Werner Schroeter’s rhapsody of excess leaps from 1949 Cuba to contemporary France to points in between, while its feverishly shifting visual style evokes and parodies everything from kitschy Mexican telenovelas to silent French art films.

Film en quatre épisodes : Cuba, Drame du rail, Coeur brisé et La Trahison. Dans Flocons d’or, qui traite de la mort, l’héroine Montezuma est l’épouse française d’un gros propriétaire terrien qui se droque. L’action se déroule à Cuba vers la fin des années 40. Des quatre épisodes du film, un seul comporte une ironique lueur d’espoir.Read More »

PLOT:
Maria and Paolo are in love, but they are very young, and most importantly Maria is the daughter of the municipal sweeper while Paolo is the son of lawyer Bonelli, deputy mayor and leader of the opposition.
To complicate matters there is the reconstruction of a hospice destroyed during the war. The reconstruction would obstruct the panorama enjoyable from the villa of Paseroni, big industrialist and political wheeler-dealer.
Bonelli, great speaker, becomes mayor for the death of his predecessor, and gets bribed by Paseroni, while refusing the love of Paolo and Maria for the social differences, and because Paolo should go after Paseroni’s daughter.
At this point, Paolo and Maria flee to kill themselves, just as Bonelli is about to give a speech on the radio for the inauguration of the villa of Paseroni…Read More »

Museum of Modern Art writes:
In a gender twist on the “meddling mother-in-law,” Nick Rocco’s old-world father, Vittorio Rocco (Salvatore Baccaloni), can’t help insinuating himself into his son and daughter-in-law’s lives. Nick and Emily are just a few days away from the birth of their first child and Vittorio—a skilled handyman—is called in to help with repairs in their new home. Nick is reluctant to rely upon his meddling dad, but the repairs have to be made before the baby comes home. Baccaloni was an opera singer and member of the La Scala Opera in Milan.Read More »

Synopsis:
‘Hannes Balla is the foreman of a group of building construction workers at the large construction site “Schkona” in the GDR. They spend most of their time working hard and drinking harder – to some they are fun, to some they are a public nuisance. Things get more complicated when the good-looking Kati Klee is employed as a young technician, and the ambitious new Party Secretary, Werner Horrath, aims to boost work efficiency and downsize Balla’s ego. Kati slowly warms up to Werner, but is also attracted to Balla’s nonconformity. A contemporary movie about work, love, and everything in between.’
– c.winterRead More »

Storyline
Vittorio Borghi, a middle-aged journalist torn between young mistress and wife he no longer loves, returns to his hometown Mantua. There he remembers childhood in the era of fascism, war and ghost of another woman he never forgot.Read More »

On set making-of documentary about Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.Read More »

A hunchbacked caretaker presides over a forlorn mansion inhabited by the ghosts of his previous masters.An unbelieving trio(a doctor,his assistant and his niece)fail to heed the caretaker’s warnings and are slaughtered horribly by the jealous occupants.”The Ghost of the Hunchback” is one of the few Japanese haunted house movies made during 60’s.The film clearly resembles Italian Gothic horror films made by Mario Bava and Antonio Margheriti.The acting is solid,the atmosphere is wonderfully spooky and foggy and there are some gruesome scenes.”The Ghost of the Hunchback” was released on tape in Italy under the title “Il Pozzo di Satana”.Read More »

This film by Guy E. Debord is based on his 1967 book of the same title both of which convey ideas about the consumer capitalism’s mode of production and the effects on everyday life. Though both sources use a different means of communication they both powerfully convey the ideas of the situationists. I wont rant on about the ideas contain within this film which are quite profound and have influenced heavily on the Anti-Capitalist movement and post-structuralism through thinkers like Jean Baudrillard. The structure of the film itself is a series of shots from Hollywood films to soviet “collective hero” film experiments to soft-core porn(nothing past topless) to archival footage of historical events(e.g. May 68 revolt in France) and representations of everyday life. Read More »

Synopsis by Clarke Fountain
Coup Pour Coup is a film about a worker’s strike at a textile plant, and is written and enacted by the actual striking workers. This film was a collaborative and collective effort. Videotapes of upcoming scenes were discussed by the workers, and camera angles as well as dramatic refinements were agreed on before any film was exposed. Given that the film presents the worker’s point of view and is a largely amateur effort, reviewers found it surprisingly effective as a dramatic piece. One interesting feature of the film, and of the strike itself, is that it was organized and led by women. While there had been male union leaders, they were bypassed or ousted for their lack of leadership, understanding, or negotiating skills.Read More »