Werner Schroeter’s adaptation of a novel by Ingeborg Bachmann, Isabelle Huppert portrays a writer who suffers from an interminable case of existential angst.

Synopsis:
An unusual story of a triangular relationship set in Vienna. A woman shares an apartment with a man named Malina. The woman meets Ivan and falls in love. It will be her last great passion. The singlemindedness of her love is so great that it is more than the man can comprehend or respond to. The film’s subject is nothing less than love- and the loneliness of the lover. Read More »

Centuries ago, in what would become the Canadian Arctic, Atuat is promised to the malevolent Oki, son of the leader of their tribe. But Atuat loves the good-natured Atanarjuat, who ultimately finds a way to marry her. Oki’s sister, Puja also fancies Atanarjuat, and when she causes strife between him and his brother Amaqjuaq, Oki seizes the opportunity to wreak a terrible revenge on Atanarjuat.

Apparently the first ever feature film to be made in the Inuktitut (Canadian Eskimo) language, this epic tale recounts the ancient Inuit legend of Atanarjuat.

Set some thousand years ago in the settlement of Igloolik near the Arctic Circle, “Atanarjuat” relates how shamanic forces spark deep divisions within a community of nomadic Inuit.Read More »

Quote:
Some effort was made by us folks in KG’s Little Italy to honor Mario Monicelli after his death at the end of November last year, but as usual we didn’t reach very far beyond the usual group of converts. Most of you may have read that Monicelli committed suicide at age 95 by jumping off the hospital where he had just been diagnosed with cancer. This ended a career stretching 60 years, of which Un eroe dei nostri tempi is an early gem.

Alberto Sordi, who would join forces with Monicelli in films like La grande guerra and Un borghese piccolo piccolo, shines in this comedy, which must have been decisive when it came to establishing his less-than-heroic movie persona.Read More »

Quote:
Peter, a 20 year old Viennese photographer, has made the bookings for a holiday with his friend Liesl in the south of France. A French tourist seduces him and he falls for her. Liesl is mad at him. But she wants to go on the trip so she leaves with him. But they do not spend their time together. She flirts with the men on the beach while Peter falls for Simone, a southern beauty, even though they don’t speak the same language. Simone’s fiancé arrives and their affair is over. He misses her exotic charm and doesn’t find it in Liesl who’s just ‘the girl next door’ for him. Liesl flies back home when their vacation ends but Peter wants to stay on in France and look for a job. Contemporary love story about the confrontation of French and Austrian culture.Read More »

Short synopsis:
After a long separation, a father and his son spend the day fishing on the river bank. On a beautiful autumn Sunday, surrounded by the majestic countryside, they seem to be alone in the world. They must start all over again.Read More »

Vargas, a 54 year old man, gets out of jail in the prvince of Corrientes, Argentina. Once released, he wants to find his now adult daughter, who lives in a swampy and remote area. To get there, he must cross great distances in a small boat on the rivers, scoring deep into the jungle. Vargas is a quiet and self-contained man. He possesses the restraint of those living close to nature. A deep mystery surrounds him, the people he encounters and the places he goes through, all that taking in the unalterable world he finds almost unchanged after his long years of incarceration. (~IMDb)Read More »

Synopsis:
Two brothers are divided by matters of love and politics in this feature by a former actor and assistant director for Nanni Moretti.Read More »

Mark Cousins’ introduction to Cronenbergs Videodrome.
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Stefan (Klaus Grünberg) hitchhikes to Paris and there at a party meets Estelle (Mimsy Farmer), a beautiful but elusive American. Soon afterwards, she leaves for Ibiza and an already smitten Stefan vows to follow her, but he has to help out in a robbery to raise the cash to do so. Finally, he meets up again with Estelle and the two become lovers. In an atmosphere of easy sex, nude sunbathing and lots of drugs, Stefan\’s hold on his life begins to crumble.
More was Barbet Schroeder\’s directorial debut and it set the Iranian-born, French-national writer, director, producer and occasional actor on a fascinatingly wayward career. He has made films all over the world, often tackling \’difficult\’ subject matter (drugs here, sadomasochism in Maitresse, also available as a DVD from the BFI). Unfortunately the last decade or so has been spent making increasingly routine material in Hollywood.Read More »