• Konrad Wolf – Der geteilte Himmel AKA The Divided Heaven (1964)

    1961-1970ArthouseDramaGermanyKonrad Wolf

    While recovering from a mental breakdown, the young Rita Seidel recalls the last two years, in which she fell in love with Manfred, a chemist who is ten years older. As Manfred became disillusioned with his opportunities in East Germany, he moved to the West. Rita followed him there and tried to persuade him to return but soon realized he would never do it. Rita comes to terms with the past and decides to concentrate on her work and the building of a socialist society. Although some of the characters are shown as overzealous in their support of the regime, for obvious reasons the nature of the East German dictatorship is never depicted or discussed. The Stasi, the all-pervasive secret police headed by the director’s brother Markus Wolf, is not mentioned. The film is set in the period immediately before the erection of the Berlin Wall.Read More »

  • Gennadiy Vasilev – Finist – Yasnyy sokol AKA Finest, the Brave Falcon (1975)

    1971-1980AdventureFantasyGennadiy VasilevUSSR

    This fairy tale film is dedicated to the memory of the great film director Alexander Row, the founder of the genre. Once upon a time there lived a brave and kind hero named Finist the Bright Falcon. He was famous for his strength, courage and a heart of gold. But one day the Russian land was attacked by an evil enemy, Kartaus, who turned our hero into a forest monster. This spell was cast on a condition that Finist might become a man again, should a beautiful girl, Alyonushka, fall in love with him while he was a beast.Read More »

  • Stuart Heisler – Storm Warning (1951)

    1951-1960DramaFilm NoirStuart HeislerUSA

    Quote:
    Marsha Mitchell, a traveling dress model, stops in a southern town to see her sister who has married a Ku Klux Klansman. Marsha sees the KKK commit a murder and helps District Attorney Burt Rainey in bringing the criminals to justice.Read More »

  • Akio Jissoji – Akutoku no sakae aka Marquis de Sade’s Prosperities of Vice [+Extras] (1988)

    1981-1990Akio JissojiAsianEroticaJapan

    Synopsis :
    A decadent Count in 1920’s Japan becomes obsessed with the works of the Marquis de Sade. He creates a theatre to show plays adapted from the notorious writers novels, and recruits a variety of theives, prostitutes and low lives to act out his fantasies on stage for the delight of his rich and decadent friends.
    In search of new sensations, the nobleman orders one of the actors, on pain of death, to make love to the noblemans wife while he watches. Unfortunately, this incursion of real life into his fantasy world will have dire consequences for the count and his coterie.
    Full of startling images and with a gripping storyline, this film is a feast for the eyes and mind. A classic waiting to be discovered.Read More »

  • Werner Herzog – Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (2019)

    2011-2020BBCDocumentaryUnited KingdomWerner Herzog

    Channel BBC Two
    Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (21 Sept 2019) When legendary writer and adventurer Bruce Chatwin was dying of Aids, his friend and collaborator Werner Herzog made a final visit to say farewell. As a parting gift, Chatwin gave Herzog the rucksack that had accompanied him around the world.
    Thirty years later, carrying the rucksack, Herzog sets out on his own journey, inspired by Chatwin’s passion for the nomadic life. Along the way, Herzog uncovers stories of lost tribes, wanderers and dreamers.
    He travels to South America, where Chatwin wrote In Patagonia, the book that turned him into a literary sensation, with its enigmatic tales of dinosaurs, myths and journeys to the ends of the world. Read More »

  • Joseph Pevney – The Strange Door (1951)

    1951-1960DramaHorrorJoseph PevneyUSA

    Noble-born cad Denis (Stapley) has been tricked into a forced stay at the eerie manor of the Sire de Maletroit (Laughton), an evil madman who can’t get over the death of his beloved, twenty years after she married his brother (Cavanagh) instead and subsequently passed away during childbirth. Maletroit is determined to have his revenge: the brother has been stowed away in the dungeon for two decades, while he’s convinced his disreputable house guest will make a suitably hellish husband for his niece. As luck would have it, the young couple manage to fall in love, and with the help of manservant Voltan (Karloff), they try to make their escape, but not before a final confrontation with Maletroit in the dungeon’s crushing deathtrap.Read More »

  • Fritz Lang – Man Hunt (1941)

    1941-1950Fritz LangThrillerUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.Read More »

  • Zoran Tadic – Ritam Zlocina AKA Rhythm Of Crime (1981)

    1981-1990CrimeDramaYugoslaviaZoran Tadic

    A single teacher allows a stranger to share his home with him before it is to be torn down by developers. The stranger has a fascination with statistics and claims he can predict crimes based on statistical analyses. Intrigued by this talent, the teacher tells a married, female friend that the man seems to have done what he claims. Then the numbers show that there is a slip-up and a murder that was supposed to have occurred, did not. The stranger is adamant that a balance has to be achieved or the whole town will suffer – and he leaves.Read More »

  • Joseph Losey – The Big Night (1951)

    Drama1951-1960Film NoirJoseph LoseyUSA

    A film noir treatise about the coming of age of a young man is beautifully realized by the great Joseph Losey. John Drew Barrymore zigzags through the sordid vortex of downtown Los Angeles while seeking vengeance on the man who beat his Father. This superbly crafted “trial by fire” tale with memorable dialogue and shaded photography co-stars Preston Foster, Joan Lorring, Harold St. John and Dorothy ComingoreRead More »

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