Synopsis:
A historical drama that depicts the relationship between Dietrich von Choltitz, the German military governor of occupied Paris, and Swedish consul-general Raoul Nordling.Read More »
War
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Volker Schlöndorff – Diplomatie (2014)
Drama2011-2020FranceVolker SchlöndorffWar -
Motoyoshi Oda – Gojira no gyakushu aka Gigantis the Fire Monster (1955)
1951-1960JapanKaiju-eigaMotoyoshi OdaSci-FiWarQuote:
“…Two spotter pilots for a Japanese fish canning plant crash land on a deserted island where both Godzilla and
Anguirus are already engaged in mortal combat. During the fight the two titans plunge into the sea and
disappear leaving the two onlookers amazed at what they had both witnessed. Would anybody believe their
amazing tale?The Japanese scientific community could take no chances. The two pilots were questioned thoroughly and
asked to identify the monsters from a pile of sketches of known prehistoric creatures. The scientist’s worst fears
would become reality. One of the creatures was indeed another Godzilla and the other an equally beast
Anguirus. Tokyo was destroyed by just one of these monsters. How could Japan defend itself against two…”
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Andrzej Wajda – Kanal (1957)
1951-1960Andrzej WajdaPolandWarIn 1944, during the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, Polish Lieutenant Zadra and his resistance fighters use Warsaw’s sewer system to escape the German encirclement.Read More »
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Jean-Pierre Melville – L’Armée des ombres AKA Army of Shadows [+Extras] (1969)
1961-1970DramaFranceJean-Pierre MelvilleWarReview:
The defiantly independent French director Jean-Pierre Melville was an outsider by choice. He financed his films outside of the studio system and built his own studio for maximum independence. He loved American cinema and made his reputation with a brilliant series of cool gangster thrillers, beginning with elegant, elegiac Bob le Flambeur (1955) and culminating in the austere masterpiece Le Samourai (1967), with Alain Delon as an existential assassin, and the heist classic Le Cercle Rouge (1970).
Army of Shadows, adapted from the 1943 novel by Joseph Kessel about the early years of the French Resistance, is the third of Melville’s three dramas set during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II (after his debut feature, La Silence de la Mer [1949], and his 1961 drama Leon Morin, Priest), but by far his most personal. During World War II, Melville was himself a member of the Resistance, worked for French intelligence in London, and served in the Free French forces in the liberation of Italy and France. “This is my first movie showing things I’ve actually known and experienced,” Melville told Rui Nogueria in Nogueria’s 1971 interview book with the director. Kessler’s book is a work of fiction, but the characters were inspired by real life figures.Read More »
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Richard Fleischer – 10 Rillington Place (1971)
1971-1980DramaRichard FleischerUnited KingdomWarLondon, 1949. John Christie is an unassuming, middle aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, manages the apartment building at 10 Rillington Place. His unassuming demeanor masks the fact of being a serial killer. His modus operandi is to act as a person with a medical background, lure unsuspecting women to his apartment on the pretense of curing them of some ailment, knock them unconscious with carbon monoxide gas, gain his sexual release through contact with the unconscious body, then strangle the victim dead before disposing of the body usually by burying it in his back yard. His next intended target is Beryl Evans, a young woman who has just moved into a flat in his building. Beryl’s husband, Tim Evans, is an illiterate man who likes to put on airs. Already with an infant daughter named Geraldine, the Evanses learn they are going to have another baby, which they cannot afford to have, nor can they afford to abort the pregnancy. This problem, on top of the constant issue of lack of…
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Feliks Falk – Joanna (2010)
Drama2001-2010Feliks FalkPolandWarQuote:
Plot / Synopsis
Feliks Falk’s latest movie “Joanna” is a story set in the time of World War II. The main heroine’s husband had been sent to an Oflag. One day Joanna encounters a little Jewish girl in a church. Despite the risk, she decides to take care of her.“Joanna” is an example of a true story as it reflects the behaviour of thousands of the Righteous Among the Nations.
Feliks movie has enchanted the audience of 35. Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
Tadeusz Sobolewski, a film critic, gave the movie a very positive review.
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Volker Schlöndorff – Der Fangschuß AKA Coup de grâce (1976)
Drama1971-1980GermanyQueer Cinema(s)Volker SchlöndorffWarSynopsis wrote:
Coup de Grâce (German: Der Fangschuß, French: Le Coup de grâce) is a 1976 West German film directed by Volker Schlöndorff. It was adapted from the novel by the same name by the French author Marguerite Yourcenar. The title comes from the French expression, meaning “finishing blow”.Synopsis: A countess’ unrequited love for an army officer leads to disaster. Latvia, 1919: the end of the Russian Civil War. An aristocratic young woman (brilliantly played by Margarethe von Trotta) becomes involved with a sexually repressed Prussian soldier. When she is rejected by her love, the young woman is sent into a downward spiral of psychosexual depression, promiscuity, and revolutionary collaboration. A startling tale of heartbreak and violence set against the backdrop of bloody revolution, Volker Schlöndorff’s Coup de grâce is a powerful film that explores the interrelation of private passion and political commitment.
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Roberto Rossellini – Germania, anno zero aka Germany Year Zero (1948)
1941-1950DramaItalyRoberto RosselliniWarIn the third and final film of Rossellini’s WWII trilogy, the director shifts his focus from his native Italy to the bombed-out ruins of Berlin, where 12-year-old Edmund Koehler struggles for survival. Among the nine people he lives with are: a father, who is suffering from malnutrition and a fatal illness; a brother, who is a former Nazi soldier hiding to avoid arrest; and a sister, who has turned to prostitution. Scouring the rubble-strewn city for food, money, and cigarettes, he comes upon a former teacher, Herr Enning (Erich Guhne), who evinces a barely restrained sexual attraction to the boy while providing him with records of Hitler’s speeches that can be bartered on the black market. He also drums into the boy a classic piece of Nazi propaganda about the importance of having the courage to let the weak be destroyed. Under his influence, the confused young protagonist heads down a tragic path.
~ Michael Costello, AMGRead More » -
Philip Leacock – The War Lover (1962)
1961-1970DramaPhilip LeacockUSAWarSteve McQueen is Buzz Rickson, a B17 pilot during WWII. Rickson’s brashness serves him well during wartime, but he finds that he feels out of place during everyday civilian life. His more mild-mannered co-pilot, Bo Bolland (Robert Wagner), however, lives only to get through the war to resume his life with his girl, Daphne (Shirley Anne Field). This wartime character study is based on a novel by John Hersey, who also wrote the screenplay.Read More »