• Akio Jissôji – Uta AKA Poem [Theatrical Cut] (1972)

    1971-1980Akio JissojiArthouseDramaJapan

    Quote:
    Poem is the last film in Jissoji’s Art Theatre Guild trilogy and deals with the traditional stem-family system on the verge of collapse allegorically. Not very satisfied with the optimistic last scene of Mujo, Jissoji approaches a similar subject matter from a different perspective. And the film is more in line with his concern about the radical change in the society which prompted him to make the trilogy. It appears that the script was written through intense discussions between Jissoji and Ishido, this time too.Read More »

  • Paulo César Saraceni – O Desafio AKA The Dare (1966)

    1961-1970ArthouseBrazilPaulo César SaraceniPolitics

    Passively facing the repression imposed by military dictatorship in Brazil in the 60s, a journalist gets into a personal crisis, aggravated by his love affair with an industrialist’s wife, who doesn’t want to leave her home because of her son.Read More »

  • Luigi Comencini – La valigia dei sogni AKA The Suitcase Of Dreams (1953)

    Documentary1951-1960ComedyItalyLuigi Comencini

    In the movie La valigia dei sogni (The Suitcase of Dreams, Italy, 1953) directed by Luigi Comencini, some sequences from Cenere are inserted. The protagonist is a former silent film actor who has saved old movies of his time from destruction, and uses them to set up recreational performances at schools. After an accidental fire and the risk of prison, he meets a rich producer who helps him to build a film museum.Read More »

  • Felix van Groeningen – Dagen zonder lief AKA With Friends Like These (2007)

    2001-2010BelgiumComedyDramaFelix Van Groeningen

    Everybody who went to college and had good friends there, or spent lots of careless time with wild and young companions, will be deeply affected by this film. Dagen Zonder Lief shows us in a glowing, slow burning way what we all know: nothing lasts forever, not even friendship. The wonderful characters in Dagen Zonder Lief were young together and had loads of fun, as the subtle flashbacks show us, but those days are over. One is married and has a little baby; another one left for New York; yet another one is about to enter the snobbish world of his snobbish girlfriend. There’s still a spark when they meet, but that’s it: just a spark. Not the burning fire of the old days. The suicide of one or their common friends and the inexplicable need to settle prevents them from truly reliving the old days. They hardly ever mention it, but you can see it in their every movement and expression.Read More »

  • Andrea Bianchi – Malabimba (1979)

    1971-1980Andrea BianchiEroticaHorrorItaly

    Quote:
    This movie works for two reasons. The first is the director Andreas Bianchi who, though far less prolific, was a lot like Spanish auteur Jesus Franco in his ability to take irredeemably sleazy material like this and make it somehow oddly watchable. Bianchi’s work includes “What the Peeper Saw” which offered the unusual pairing of Swedish sex kitten Britt Ekland and the kid from “Oliver”, scuzzy giallo favorite “Strip Nude for Your Killer” where the usually classy Edwige Fenech simulated both oral and anal sex (not surprisingly, it’s the only recent DVD release she hasn’t provided any commentary for), and his follow-up to this film “Burial Ground” again with Giordano who this time gets her latex nipple bitten off by a strange-looking dwarf who is supposed to be her zombified son.Read More »

  • Jean Georgescu – Directorul nostru AKA Our Director (1955)

    1951-1960ComedyJean GeorgescuRomania

    IMDb wrote:
    Over at the fictional DRGBP institution, events take a settling turn after a mutinied prize festivity.

    Lucian Lupescu review wrote:
    In this comedy, the manager (Alexandru Giugaru) of an institution is challenged, during a meeting where he hands out bonuses to everyone, by a worker who says he doesn’t deserve that bonus. Encouraged by another worker, Maria Popescu (Angela Chiuaru), he manages to convince everyone to give the money back. Everyone except for the lazy clerk Ciubuc (Grigore Vasiliu-Birlic), who sneaks out quickly with his bonus. Read More »

  • Louis Malle – Pretty Baby (1978)

    1971-1980ArthouseDramaLouis MalleUSA

    In 1917, in the red light district Storyville, New Orleans, the prostitute Hattie lives with her twelve year-old daughter Violet in the fancy brothel of Madame Nell, where she works. Photographer Ernest J. Bellocq has an attraction to Hallie and Violet and he is an habitué of the whorehouse. One day, Madame Nell auctions Violet’s virginity and the winner pays the fortune of US$ 400 to spend the night with the girl. Then Hattie marries a wealthy client and moves to Saint Louis, leaving Violet in the brothel alone. Violet decides to marry Bellocq and she moves to his house. Until the day that Hattie, who has overcome her past, comes to Bellocq’s house with the intention to take Violet with her.Read More »

  • Leni Riefenstahl – Der Sieg des Glaubens AKA Victory of the Faith (1933)

    1931-1940DocumentaryGermanyLeni RiefenstahlThird Reich Cinema

    Plot
    Der Sieg des Glaubens (English: The Victory of Faith) is the first documentary directed by Leni Riefenstahl, who was hired despite opposition from Nazi officials that resented employing a woman — and a non-Party member too. Her film recounts the Fifth Party Rally of the Nazi Party, which occurred in Nuremberg from August 30 to September 3 in 1933.Read More »

  • Alan Yentob – Arena: The Orson Welles Story (1982)

    Documentary1981-1990Alan YentobBBCOrson WellesUnited Kingdom

    Plot
    Two-part profile of actor-director Orson Welles, looking at his life and career in theatre, radio and particularly film.Read More »

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