Jean-Pierre Melville’s independent and original approach to film-making on titles such as Bob Le Flambeur, Le Doulos, and Le Samourai earned him the reputation of the father, or at least the precursor, of the French New Wave. However, what is less known is that Melville spent eight years of his life between 1937 and 1945 as a soldier in the French army and then the Free French Forces, which he joined after the French defeat the Germans. Having escaped through the South of France to Spain, he became a member of the Resistance and took on the code name of Melville (after Herman Melville, the writer he most admired). Read More »

One of the first films of the French nouvelle vague, this film has been never released. In fact, Jean-Daniel Pollet did not want the film to be made available to the public at all, and it only found it way out of Archives Françaises du Film after the death of the author.Read More »

While at War (Spanish: Mientras dure la guerra) is a 2019 Spanish historical drama film directed by Alejandro Amenábar. It premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot:
Revered author Miguel de Unamuno (Karra Elejalde) decides to publicly support the Spanish coup of July 1936. He is immediately removed from his position as rector at the University of Salamanca by the Government of the Second Spanish Republic. Meanwhile, Nationalists succeed in taking control of Salamanca, and General Francisco Franco moves his headquarters to the city. Some of Unamuno’s colleagues are imprisoned on charges of affiliation. Unamuno, who believes he can have the influence to liberate the innocent, heads to Franco’s Palace, determined to beg him for clemency.Read More »

Under the direction of Alberto Lattuada, the film traces with economy and clarity the development of the dream to sail west in order to establish a new route to the riches of the East.Read More »

Cemal, a moustachioed embodiment of awkwardness and anguish, inhabits an Anatolian rural village where everyone is gifted with some sort of super power.

Turkish writer-director Onur Ünlü’s surreal and fantastical fable follows a barber who survives a suicide attempt and finds himself falling in love, succumbing to murderous jealousy, and trying to make sense of life in a village where his neighbours are invisible, immortal, or possess the ability to stop time. In this village, the fantastic is never far from the quotidian. Amongst Cemal’s neighbours are a giant, an immortal, an invisible woman, and a bookseller who can stop time by clapping her hands.Read More »

Imdb:
Burial of a Christian political activist in a Muslim cemetary forces a conflict imbued with religious fervor. A satiric portrayal of religion and politics, sometimes humorous, sometimes deadly serious.Read More »

“Neshat spoke to The Stranger’s Jen Graves on Tuesday, by phone from her home in New York.

I first want to talk about Zarin, the anorexic prostitute who hallucinates at the sight of her john, then flees to a women’s bath—a beautiful place, sparkling with dusty light—where she scrubs her own skin until she bleeds. A few years ago, I caught your short video portrait of her, and was never able to get her out of my mind. You’ve said her character feels the closest to you.Read More »

The Debt is a gripping thriller about two entrepreneurs who become tangled in the web of a Russian thug. Two friends begin a business venture of importing Italian scooters into Poland. With no collateral, they turn to a Russian acquaintance that offers money and support in the beginning and then inexplicably turns violent and vicious. Tension mounts as the two friends begin to understand what must be done. Based on a true story, The Debt is a terrifying tale of ordinary men pushed to their limit.Read More »

Quote:
This little-known first film from writer Paula Delsol was not well-received when it was released in France the 1960s. Thanks partly to its over-18 certification, the film was a commercial failure and Delsol only made one other film (although she later did some work for television).Read More »