1980s

  • Larry Jordan – Sophie’s Place (1986)

    1981-1990AnimationExperimentalLarry JordanUSA

    Synopsis
    Sophie’s Place is a feature-length film in which Jordan used hand-painted collages that gradually transform from the Garden of Eden to the site of Hagia Sophia. It took Jordan 5 years to complete this project. Filmmaker Stan Brakhage called it “the greatest epic animated film”.
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  • Raoul Ruiz – La ville des pirates AKA City of Pirates (1983)

    1981-1990ArthouseFranceRaoul Ruiz

    Quote:
    Raúl Ruiz’s City of Pirates is (de)composed under the sign of Surrealism, with its trust in ecstasy, scandal, the call of the wild, mystification, prophetic dreams, humour, the uncanny. Given the surprising swerves and disorientations evoking Buñuel and Dalí, and the confidence in a poetic discourse recalling Eluard and Péret, one wonders if Ruiz didn’t elaborate his scenario using the Surrealist mode of automatic writing. Troubled, graceful Isidore – Ducasse and Duncan? – is a purely Surrealist heroine, part Ophelia, Salomé, Bérénice, prone to trances, somnambulism, hysterical seizure, contact with the ‘other side’. Her calm violence links her to the real life murderesses – Germaine Berton, the Papin sisters – exalted by Breton’s circle, and by Jacques Lacan. Indeed, Lacan’s notion of a psychoanalysis in which the analyst stays off his patient’s wavelength, inspired by the idea of ‘surrealist dialogue’ in which paired monologues at cross purposes strike sparks of meaning off each other, underpins the scatty trajectory of Ruiz’s own graphomania, snared this time as the tale of a Pirate’s City.Read More »

  • Tony Silver – Style Wars [+commentary] (1983)

    1981-1990CultDocumentaryTony SilverUSA

    STYLE WARS has become an emblem of the original, embracing spirit of hip hop as it exploded into the world from underground tunnels, uptown streets, clubs and playgrounds. New York’s legendary kings of graffiti own a special place in the hip hop pantheon. This film is regarded by many as the definitive document of the emerging hip hop culture, and the continuing struggle to keep its authentic spirit alive.Read More »

  • Floyd Mutrux – The Hollywood Knights (1980)

    1971-1980ComedyCultFloyd MutruxUSA

    Synopsis:
    It’s Halloween 1965 in Hollywood and is also the last day that a drive in which the hang out of some youths who call themselves the Hollywood Knights will be open. It is being closed because most of the local snobs don’t like them so they decided to close the drive in to get rid of them. Now the Knights decide to lash back at those who were responsible. And they try to make the best of the drive in’s last night. They also have some new pledges and they have to perform a very daring task which includes making a song request and an announcement about the closing of Tubby’s Drive In which is the Home of the Hollywood Knights Car Club before Midnight with the Local DJ played by none other than Wolfman Jack. Also one of the Knights is going to Vietnam, so he is making the best of his last day. And another member is having problems with his girlfriend.Read More »

  • Seijun Suzuki – Hana fubuki: Hono ni mau ichiban matoi AKA Storm of Falling Petals: Banner of a Fireman in the Flames (1983)

    1981-1990JapanMysterySeijun SuzukiTV

    Four secret agents investigate a series of mysterious fires in a small town in Edo-era Japan. This is an episode of the TV Series “Oedo Sochi-mo,” which follows the same group of secret agents as they solve a variety of mysteries.Read More »

  • Claude Lelouch – Itinéraire d’un enfant gâté (1988)

    1981-1990AdventureClaude LelouchDramaFrance

    Quote:
    Sam Lion has led a full and successful life. As a young boy, abandoned by his mother, he was adopted by a circus family, where he developed an afinity for big cats. His career as a circus acrobat was cut short by an accident, after which he started a new life in commerce. His revolutionary cleaning products made him a wealthy man, the head of a corporate empire, but his private life was just as eventful. He marred young, had two children, his first wife died tragically, and he re-married. Now in his fifties, Sam has only one wish – to escape. Whilst crossing the ocean in a one-man dinghy, he decides to fake his own death.Read More »

  • Roger Spottiswoode – Terror Train (1980)

    1971-1980HorrorRoger SpottiswoodeThrillerUSA

    A college fraternity prank goes wrong and a student ends up in the mental asylum. Three years later, it’s graduation time, and the members of the fraternity decide to have a costume party aboard a train trip to celebrate their graduation. Unknowingly to them, a killer has slipped aboard, killing them off one by one, disguised in the costumes of the victims.Read More »

  • Tieli Xie & Yuan Zhao – Hong lou meng AKA A Dream in Red Mansions (1988)

    1981-1990ChinaDramaTieli XieTVYuan Zhao

    Based on the mid-eighteenth century novel by Cao Xueqin, the third version (previous version was 38 episodes) of “A Dream in Red Mansions” (aka Dream of the Red Chamber) is known by many to be the ultimate and best adaptation of the story either on TV or film. It is a story about the tragic love of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, and the prosperity and decline of the four notable feudal ruling-class families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue. Daiyu is a beautiful and talented girl, but prone to ill health. Baoyu, nonetheless, falls for her over the years and puts up with her sensitivity and ill-tempered personality. They, along with their family-favored and tactful cousin Xue Baochai, reside in the Grand View Garden. The garden was built to honor the visit of Baoyu’s sister, Imperial Consort Jia Yuanchun. Her installment marked the height of the families’ status, prosperity and power. This story also gives praise to the work and revolts of the many servants and nurses in the Grand View Garden. With its beautiful scenery, solid cast ensemble, haunting and superb music score and elegant songs, “A Dream in Red Mansions” remains one of the most beloved and popular Chinese TV-series to date.Read More »

  • Helke Misselwitz – Wer fürchtet sich vorm schwarzen Mann AKA Who’s Afraid of the Bogeyman (1988)

    1981-1990DocumentaryGermanyHelke Misselwitz

    A close-up of Berlin coal carriers from Prenzlauer Berg. No portrayal of heroic workers or progress here. Instead, bright, deeply-felt sketches of rough men and their resolute female boss.Read More »

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