1980s

  • Milos Forman – Amadeus [Director’s Cut + Extras] (1984)

    1981-1990DramaMilos FormanMusicalUSA

    Synopsis: For this film adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s Broadway hit, director Milos Forman returned to the city of Prague that he’d left behind during the Czech political crises of 1968, bringing along his usual cinematographer and fellow Czech expatriate, Miroslav Ondricek. Amadeus is an expansion of a Viennese “urban legend” concerning the death of 18th-century musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. From the vantage point of an insane asylum, aging royal composer Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) recalls the events of three decades earlier, when the young Mozart (Tom Hulce) first gained favor in the court of Austrian emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones). Read More »

  • Oliver Schmitz – Mapantsula (1988)

    1981-1990African CinemaDramaOliver SchmitzPoliticsSouth Africa

    From the Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum) :
    Shot in Johannesburg and Soweto by Oliver Schmitz, a white South African, this radical 1988 feature offers a grittier view of the anti-apartheid movement than Cry Freedom or A World Apart, both from the same period. A petty thief (Thomas Mogotlane) winds up in jail, meets other blacks involved in protesting racism, and gradually becomes politically aware. Banned in South Africa upon release, the film conveys a volatile sense of both time and place–according to the South African censor, it had “the power to incite probable viewers to act violently.”Read More »

  • Todd Solondz – Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989)

    USA1981-1990ComedyMusicalTodd Solondz

    All Movie Guide says:
    This film focuses on the trials and tribulations of Ira (Todd Solondz), who is an unsuccessful playwright trying to find himself in New York City. — Iotis ErlewineRead More »

  • Leonid Kvinikhidze – Drug aka Friend (1987)

    1981-1990DramaLeonid KvinikhidzeUSSR

    Quote:
    Looking for the money for a drink, an alcoholic gets a Newfoundland dog as a present from a stranger at a bird fair. He’ll soon find out that the animal is not only able to speak, but to get him to give up drinking as well. Now he’s determined to get rid of the dog, but that won’t be an easy task. Written by Mario.Read More »

  • Slobodan Sijan – Ko to tamo peva? aka Who’s singing over there? (1980)

    1971-1980ComedySlobodan SijanYugoslavia

    Synopsis:
    On April 5, 1941, a date Serbs will recognize, men on a country road board Krstic’s bus for Belgrade: two Gypsies who occasionally sing about misery, an aging war vet, a Nazi sympathizer, a dapper singer, a consumptive, and a man with a shotgun. Krstic is a world-weary cynic, out for a buck; the driver is his son, the simple, cheerful Misko. En route they pick up a priest and young newlyweds going to the seaside. Along the way, mis-adventure strikes: a flat tire, a rickety bridge, a farmer who’s plowed the road, a funeral, two feuding families, an army detail, and a lost wallet slow the bus and expose rifts among the travelers. On April 6, amid rumors of war, they reach Belgrade…Read More »

  • Staffan Hildebrand – Stockholmsnatt (1987)

    1981-1990CrimeDramaStaffan HildebrandSweden

    Stockholmsnatt’ is a cult film from 1987, which depicts the life of 17 year-old bad boy and figher Paolo Roberto. The movie deals with youth violence, rival gangs och peer pressure, but also family relationships och love. The story is based on Paolo’s own experiences fron the street and real incidents he’s been involved in.Read More »

  • Terence Davies – The Terence Davies Trilogy (1984)

    1981-1990ArthouseDramaTerence DaviesUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis
    Davies’ film is divided into three segments entitled “Children”, “Madonna and Child”, and “Death and Transfiguartion”. The segments tell the life of Robert Tucker. The first segment looks at his birth and formative years in school, an austere boy’s school. The bleak environment is not aided by the loveless, violent domestic life he experiences. Nonetheless, his father’s death has a major impact on him. In the second segment, he is a closeted homosexual working in a grim office and still living at home with his daunting mother. In the final segment, he deals with his mother’s death and then faces his own impending doom. As his death approaches he flashes back to his life’s events.Read More »

  • Martin Veyron – L’Amour Propre ne le Reste Jamais Tres Longtemps (1985)

    1981-1990CultEroticaFranceMartin Veyron

    Description
    In a routine sex farce, Gautier (Jean-Claude Dauphin) is a man determined to figure out how to give a woman an orgasm — which of course requires a lot of practice and experimentation. His buddy Roussel (Jean-Luc Bideau) also chases after women but does not share Gautier’s unique quest. Rose (Nathalie Nell) finds Gautier entrancing and devises a way to capture his heart while helping him on his search for the ultimate turn-on.Read More »

  • Slobodan D. Pesic – Slucaj Harms AKA The Harms Case (1987)

    1981-1990ArthouseSlobodan D. PesicYugoslavia

    Quote:
    Harms Case, The / Slučaj Harms [FL 555]
    The film is based on the life and writing of Russian avant-garde poet of the 1920s Danilo Ivanovič Harms who has become a cult figure in Yugoslavia. Harms wrote about strange and absurd cases, only to became a “case” himself when he was persecuted by the Soviet authorities. The film describes a possible, but bizarre scenario of his last days in 1942. After the authorities have questioned him about his fictional literal characters and their whereabouts he is finally released. Read More »

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