1990s

  • Urszula Urbaniak – Torowisko AKA The Junction (1999)

    1991-2000DramaPolandUrszula Urbaniak
    Torowisko (1999)
    Torowisko (1999)

    Quote:
    Using the backdrop of the banality and ordinariness of everyday life in a small provincial town, the film analyses the relationship between two women friends, who struggle to find their way in post-communist Poland. The small events of their lives represent universal feelings of being trapped and lost in a new world, in contrast to the successes of the dark side of democracy – drug dealing, crime and pornography. By its very nature, the film creates a picture of provincial Poland after democracy, but its charm is in the understated relationship between the two friends and the people around them and in the mosaic structure that builds up the film piece by piece.Read More »

  • André Téchiné – Les voleurs AKA Thieves (1996)

    André Téchiné1991-2000CrimeFranceQueer Cinema(s)Romance
    Les voleurs (1996)
    Les voleurs (1996)

    Quote:
    Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Auteuil, and director André Téchiné collaborate for the second time (following their outstanding My Favorite Season) in a powerful story about a Paris cop (Auteuil) who comes from a criminal family. When his father and brother are murdered, suspicion shifts to his lover (actress Laurence Côté), who then disappears. Auteuil’s character reluctantly teams up with her lesbian girlfriend (Catherine Deneuve) both to find her and clear her name. The gripping story is told in a nonlinear series of overlapping chapters taking place before, during, and after the killing. Time bends and shifts, forcing the action to ripple through an ever-widening pool of neuroses and tragedy. The best part of the film, however, is the always- mesmerizing cold-fusion chemistry between Deneuve and Auteuil, two great actors who never wear their hearts on their sleeves.Read More »

  • Frederick Wiseman – Ballet (1995)

    Frederick Wiseman1991-2000DocumentaryUSA
    Ballet (1995)
    Ballet (1995)

    Ballet is a 1995 American documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman. It portrays rehearsals, choreography, performances, business transactions, and other day-to-day life of the American Ballet Theatre. Much of the footage dates from the 1992 season. It also includes scenes from the company’s European tour, namely in Greece and Copenhagen.Read More »

  • Jana Sevciková – Jakub (1992)

    1991-2000Czech RepublicDocumentaryJana Sevciková
    Jakub (1992)
    Jakub (1992)

    After second world war the people from Ruthenia’s Carpathian villages were promised a better life in Bohemia. Once settled down they felt like strangers at the new places, so memories and tales became very important reminding them of their old homes. One of these tales is about Jakub, a man who knew the bible by heart. This film follows his trace portraying the almost forgotten loss of those people who nowadays still feel without a home.Read More »

  • Kathy Bates – Dash and Lilly (1999)

    1991-2000DramaKathy BatesUSA
    Dash and Lilly (1999)
    Dash and Lilly (1999)

    The lives of Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman are set against the golden era of Hollywood, HUAC and the issue of McCarthyism of the 1950s. This intimate look at the lives of two of this century’s literary titans follows their tumultuous affair, drinking bouts, career highs and lows, and activities in support of left-wing causes including Hammett’s public avowal of Communism and his membership in the Communist Party and Hellman’s sympathies for the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union before World War II. Bebe Neuwirth also appears as socialite-writer Dorothy Parker.Read More »

  • Yuan Zhang – Dong gong xi gong AKA East Palace, West Palace (1996)

    Yuan Zhang1991-2000AsianChinaDrama
    Dong gong xi gong (1996)
    Dong gong xi gong (1996)

    Quote:
    The most daring and achieved of all the ‘illegal’ independent films made in China in the ’90s – and quite probably the last, since it prompted the Film Bureau to formally outlaw unauthorised production and confiscate the directors Zhang Yuan’s passport.Read More »

  • John Frankenheimer – The Fourth War (1990)

    John Frankenheimer1981-1990DramaThrillerUSA
    The Fourth War (1990)
    The Fourth War (1990)

    Quote:
    Cold War drama about two gung-ho border commanders (Roy Scheider, Jurgen Prochnow) who carry out their own private war against each other on the German – Czechoslovakia border.Read More »

  • Jean-Claude Biette – Chasse gardée (1992)

    Jean-Claude Biette1991-2000ArthouseFrance
    chasse gardée (1992)
    chasse gardée (1992)

    A “three-person relationship” with a pact involving a terrible past. The pact concerns France, Anne and Pierre.Read More »

  • Olli Saarela – Rukajärven Tie aka Ambush (1999)

    Olli Saarela1991-2000DramaFinlandWar

    Plot Synopsis:
    It is the summer of 1941 and the Finnish army has been mobilized along the border with Russia. A platoon led by Lt. Eero Perkola is waiting for orders to go on the offensive. The platoon receives orders for a recon mission through the wilderness around the Lieksa lake to search for possible Russian defensive positions. When the platoon rests in a newly conquered village Lt. Perkola meets his fiancee Kaarina Vainikainen, who is serving in the Women’s Auxilary Corps (Lotta). The platoon continues with the mission, but after some time a terrible message reaches Lt. Perkola. The message causes Perkola to become totally indifferent to his and his platoon’s safety during the remainder of the mission.Read More »

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