Drama

  • Youssef Chahine – Awdat al ibn al dal AKA The Return of the Prodigal Son (1976)

    1971-1980DramaEgyptMusicalYoussef Chahine

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    In this Andre Gide adaptation, an activist (Ali Mahrez) is released after many years in prison and returns home, shaking up established relationships among his family members at the farm governed by his strict father. Demonstrating Chahine’s eclecticism, this is an elegant melodrama, exuberant musical, layered allegory, and profound portrait of personal and political disillusionment. This is one of Chahine’s best movies and one of the greatest Arabic films. Great performances by Mahmoud El-Meliguy and Hoda Soltan.Read More »

  • Michael Haneke – Variation (1983)

    1981-1990AustriaDramaMichael Haneke

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    Haneke depicts the emotional story of an adulterous relationship between a journalist and a teacher. The film poignantly explores the difficult dynamics between people who love one another but still can’t keep from hurting one another. Variation has been described by its director as being closer to John Cassavetes than to Hollywood melodrama.Read More »

  • Carlos Saura – El jardín de las delicias AKA The Garden of Delights (1970)

    1961-1970ArthouseCarlos SauraDramaSpain

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    Review Summary
    Jose Luis Lopez Vasquez stars as a millionaire industrialist who is involved in an auto accident. When he comes to, Vasquez has completely forgotten who he is and how much money he has. His greedy relatives would love to put Vasquez away and claim his fortune. But there’s a fly in the ointment: the money is in a secret Swiss bank account, and the only one who knows (or who knew) the account number is the amnesiac Vasquez. Those familiar with the work of Spanish director Carlos Saura know for darn sure that he’s not about to go the expected route with this surefire material: Garden of Delights, is just that, a bountiful garden of the surreal, the symbolic, the illusory, and at times the hilarious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Hector Babenco – Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

    1981-1990BrazilDramaHector BabencoQueer Cinema(s)

    Quote:
    Kiss Of The Spider Woman takes place in an un-named, fascist country in South America. It is, essentially, a two-actor drama featuring two men, of vastly different demeanors and ideologies, who share the same cell in a brutal prison. Louis Molina (William Hurt) is a flamboyant homosexual window dresser who is imprisoned for corrupting a minor. His cellmate is Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia), a journalist jailed for his leftist political activities. To alleviate the day-to-day drudgery, Molina entertains Valentin by retelling the stories of his favorite movies.Read More »

  • D.W. Griffith – The Painted Lady (1912)

    Drama1911-1920D.W. GriffithSilentThe Birth of CinemaUSA

    A lonely young woman lives with her strict father who forbids her to wear make-up. One day at an ice cream social, she meets a young man you seems interested in her. However, unknown to her, he is a burglar who is only interested in breaking into her father’s house. One night she is awakened by a noise. Grabbing a pistol, she enters her father’s downstairs office where she confronts a masked intruder . . . Read More »

  • Lucian Pintilie – Reconstituirea aka Reconstruction (1968)

    1961-1970BelgiumDramaLucian Pintilie

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    Synopsis:
    After two friends drunkenly injure a waiter, the police force them to recreate their crime for an “educational” film—with disastrous results. Immediately banned
    in communist Romania, Reenactment is one of the key films of the Romanian
    cinema (voted best Romanian film of all time by 40 Romanian film critics)
    and stands among the exemplary works of its region and time.Read More »

  • Srdjan Karanovic – Virdzina aka Virgina (1991)

    1991-2000DramaQueer Cinema(s)Srdjan KaranovicYugoslavia

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    The story takes place in Yugoslavia at the end of the 19th century, in an isolated village near the Adriatic sea. Because of the extreme patriarchal culture there is a superstition that families without male heirs are cursed. When the wife of a farmer gives birth to their fourth daughter, father decides that the child will be brought up to become a so-called “Virgina” and that she will live as a man, so that she can work and be the family heir. This heartbreaking story of Virginas life is told with strong words, augmented with harsh inviroment. Read More »

  • Hector Babenco – At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)

    Drama1991-2000BrazilEthnographic CinemaHector Babenco

    Two American mercenaries and a missionary couple arrive in a remote outpost, the Amazonian backwater town Mae de Deus. The local comandante tries to coerce the mercenaries into bombing the local tribe of Niaruna Indians so that their land can be annexed for gold mining.Read More »

  • Jean-Denis Bonan – La femme bourreau AKA A Woman Kills (1968)

    1961-1970ArthouseDramaFranceJean-Denis Bonan

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    Synopsis:
    ‘Paris, in the 1960s. A series of crimes troubles the public tranquility. On March, 22, 1968, Hélène Picard, a prostitute sentenced to death two years before for several murders, is killed by executioner Louis Guilbeau. Immediately, the violent crimes, similar to Hélène’s ones, go on again. In parallel, Louis is having an affair with the police woman in charge of the investigation… What are the obscure relations hidden behind the executioner and the mysterious killer? Who is this dark man in reality?’
    – UniFranceRead More »

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