• Jean-Luc Godard – La chinoise [+commentary] (1967)

    1961-1970AdventureFranceJean-Luc GodardPolitics

    Synopsis:
    Born in a decade of political turmoil, La Chinoise has become a cinematic marker for the significant historical events that surrounded its creation. Five Parisian students, their political awareness aroused by Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, envision an overthrow of Western governmental systems – which they aim to bring about through acts of terrorism. One of Godard’s most brilliant films of the 60s, its success lies in the rejection of traditional narrative techniques: it is a dialectical charade which is as disturbing as it is comical. Though criticised in its day as a political manipulation, La Chinoise has proven alarmingly prophetic and its impact on audiences during the late 60s is echoed amongst viewers today.Read More »

  • Dan Pita – Rochia alba de dantela AKA The White Lace Dress (1989)

    1981-1990Dan PitaPhilosophyRomanceRomania

    A doctor, a sculptor and a football player trying to win the love of desenatoare models, suffering from incurable disease. But this does not preclude it from working on hand in a clothes factory. Of the three candidate, the young woman prefers the more modest, based with the family.Read More »

  • Jean Rouch – Moi, un noir AKA I, a Negro (1958)

    Drama1951-1960DocumentaryFranceJean Rouch

    A group of young Nigerians leave the savannah to work in the Ivory Coast. They end up in Treichville, a poor quarter of Abidjan, lost and rootless in modern civilisation. The hero, who narrates his own story, calls himself Edward J. Robinson in homage to the American actor. Like him, his friends have adopted pseudonyms intended to create, symbolically, an ideal personality.Read More »

  • Elyer Ishmukhamedov – Vlyublyonnye aka The Lovers (1970)

    1961-1970Elyer IshmukhamedovRomanceUSSR

    Quote:
    A romance film directed by Elyer Ishmukhamedov, starring Anastasiya Vertinskaya, Rustam Sagdullayev, Gyuzal Apanayeva, and Karen Khachaturyan.Read More »

  • Seth Holt – Taste of Fear AKA Scream of Fear (1961)

    1961-1970Hammer FilmsHorrorMysterySeth HoltUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    Penny Applebee’s parents were divorced when she was quite young and she grew up with her mother. After her mother’s death, the wheelchair-bound Penny has accepted her father’s invitation to live with him. She arrives only to learn that her father is away though her stepmother – who she is meeting for the first time – proves to be quite welcoming. On her first night however, she sees a light in the summerhouse and upon investigation, sees her father sitting there, apparently dead. Others can find nothing there and tell her she must have imagined it. She later sees his body in library and then again in the pool. She comes to believe that her stepmother and her father’s friend, Doctor Pierre Gerard, are plotting to drive her insane. She gets a sympathetic ear from Bob, the chauffeur, who feels there has to be some rational explanation for what has been happening.Read More »

  • Pierre-Alain Jolivet – Le Grand Ceremonial aka Weird Weirdo (1968)

    Arthouse1961-1970FrancePierre-Alain Jolivet

    IMDB:
    When a boy is the victim of his over-protective mother, he leaves his home at night in search of female victims. When he meets a young girl who is a petty thief, he mistreats her and she falls in love with him.Read More »

  • Kantemir Balagov – Tesnota AKA Closeness (2017)

    2011-2020DramaKantemir BalagovRussia

    1998, Nalchik, the North Caucasus, Russia.
    24-year-old Ilana works in her father’s garage to help him make ends meet. One evening, her extended family and friends gather to celebrate the engagement of her younger brother David. Later that night, the young couple is kidnapped, and a ransom demand delivered.
    In this close-knit Jewish enclave, involving the police is out of the question. How will the family raise the money to save David? Ilana and her parents, each in their own way, will go as far as necessary, whatever the risks to themselves…Read More »

  • Yoshimitsu Morita – Mohou-han AKA Copycat Killer (2002)

    2001-2010HorrorJapanThrillerYoshimitsu Morita

    This horrifying thriller, which stars Smap member Masahiro Nakai revolves around a lunatic killer who announces his crimes before he carries them out! All victims are killed in hideous ways, most of them being tortured before death. This nerve-wrecking shocker will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat until its startling climax!Read More »

  • Douglas Sirk – Shockproof (1949)

    USA1941-1950CrimeDouglas SirkFilm Noir

    Quote:
    After having served 5 years in prison, for killing a man while defending her disreputable lover, Harry (John Baragrey), Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight) is set for parole. Her parole officer, Griff Marat Cornel Wilde is determined to make Jenny go straight. For lack of other prospects Griff finds Jenny a job in his own home, something totally against regulations. At first, Jenny still has feelings for Harry, but as Griff shows her more compassion and care, she falls in love with him – which Harry seems to encourage, because he has plans to crush Griff and his dreams of political office, and the situation soon becomes even more dangerous…Read More »

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