1981-1990

  • Béla Tarr – Panelkapcsolat aka The Prefab People (1982)

    1981-1990Béla TarrDramaHungary

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    “It’s the rawness of the film that makes us believe we are unquestionably seeing the truth.”

    Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

    A heavy going realistic slice of life domestic drama that is filmed in black and white. It’s a followup to Béla Tarr’s other domestic strife tales Family Nest and The Outsider. This one keys in on marital strife. It’s about a struggling young couple’s confrontations and their own inability to freely communicate with each other. Tarr was evidently influenced by the works of Ranier Werner Fassbinder and John Cassavettes.Read More »

  • Derek Jarman – Caravaggio (1986)

    1981-1990ArthouseDerek JarmanUnited Kingdom

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    Quote:
    When experimental director Derek Jarman was serving as production designer on 1973’s The Devils, that film’s director, Ken Russell, was already established as a radical master of the biopic, turning historical and pop culture personalities into grist for his own obsessions and visual quirks. Oddly, it took Jarman over a decade to try his hand at the same approach with Caravaggio, a visually overwhelming examination of the famous painter who redefined the use of light in painting and scandalized the church by portraying sacred figures as dirty, commonplace peasants. Of course, the painter’s life was no less remarkable; a ruffian prone to fighting, gambling, and copulating apparently every waking moment he wasn’t holding a paintbrush, Caravaggio could be read in many ways as a prototype for today’s modern celebrity.Read More »

  • Alexandru Tatos – Secvente AKA Sequences (1982)

    1981-1990Alexandru TatosCultDramaRomania

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    Review
    Secvente(Sequences, reffering to film sequences) is Alexandru Tatos’ quintessential film and one of the stepping stones of Romanian cinematography. Sadly, although being a critics and directors favorite ever since it’s release, Secvente never managed to find a wide audience, mostly due to the limited distribution the film received during it’s initial run in the communist years. This huge injustice was disappointingly never corrected and unless word doesn’t spread over this uniquely original gem of Romanian Cinema, Secvente will most surely never reach the following it deserves.Read More »

  • Peter Yates – Krull (1983)

    1981-1990CultFantasyPeter YatesUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    In the face of total annihilation by the omnipotent Beast’s unstoppable hordes of Slayers, the young aristocrats of two hostile neighbouring nations–the brave Prince Colwyn and the fair Princess Lyssa–are about to come into union, and form an alliance against the common enemy. However, the otherworldly adversary is all-powerful, and before long, a fateful abduction will trigger a desperate quest to the evil entity’s grim Black Fortress, as Colwyn and a handful of mismatched defenders are willing to dice with death to ensure the land’s future. In this suicide mission, the magical, five-edged weapon known as the Glaive is their only chance of survival. Can Prince Colwyn slay the Beast, save Lyssa and Krull, the small planet in the middle of the vast galaxy?Read More »

  • Mario Gariazzo – Schiave bianche: violenza in Amazzonia aka White Slave (1985)

    1981-1990ExploitationItalyMario Gariazzo

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    From IMDB:

    A young woman seeks vengeance and finds love when her parents are killed in the Amazon and she is taken prisoner by an indigenous tribe of headhunters.Read More »

  • Aleksandr Sokurov – Odinokiy golos cheloveka aka The Lonely Voice Of Man (1987)

    Arthouse1981-1990Aleksandr SokurovDramaUSSR

    Sokurov’s first full-length feature film, filmed in 1978 and restored in 1987 at Lenfilm. The plot is based on the motives of Andrey Platonov’s works “The Potudan River” and “The Origin of the Master”.
    The picture has become today a film classics, but in 1978 Sokurov was not allowed to defend his diploma at VGIK. Moreover, the film was sentenced to destruction by the cinematographic authorities. The authors miraculously managed to save the negative. In this picture, Sokurov formed an alliance with screenwriter Yuri Arabov and cameraman Sergei Yurizditsky.Read More »

  • Jan Svankmajer – Kyvadlo, jáma a nadeje AKA the pendulum, the pit and hope (1984)

    1981-1990Czech RepublicJan SvankmajerShort Film

    A horrifying, surrealist version of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” directed by the masterful animator Jan Svankmajer.Read More »

  • Philippe de Broca – Psy (1981)

    1981-1990ComedyFrancePhilippe de Broca

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    Synopsis
    The cartoonist Gerard Lauzier wrote this satire of psychologists, their practice, and the whole idea of group therapy, around Marc (Patrick Dewaere), a psychologist who may need more help than he gives. Right now, Marc is living in the countryside with Colette (Anny Duperey), but not without difficulties. He plans to conduct a group therapy session at his home one week-end, something that soon unravels because of the sudden arrival of Marc’s former girlfriend and her lover. Several years ago, the lover was Marc’s trusted friend, until he not only stole Marc’s girlfriend, but also his car, and his money. The former girlfriend and former buddy, and their partner in crime are hiding out from the police, and intent on using Marc’s property until they are safe. Group therapy, Marc, and Colette will never be the same by the time the week-end is concluded…Read More »

  • Liliana Cavani – Interno Berlinese AKA The Berlin Affair (1985)

    1981-1990EroticaItalyLiliana CavaniWar

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    Review I

    In 1938 Berlin, Gudrun Landgrebe, wife of Nazi functionary Kevin McNally, begins taking art lessons. She makes the acquaintance of another student, Japanese ambassador’s daughter Mio Takaki. Soon afterwards, the two women begin a passionate lesbian affair. This leads to a chain reaction of disaster and tragedy, culminating with the inevitable intervention of the Gestapo. Despite the film’s galloping sexual passions, The Berlin Affair is an exercise in aloofness, keeping the characters at arm’s length-surprising, considering that the director was Liliana Cavani, auteur of the erotic classic The Night Porter (1974). The film was based on The Buddhist Cross, a novel by Junichiro Tanizaki. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »

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