• Pierre Sauvage – Les armes de l’esprit AKA Weapons of the Spirit (1987)

    1981-1990DocumentaryFrancePierre SauvageWar

    “Weapons of the Spirit,” Pierre Sauvage’s documentary about the extraordinary French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon during the Nazi rule in World War II, is like a murder mystery in reverse. It’s an examination of crimes that didn’t take place, of atrocities averted, and in such a way that history itself seems to have been subverted by their absence.Read More »

  • Claire Simon – Premières solitudes AKA Young Solitude (2018)

    2011-2020Claire SimonDocumentaryFrance

    Claire Simon portrays an important time for any individual, from 16 to 18 years of age.

    Set in the Paris suburbs in high school (for those lucky enough to go), teenagers chat after and even during class, sitting in the hallway or outside on a bench, looking at the city below them.

    Claire Simon sets up a cinematic dialog with the teens, speaking about their personal history, their family, but also passions and loneliness.Read More »

  • Liliana Cavani – Ripley’s Game (2002)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaItalyLiliana Cavani

    Tom Ripley (yes same character from The American Friend – Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz – and The Talented Mr. Ripley – Matt Damon ). Some are more loosely based on the initial written character than others and occasionally bear only slight resemblances. I’ll wager reams have been written about this intriguing film, but on the surface we have a character study of a man who has chosen to live his life devoid of empathy (selective) to his fellow man. Quite a cynical microcosm of modern humanity. But the debate, of course, is how accurate that is. Is Ripely a true sociopath? Are we, as a society, all moving in the direction of the intense selfishness of Mr. Ripley? is that how our society has evolved? – to squash those who would stand in the way of our economic benefits. Read More »

  • Felipe Cazals – Las vueltas del citrillo AKA Citrillo’s Turns (2006)

    2001-2010DramaFantasyFelipe CazalsMexico

    Synopsis:
    Although the film is set specifically in 1903, its atmosphere and tension may be more generally characterised as “before the revolution”. The event in question is the Mexican revolution of the years 1910–17, which overthrew the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, under whom the population had become even more impoverished. Las vueltas del Citrillo is the name of a shabby bar where the socially disinherited drink and exchange incredible stories and fantasies. Individuals with no future or even present meet here to drown their lives in alcohol and tell their tales of the dead and apparitions. In the atmosphere of hallucination and drunkenness, however, a central “sober” story of love, jealousy and betrayal also unfolds.Read More »

  • Ingmar Bergman – Trollflöjten AKA The Magic Flute (1975)

    1971-1980FantasyIngmar BergmanPerformanceSweden

    Quote:
    This scintillating screen version of Mozart’s beloved opera shows Bergman’s deep knowledge of music and his gift for expressing it in filmic terms. Casting some of Europe’s finest soloists—among them Josef Köstlinger, Ulrik Cold, and Håkan Hagegård—the director lovingly recreated the baroque theater of the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm to stage the story of the prince Tamino (Köstlinger) and his zestful sidekick Papageno (Hagegård), who seek to save a beautiful princess (Irma Urrila) from the clutches of evil. A celebration of love, forgiveness, and the brotherhood of man, The Magic Flute is considered by many to be the most exquisite opera film ever made.Read More »

  • Kôhei Oguri – Kayako no tameni AKA For Kayako (1985)

    1981-1990AsianDramaJapanKôhei Oguri

    Synopsis:
    Summer vacation is nearly over and Korean undergraduate SanjunIm (Japanese name: Hayashi) is returning to his school in Tokyo from his home in Hokkaido. On the way he stops in Morimachi, in Hakodate, to visit Sunchun Jong (Japanese name: Akio Matsumoto), his father’s best friend. It has been 10 years since Sanjun has seen Matsumoto, in Sakhalin. He is married to a Japanese named Toshi and has a stepdaughter named Kayako. Kayako is now a junior high school student. Sanjun was born in Japan, the son of Korean immigrants. After Japan lost the war, Sanjun, with his father and brothers, remained in Japan. As a nisei (second generation), Sanjun lacks the sense of his Korean roots that the first generation of Koreans who came to Japan possess.Read More »

  • Terence Fisher – Home to Danger (1951)

    1951-1960CrimeMysteryTerence FisherUSA

    Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    Rona Anderson plays a wealthy young Englishwoman, long estranged from her father. She returns home when papa dies, reluctantly agreeing to listen to the will reading. It soon becomes clear that some unknown party is out to bump off Anderson as well–though she is the only person who stands to benefit from her father’s demise. Director Terence Fisher, later a foremost purveyor of horror at Hanner Films, deftly handles shocks of a more mundane sort herein. Home to Danger is just long enough at 66 minutes.Read More »

  • Alain Cavalier – Pater (2011)

    2011-2020Alain CavalierComedyFrancePolitics

    summary from filmsdefrance.com :
    “For a year, they have let themselves be seen and filmed – a filmmaker and an actor, the president and his first minister: Alain Cavalier and Vincent Lindon. Now you can see them, both in real life and in the fiction which they have created together… “
    Read More »

  • Barnaby O’Connor & Matthew O’Connor – The Pickup Game (2019)

    2011-2020Barnaby O'ConnorDocumentaryMatthew O'ConnorUnited Kingdom

    IMDB:
    The Pickup Game is an inside look at the emergence of the ‘pickup’ industry – an business where self-styled seduction coaches travel the world, charging a small fortune to teach men skills they claim will guarantee success with women. For the instructors who are successful, it is a highly lucrative occupation, with many companies earning millions of dollars a year. It is also an industry rife with controversy and scandal. Several teachers have been deported from countries for their contentious methodologies and pickup businesses are often the subject of fierce public criticism. Read More »

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