Epic

  • Kihachi Okamoto – Sengoku yaro AKA Warring Clans (1963)

    1961-1970DramaEpicJapanKihachi Okamoto

    In this Japanese samurai adventure, a brave, highly principled warrior resigns his post as a body guard to the head of a powerful clan after he learns that his employers have been smuggling arms to the enemy. The remaining samurai try in vain to coerce him back, but their efforts are thwarted by crooked warriors who launch an attack.
    The sword fights are especially exciting.Read More »

  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz – Cleopatra (1963)

    1961-1970ClassicsEpicJoseph L. MankiewiczUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    In 48 B.C., Caesar pursues Pompey from Pharsalia to Egypt. Ptolemy, now supreme ruler after deposing his older sister, Cleopatra, attempts to gain favor with Caesar by presenting the conquerer with the head of Pompey, borne by his governors, Pothinos and Achillas. To win Caesar’s support from her brother, Cleopatra hides herself in a rug, which Apollodorus, her servant, presents to Caesar. The Roman is immediately infatuated; banishing Ptolemy, he declares Cleopatra Egypt’s sole ruler and takes her as his mistress. A son, Caesarion, is born of their union. Caesar, however, must return to Italy. Although he is briefly reunited with Cleopatra during a magnificent reception for the queen in Rome, Caesar is assassinated shortly thereafter, and Cleopatra returns to Egypt.Read More »

  • Ludmil Staikov – Aszparuh [Part 2] (1981)

    1981-1990BulgariaDramaEpicLudmil Staikov

    Quote:
    The 7th century is the time of the Great Migration of the Peoples. Under the pressure of the invaders the proto-Bulgarian tribes of Khan Kubrat are forced to split in four parts in the hope that one would survive. For twenty long years Kubrat’s youngest son Khan Asparoukh led his people across many foreign lands to find eventually a new homeland on the Balkan Peninsula and this time forever. The story is told by Byzantine Velisarius, a hostage with the Bulgarian who witnesses the whole of their difficult march. He sees the suffering of the people whom he already feels close to his heart and the personal drama of their Khan Asparoukh. In 681, in alliance with the local Slav tribes, the proto-Bulgarian deal a decisive blow on numerous Byzantine army, thus 13 centuries ago the foundations of the Bulgarian state and nation were laid down. -imdb summaryRead More »

  • Ludmil Staikov – Aszparuh [Part 3] (1981)

    1981-1990BulgariaDramaEpicLudmil Staikov

    Quote:
    The 7th century is the time of the Great Migration of the Peoples. Under the pressure of the invaders the proto-Bulgarian tribes of Khan Kubrat are forced to split in four parts in the hope that one would survive. For twenty long years Kubrat’s youngest son Khan Asparoukh led his people across many foreign lands to find eventually a new homeland on the Balkan Peninsula and this time forever. The story is told by Byzantine Velisarius, a hostage with the Bulgarian who witnesses the whole of their difficult march. He sees the suffering of the people whom he already feels close to his heart and the personal drama of their Khan Asparoukh. In 681, in alliance with the local Slav tribes, the proto-Bulgarian deal a decisive blow on numerous Byzantine army, thus 13 centuries ago the foundations of the Bulgarian state and nation were laid down. -imdb summaryRead More »

  • Ludmil Staikov – Aszparuh [Part 1] (1981)

    1981-1990BulgariaDramaEpicLudmil Staikov

    Quote:
    The 7th century is the time of the Great Migration of the Peoples. Under the pressure of the invaders the proto-Bulgarian tribes of Khan Kubrat are forced to split in four parts in the hope that one would survive. For twenty long years Kubrat’s youngest son Khan Asparoukh led his people across many foreign lands to find eventually a new homeland on the Balkan Peninsula and this time forever. The story is told by Byzantine Velisarius, a hostage with the Bulgarian who witnesses the whole of their difficult march. He sees the suffering of the people whom he already feels close to his heart and the personal drama of their Khan Asparoukh. In 681, in alliance with the local Slav tribes, the proto-Bulgarian deal a decisive blow on numerous Byzantine army, thus 13 centuries ago the foundations of the Bulgarian state and nation were laid down. -imdb summaryRead More »

  • Ludmil Staikov – Vreme na nasilie aka Time of Violence (1988)

    1981-1990BulgariaDramaEpicLudmil Staikov

    Summary:
    1668. The jihad is in its heat in the Southeastern Europe. A corps of janissaries is commissioned to the Rhodope Mountains under the command of Karaibrahim. At the time, he was, as all the janissaries were, kidnapped from his Bulgarian family, raised as a Muslim, trained to be a ferocious warrior and convert infidels to Islam in a most brutal way. His cruelty stuns even local Ottoman ruler. He stops at nothing but the resistance of some of the locals is invincible. The struggle is half a success, there are many converts, the death toll is heavy, but all the Bulgarian keep their language and traditions on.Read More »

  • Eric Barbier – La promesse de l’aube AKA Promise at Dawn (2017)

    2011-2020DramaEpicEric BarbierFrance

    In this testament to the special bond between a mother and her son adapted from French author Romain Gary’s loosely autobiographical novel of the same name, Charlotte Gainsbourg turns in an exuberant performance as Nina, Gary’s overbearing single mother, while Pierre Niney plays Gary as an adult. Hounding the boy at every turn – from his difficult childhood in Poland, to his adolescence in the South of France, to his World War II adventures as a Free French bombardier – Nina makes it clear that she expects her son to become a great writer, a war hero, a French ambassador, and a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Despite bursts of resistance and the obstacles imposed by anti-Semitism in both Poland and France, Gary is determined to realise his mother’s monumental aspirations…Read More »

  • Cecil B. DeMille – Cleopatra (1934)

    1931-1940Cecil B. DeMilleClassicsEpicUSA

    Synopsis:
    In 48 BC, Cleopatra, facing palace revolt in her kingdom of Egypt, welcomes the arrival of Julius Caesar as a way of solidifying her power under Rome. When Caesar, whom she has led astray, is killed, she transfers her affections to Marc Antony and dazzles him on a barge full of DeMillean splendor. But the trick may not work a third time…Read More »

  • Kar-Wai Wong – Dung che sai duk AKA Ashes of Time Redux (1994)

    1991-2000DramaEpicHong KongKar Wai Wong

    Two years after forming his own production company, Jet Tone, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai released ASHES OF TIME, a martial-arts epic based on THE EAGLE-SHOOTING HEROES, a series of novels by Louis Cha writing under the pseudonym Jin Yong. The film was set in jianghu, an imaginary world with its own views of good and evil. In 2008, unhappy with the many alternate versions of ASHES OF TIME available, Wong reedited and restored the film, working with the original negative and soundtrack, which were in severe disrepair. The new version, called ASHES OF TIME REDUX, which screened at such prestigious international gatherings as the Cannes, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals, is a breathtaking example of Wong’s masterly storytelling technique, combined with the stunning cinematography of Christopher Doyle and gorgeous new cello solos recorded by Yo-Yo Ma. Read More »

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