Drama

  • Hal Hartley – A/Muse (2010)

    Hal Hartley2001-2010DramaShort FilmUSA
    A:Muse (2010)
    A:Muse (2010)

    An ambitious and idealistic young actress comes to Berlin to convince an American ex-pat filmmaker that she must be his next muse – the leading lady of his first great German film.Read More »

  • Yoon Yong-Gyu – Ma-eum-ui gohyang AKA A Hometown in Heart (1949)

    1941-1950DramaSouth KoreaYoon Yong-Gyu
    Ma eum ui gohyang (1949)
    Ma eum ui gohyang (1949)

    “A film that has garnered recognition for its cinematography and direction by eliminating sentimentality and unaffectedly capturing the quiet life of a mountain temple. A Hometown in Heart demonstrates the camera technique and directorial skill of movies that appeared after the liberation of Korea.”
    A Hometown in Heart, adapted from playwright Ham Se-deok’s A Little Monk (Dong-seung), was hailed upon its release as “a masterpiece that marked a new pinnacle in Korean moviemaking after the liberation.” Eschewing new-school sentimentality to quietly express a boy’s longing for maternal love, the film unfolds the everyday lives of three generationsthe head monk, a young monk, and a little child monkagainst the backdrop of a quiet temple in the mountains. Read More »

  • Nelson Yeo – Dreaming & Dying (2023)

    2021-2030ArthouseDramaNelson YeoSingapore
    Dreaming & Dying (2023)
    Dreaming & Dying (2023)

    Three middle-aged friends reunite for the first time in years. Each of them sets out to confess unexpressed feelings, but their vacation takes a surprising turn when the undercurrent of their past lives threatens to resurface.Read More »

  • Claudio Giovannesi – La paranza dei bambini AKA Piranhas (2019)

    2011-2020Claudio GiovannesiCrimeDramaItaly
    La paranza dei bambini (2019)
    La paranza dei bambini (2019)

    Quote:
    Based on the novel by Roberto Saviano (“Gomorrah”), Piranhas follows fifteen year-old Nicola (newcomer Francesco Di Napoli) who lives with his mother and younger brother in the Sanità neighborhood of Naples, a place that has been controlled by the Camorra mafia for centuries.

    Dreaming of a life lush with designer clothing and elite nightclub bottle service, Nicola and his naive group of friends begin selling drugs, an entryway into the violent, power-hungry world of crime that begins to threaten their innocence, relationships, and safety of their families.Read More »

  • John Herzfeld – 2 Days in the Valley (1996)

    1991-2000CrimeDramaJohn HerzfeldUSA
    2 Days in the Valley (1996)
    2 Days in the Valley (1996)

    by Mark Deming
    A variety of crooks, losers, and working stiffs living in the shadow of Hollywood find their various personal crises overlapping in this intricately woven melodrama. Lee Woods (James Spader) is a cold-blooded hit man and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) a soft-at-heart gangster; they’ve been sent to murder Roy Foxx (Peter Horton), the former husband of also-ran Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher). Lee’s girlfriend Helga (Charlize Theron) is unhappy about his habit of killing people, and she attracts the attention of Alvin (Jeff Daniels) and Wes (Eric Stoltz), two cops who’ve been put on vice detail but don’t have the heart to bust the prostitute they’ve been trailing. Read More »

  • Claire Denis – 35 rhums AKA 35 Shots of Rum (2008)

    Claire Denis2001-2010ArthouseDramaFrance
    35 rhums (2008)
    35 rhums (2008)

    Lionel has brought up his daughter, Josephine, on his own since his wife’s accidental death. Over the years, their life together has grown to resemble that of a couple. Josephine has now reached the age at which the roles begin to be inverted. She is now the one who seems to want to take care of her father. Lionel knows that he has one more thing to do: to convince Josephine to make her own way in the world, to become a woman and to leave him.Read More »

  • Can Ulkay – Ayla: The Daughter of War (2017)

    2011-2020Can UlkayDramaTurkeyWar
    Ayla The Daughter of War (2017)
    Ayla The Daughter of War (2017)

    Quote:
    In 1950, amid-st the ravages of the Korean War, Sergeant Süleyman stumbles upon a a half-frozen little girl, with no parents and no help in sight. Frantic, scared and on the verge of death, this little girl captures the heart of Süleyman, who risks his own life to save her, smuggling her into his Army base and out of harms way. Not knowing her name and unable to communicate with her, Süleyman names her Ayla, in reminiscence of the moon on the fateful night during which they met. The two form an instantaneous and inseparable bond, and Ayla, almost effortlessly, brings an uncanny joy to the Turkish brigade in the grip of war. As the war comes to a close however, Süleyman’s brigade is told that they will be returning home. Süleyman cannot bear abandoning Ayla, and does everything within his power to take her with him. After repeated failure, he is forced to give Ayla to an orphanage, but doesn’t give up on the hope of one day reuniting with her. Will the two ever get back together?Read More »

  • Wayne Wang – Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)

    Wayne Wang2011-2020ChinaDrama
    Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
    Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)

    A story set in nineteenth-century China and focusing on the life-long friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid social norms imposed on women.Read More »

  • Michael Roes – Timimoun (2010)

    2001-2010AlgeriaDramaMichael RoesQueer Cinema(s)
    Timimoun (2010)
    Timimoun (2010)

    Der sensible Träumer Laid lebt in der algerischen Mittelmeerstadt ‘Bejaia’. Er verbringt seine Tage in einem Fotostudio und am Strand mit seinem Freund Nadir. Eines Tages wird er von seiner Schwester aufgefordert, nach Timimoun zurückzukehren und als Ältester die Ehre der Familie wieder herzustellen. Nadir bietet ihm an, ihn auf der abenteuerlichen Reise ins algerische Hinterland zu begleiten…

    Der Spielfilm ‘Timimoun’ (2010) von Michael Roes, der zu den bedeutendsten deutschsprachigen Autoren der Gegenwart gehört (‘Rub’ al-Khali – leeres Viertel’), erzählt von der Freundschaft zweier Jungen als Utopie in einem zerrissenen, von religiösen und politischen Spannungen gezeichneten Land. Auf Grundlage des Films entstand auch der Roman ‘Weg nach Timimoun’.Read More »

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