1970s

letterboxd:
There was an entire sub-genre of melancholic nocturnal dramas made mostly by Toei and Nikkatsu from mid 60s through early 70s. These films typically followed hustlers, hostesses, hookers and other young people chasing their dreams in the neon lit night of vice, with story premises often taken from popular songs. Here is a superior late entry into the loosely defined genre: a stylish Tokyo red light district drama set to singer Kan Mikami’s rock ballads. Newcomer Emiko Yamauchi shines as an impulsive youth lost in the city of opportunities and seduction. She dumps her boyfriend and becomes a bar hostess after being tricked by sleazy/handsome photographer Ichiro Araki.Read More »

Quote:
The Traveler is a 1974 Iranian drama film directed by Abbas Kiarostami that tells the story of Hassan Darabi, a troublesome, amoral 10-year-old boy in a small Iranian town. He wishes to see the Iran national football team play an important match in Tehran. In order to achieve that, he scams his friends and neighbors. After a number of adventures, he finally reaches Tehran stadium at the time of the match. The film addresses the boy’s determination in his goal and his indifference to the effects of his actions on other people, particularly those who are closest to him. In its element, the film is an examination of human behavior and the balance of right and wrong.Read More »

Roberto Santos, when he was a teacher at film school, gathered friends and students to make this movie, an unique work in brazilian filmography due to its kind of collective experimentalism and complicated relations with censorship, since it was produced during the militar dictatorship.
Today it’s very rare.Read More »

Documentary about a rodeo that takes place, for the most part, in Harlem, New York City.Read More »

On one of their usual weekly commutes into the city, two perfect strangers–Dr Alec Harvey, an esteemed suburban doctor, and Anna Jesson, a middle-class housewife–will inadvertently find love, when a bit of dirt enters Anna’s eye and the good doctor comes to her rescue. Despite both being married to others, this fleeting but powerful interaction will prepare the ground for an unforeseen erotic but unconsummated love affair, as one clandestine rendezvous leads to another. Where is this intense emotional infidelity heading?Read More »

Quote:
Cries and Whispers is a powerful, richly textured exploration of the human soul. The story is set on a remote country house, stripped from the distractions of the outside world (the only “guest” is an attending physician). Agnes (Harriet Andersson) is a terminally ill woman who is cared for by her two sisters: Karin (Ingrid Thulin), repressed and domineering, and Maria (Liv Ullman), sensual and indecisive. However, her only source of comfort is the devoted, nurturing maid, Anna (Kari Sylwan). As with other Bergman films, most notably Autumn Sonata, the film is a heartbreaking portrait of pain and regret, of things left unsaid and undone, until it is too late.Read More »

MANOEUVRE follows a U.S. infantry tank company through NATO’s annual fall manoeuvres in Western Europe. One purpose of these war games is to test how quickly and effectively U.S. reinforcements can come to the aid of NATO forces stationed in Europe. The various stages of the training exercise, including defensive and offensive tactics, and hypothetical wins and losses are seen from the point of view of a company fighting a simulated, conventional, non-nuclear ground and air war.Read More »

After a raucous visit from the wealthy Uncle Arthur (The Death of a Lumberjack’s J. Léo Gagnon), working class Montreal couple Roland (O.K. … Laliberté’s René Caron) and Berthe (Mustang’s Luce Guilbeault) are left feeling slighted by his meager gift of $500. Hungry for more, Berthe hatches a plan to descend on Uncle Arthur’s remote country house and steal his small fortune with the help of her delinquent brother and cousin. When the robbery spirals out of control, allegiances shift, blood is spilled, and Roland’s dimwitted lodger Ernest (J.A. Martin Photographer’s Marcel Sabourin) takes center stage in a harrowing battle for Arthur’s stolen cash.Read More »

A psychotherapist suffers from the onslaughts of Satori, the demon whose name is paradoxically homonymic to the word used for enlightenment experiences in the Zen tradition. Many people mistakenly believe that such a state is the goal of Zen practice; however, the demon strikes at people who are in a state devoid of thought or feeling. Satori’s influence spreads from the psychotherapist to a couple who grow increasingly uninhibited.Read More »