page of the Trybuna Ludu.”
— Krzysztof KieslowskiRead More »

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Winner of the Un Certain Regard award at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Aida Begic’s Children of Sarajevo (Djeca, 2012) is a tightly-focused drama, portraying life in contemporary Bosnia from the point of view of the war orphans now reaching maturity. Marija Pikic plays Rahima, a 23-year-old woman who, after a misspent youth, has found solace and direction in Islam, practising the Hajib and wearing a headscarf.Read More »

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Life in Poland is satirized in this standard comedy drama about a group of people who take a short cruise together, a brief vacation along a river before the demands of life and work are faced again. The wide mix of passengers goes from one end of the personality spectrum to the other, and the close quarters make mingling, talking, and interacting all the easier. Sight gags and sharp wit keep the cruise, and the comedy, rolling along at a good pace.Read More »

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In an isolated Orthodox convent in Romania, Alina has just been reunited with Voichita after spending several years in Germany. The two young women have supported and loved each other since meeting as children in an orphanage.

Alina wants Voichita to leave and return with her to Germany, but Voichita has found refuge in faith and a family in the nuns and their priest, and refuses. Alina cannot understand her friend’s choice. In her attempt to win back Voichita’s affection, she challenges the priest. She is taken to hospital and the people of the monastery start to suspect that she is possessed. —Wild BunchRead More »

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Life is hard in a Welsh mining town and no less so for the Morgan family. Seen through the eyes of the family’s youngest, Huw, we learn of the family’s trials and tribulations. Family patriarch Gwilym and his older sons work in the mines, dangerous and unhealthy as it is. Gwilym has greater hopes for his youngest son, but Huw has his own ideas on how to honor his father. Daughter Angharad is the most beautiful girl in the valley and is very much in love with Mr. Gruffydd, who isn’t sure he can provide her the life she deserves. Times are hard and good men find themselves out of work and exploited by unseen mine owners.Read More »

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Yasujiro Ozu’s frequent leading man Chishu Ryu is riveting as Shuhei, a widowed high school teacher who finds that the more he tries to do what is best for his son’s future, the more they are separated. Though primarily a delicately wrought story of parental love, There Was a Father offers themes of sacrifice that were deemed appropriately patriotic by Japanese censors at the time of its release during World War II, making it a uniquely political film in Ozu’s body of work.Read More »

Reportedly unavailable on TV or video because Arthur Miller himself was unhappy with it, this 1951 film version of the classic play nevertheless features a bravura, barn-burning performance from Fredric March, who had been Miller’s original choice to play Willy Loman on the stage. (March turned down the part, and regretted it greatly, which led to his taking the movie part.)Read More »