• The Otolith Group – Otolith II (2009)

    2001-2010DocumentaryThe Otolith GroupUnited KingdomVideo Art

    Quote:
    In 2006 The Otolith were commissioned by the Dutch curatorial platform If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution, Kunsten Festival Des Arts and Argos in Brussels, and Casco Projects in Utrecht to develop the next episode in the Otolith Trilogy. The work was developed over one year with a series of events that explored our research and methodology. The Video was filmed in Dharavi in Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, in Chandigargh in the state of Punjab and in London.Read More »

  • Seijun Suzuki – Kawachi Karumen AKA Carmen from Kawachi (1966)

    1961-1970ComedyDramaJapanSeijun Suzuki

    Synopsis:
    ‘Carmen from Kawachi brings the nihilist Suzuki universe to a woman’s life in the decidedly unsentimental education of a provincial factory worker, Tsuyuko, whose rape by two fellow villagers starts her on the road to sexual awareness and finally, independence. It is a long, picaresque road indeed, meandering from Osaka’s Club Dada, through liaisons with a millionaire, a dominatrix, and an action painter–all the while cohabiting with a degenerate if loving roué. The determining encounter is with a corrupt monk, whose sordid affair with her mother had been for Tsuyuko a primal introduction to sexual hypocrisy and male brutality.’
    – James QuandtRead More »

  • Anatoliy Karanovich & Sergei Yutkevich – Ilinskiy o Mayakovskom AKA Mayakovsky Laughs (1973)

    1971-1980Anatoliy KaranovichComedyExperimentalRussiaSergei Yutkevich

    This little-seen and little-discussed film combines animation with self-reflexive, live action segments to embody the anarchic, satiric spirit of the poet and playwright Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930). The film also showcases Sergei Yuktevich’s fondness for formal experimentation. It is nominally adapted from Mayakovsky’s play “The Bedbug” and his screenplay “Forget All About the Fireplace.”Read More »

  • Fritz Lang – Frau im Mond AKA Woman in the Moon (1929)

    Germany1921-1930Fritz LangSci-FiSilentWeimar Republic cinema

    Synopsis:
    Thirty years ago, at a scientific conference, Prof. Manfeldt presented his theory on the existence of gold on the Moon. It was greeted with laughter by the assembled academics. Today, Herr Helius has ambitious plans to build a spaceship… and take it to the Moon! Windegger, his chief engineer, will be going, and so will Prof. Manfeldt, now living in a cramped garret alone with his theory. But there are disagreements with the financiers who insist that their man Turner also accompany the flight… The unmanned Rocket H 32 brings back valuable information from the dark side of the Moon. Helius is upset by the news of Windegger’s engagement to the pretty Friede. And the financiers have a secret agenda: to control the world’s gold supply… Finally, the Spaceship “Friede” is ready as it rolls out on its gantry for takeoff. The staged rocket works as planned, but the acceleration is fierce. As they approach the Moon, they discover a stowaway on board, Gustav, a little boy…Read More »

  • Ji-woo Jung – Haepi-endeu AKA Happy End (1999)

    1991-2000DramaJi-woo JungSouth Korea

    Quote:
    Bo ra, a successful English institute manager, has became the financial pillar of the house since her seemingly much older husband, Min ki, once a successful banker has lost his job. Her boring, stressing, without passion,…. life has driven her to her former lover, Il bom. This movie is story of a hell that she has made for herself and her two men and their not so happy ending.Read More »

  • John Ford – The Whole Town’s Talking (1935)

    1931-1940ComedyCrimeJohn FordScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He’s never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to him. One day everything changes: he oversleeps and is fired as an example, he’s then mistaken for evil criminal killer Mannion and is arrested. The resemblance is so striking that the police give him a special pass to avoid a similar mistake. The real Mannion sees the opportunity to steal the pass and move around freely and chaos results.Read More »

  • Luis Buñuel – Le journal d’une femme de chambre AKA Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)

    1961-1970CrimeDramaFranceLuis Buñuel

    Quote:
    This wicked adaptation of the Octave Mirbeau novel is classic Luis Buñuel. Jeanne Moreau is Celestine, a beautiful Parisian domestic who, upon arrival at her new job at an estate in provincial 1930s France, entrenches herself in sexual hypocrisy and scandal with her philandering employer (Buñuel regular Michel Piccoli). Filmed in luxurious black-and-white Franscope, Diary of a Chambermaid is a raw-edged tangle of fetishism and murder—and a scathing look at the burgeoning French fascism of the era.Read More »

  • King Vidor – Man Without a Star (1955)

    1951-1960ActionKing VidorUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    Dempsey Rae, a cowboy with no clear aim in life, winds up working on a spread with a hard lady owner just arrived from the East. She needs a tough new top hand and uses all her means of persuasion to get Rae to take the job. But he doesn’t like the way the other settlers are getting treated and starts to side with them, despite their introduction of the barbed wire he loathes.Read More »

  • Otto Preminger & Jean Negulesco – River of No Return (1954)

    1951-1960AdventureJean NegulescoMarilyn MonroeOtto PremingerUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    Matt Calder, who lives on a remote farm with his young son Mark, helps two unexpected visitors who lose control of their raft on the nearby river. Harry Weston is a gambler by profession and he is racing to the nearest town to register a mining claim he has won in a poker game. His attractive wife Kay, a former saloon hall girl, is with him. When Calder refuses to let Weston have his only rifle and horse, he simply takes them leaving his wife behind. Unable to defend themselves against a likely Indian attack, Calder, his son and Kay Weston begin the treacherous journey down the river on the raft Weston left behind.Read More »

Back to top button