Classics

  • Leslie Arliss – The Man in Grey (1943)

    Leslie Arliss1941-1950ClassicsDramaUSA
    The Man in Grey (1943)
    The Man in Grey (1943)

    Synopsis:
    At an estate auction in WWII England, two strangers meet and muse about their families’ history and possible connections. Flashbacks reveal the story of the sweet, rich, and beautiful Clarissa Richmond and her friendship with bitter, impoverished Hesther Shaw. Their fates are intertwined even as their paths diverge. Clarissa marries the handsome but cruel Marquis of Rohan while Hesther becomes an actress. Eventually, the two women meet again and Clarissa brings the scheming Hesther into her household. As Clarissa searches for true love, Hesther plots to take away everything that belongs to her.Read More »

  • Man-hui Lee – Sampoganeun kil AKA The Road to Sampo (1975)

    1971-1980ClassicsDramaMan-hui LeeSouth Korea
    Sampoganeun kil (1975)
    Sampoganeun kil (1975)

    Going through a jail and a site of construction, a young laborer Young-Dal meets middle aged Mr. Jeong on his way to his hometown Sampo after ten years’ absence. They become to know a waitress Baek-Hwa who runs away from a restaurant and then, they travel together. Arriving at the destination Kangcheon Station, Mr. Jeong is disappointed at the changes of the old village by building a hotel. Young-Dal and Mr. Jeong stay at Sampo not as the hometown but as the site of living. Baek-Hwa leaves Sampo with a ticket Young-Dal buys her with his last money.Read More »

  • Julien Duvivier – Le paquebot Tenacity aka S.S. Tenacity (1934)

    Drama1931-1940ClassicsFranceJulien Duvivier
    Le paquebot Tenacity (1934)
    Le paquebot Tenacity (1934)

    Paris, at the time of the Great Depression. Bastien, a manual worker, persuades his timid friend, Ségard, to leave with him for Canada, to start a new life in a country where, according to the publicity films, everything is possible. The two men arrive in the port of Le Havre, ready to depart on the ocean liner Tenacity. They take lodgings at a boarding house where they both fall under the spell of the charming serving girl Thérèse. When the boat’s departure is delayed, Bastien takes advantage of the hiatus to court Thérèse. One evening, he gets her drunk and lures her into bed with him, without his friend knowing. The next day, Bastien has made up his mind to stay in France with Thérèse…Read More »

  • Kenji Mizoguchi – Meito bijomaru AKA The Famous Sword Bijomaru (1945)

    Kenji Mizoguchi1941-1950ClassicsDramaJapan
    Meito bijomaru (1945)
    Meito bijomaru (1945)

    Synopsis:
    Kiyone Sakurai, an apprentice swordmaker makes a sword for his guardian, Kozaemon Onoda. Onoda breaks the sword while defending his lord which eventually leads to his death at the hands of Naito, when Naito demands to marry his daughter Sasae. Sasae vows to avenge her father’s death and pleads for Kiyone Sakurai to make a special sword for her. So Kiyone and his fellow swordmaker Kiyotsugu go to the master swordsmith Kiyohide Yamatomori to learn their craft and forge the sword.Read More »

  • Peter Stein/Peter Schönhofer/Thomas Grimm – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust (2001)

    2001-2010ClassicsGermanyPerformancePeter SchönhoferPeter SteinThomas Grimm
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Faust (2001)
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Faust (2001)

    Faust I und II. By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Arena Treptow, Berlin. 16/17 December 2000.

    It took Peter Stein more than ten years to realize his life-long dream of staging both parts of Goethe’s tragedy in an unabridged version. He finally succeeded in raising sufficient funds to hire an ensemble and, most importantly, to engage Bruno Ganz for the part of Faust. They had worked together before; early in both their careers Ganz played Tasso in Stein’s famous production at the Bremen Municipal Theatre in 1969 and Peer Gynt and the Prince of Homburg at the Berliner Schaubühne in 1971 and 1974 respectively. However, even though casting was settled, a series of disasters still seemed to haunt the production. Read More »

  • Noboru Nakamura – Natsuko no Boken AKA Natsuko’s Adventure in Hokkaido (1953)

    Noboru Nakamura1951-1960AdventureClassicsJapan
    Natsuko no Boken (1953)
    Natsuko no Boken (1953)

    Quote:
    After World War II, Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. developed and launched colour film stocks, with which the first Japanese natural colour features Carmen Comes Home (1951) and Natsuko’s Adventure in Hokkaido were produced by Shochiku; the latter has seldom been presented as its existing print is an incomplete one. Adapted from an early serial fiction by Yukio Mishima, it is a melodrama with women as subjects—a genre Nakamura was best at, with excellent representation of Mishima’s persevering characters. Born to a prestigious family, Natsuko is not impressed by any one of her suitors. Determined to spend her life serving god, she sets off to a convent in Hakodate, Hokkaido and meets along the way a young bear-hunter with whom she begins an adventure. A few scenes are missing in this print, one of which near the end is without a soundtrack; lines in the original script are inserted in these scenes to make up for these defects, which do not discount the film’s status as a valuable film capturing Hakodate in its glorious and vibrant colours.Read More »

  • Satyajit Ray – Nayak AKA The Hero (1966) (HD)

    Satyajit Ray1961-1970ClassicsDramaIndia
    Nayak (1966) (HD)
    Nayak (1966) (HD)

    Arindam, a matinee idol, is going by train to collect an acting award. On the train, he is confronted by Aditi, a journalist who somewhat unwillingly starts to take his interview. Arindam, won over by Aditi’s naivete, starts to disclose his past, his fears and his secrets.Read More »

  • Richard Brooks – Blackboard Jungle (1955)

    Richard Brooks1951-1960ClassicsDramaUSA
    Blackboard Jungle (1955)
    Blackboard Jungle (1955)

    Synopsis:
    War veteran Rick Dadier is one of three new teachers hired at North Manual High School, an inner city boys school. This is his first teaching assignment, which he needs to support himself and his insecure pregnant wife, Anne. Despite Principle Warnecke’s assertions to the contrary, Dadier quickly learns that the rumors of student discipline problems at the school are indeed true. The established teachers at the school try to counsel the newcomers, all inexperienced in such situations, as how best to handle the rowdy students. Regardless, Dadier tries to exert discipline in his class, which provokes a violent response. Dadier believes the student leaders against him are Artie West, but more specifically Gregory Miller, who he thinks uses the fact of being black as a means of racial provocation. Dadier has to decide either to leave and teach at a “real” school, or stay and figure out how to get through to his students. If he decides to stay, he has to figure out who the real disruptive influences are, especially as they have resorted to attacks of a personal nature that affect especially Anne.Read More »

  • Joze Gale – Kekec (1951)

    1951-1960ClassicsJoze GaleSloveniaYugoslavian Cinema under Tito
    Kekec (1951)
    Kekec (1951)

    Kekec is one of those films people in Slovenia usually see in their childhood and keep it in their memories as a precious gift for the rest of their lives. It is a double memory: firstly, of one’s childhood, and seconly, of an environment that doesn’t exist in the modern world. In fact, the setting looks so ancient the things you see there could be taken straight from a museum – and this is not far from the truth, since every detail has been made with such accuracy it could also serve as a student’s book of ethnographic elements in rural Alpine settlements. Today, these mountains are suffering greatly from the global warming, and most of the green empty planes you see are filled with small tourist houses. All in all, a film as a memory par exellence!Read More »

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