• Ingmar Bergman – Karins ansikte aka Karin’s Face (1986)

    1981-1990DocumentaryIngmar BergmanShort FilmSweden

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    This short was made for Swedish television and was actually aired in 1986, unlike imdb claims.

    Quote:
    “This is a surprising and lovely film, and thoroughly engrossing, given its brief length. Shot and framed with exquisite care, it validates a favorite past time and the value of looking at old photographs of family members to gain insight into one’s self.

    Amassing as many of the old photos as he could of his parents and grandparents, their relatives and offspring, Bergman takes long, lingering views of their faces, their hands, the expressions in their eyes and mouths, registering for us all, something special in the faces of siblings and relatives young and old. These are long loving looks, with no narration, just a piano playing a simple slightly abstract tune. It was quite moving to see, just through juxtaposition, what Bergman could lead us to think about how he regards his mother, father, aunts, uncles, cousins, — anyone who was pictured, including himself as a boy.Read More »

  • Jean Epstein – L’or des mers (1932)

    1931-1940DramaFranceJean Epstein

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    Quote:
    Cinémathèque française:
    L’or des mers (1932) is based on Breton myths and legends. It tells the story of Soizic and her father, an old and alcoholic sailor who draws attention to himself when he discovers and hides a treasure from a ship wreak that has been washed up by the sea. In L’or des mers but also in the third film Chanson d’Armor, there are no good and bad characters, just human beings faced with their destiny and the forces of the nature. One of the brilliant things in both films is the way that sky and water become central figures. Epstein once said that canals and the coastline were the best characters that he ever worked with!Read More »

  • Theodoros Angelopoulos – O megalexandros AKA Alexander the Great (1980)

    Drama1971-1980EpicGreeceTheodoros Angelopoulos

    Synopsis
    Lead by Alexandros (Omero Antonuti), a group of thieves escape from prison. They take several aristocrats hostage, and, together with a few anarchists, they go to Alexandros’ village, where an administrative system of common ownership and equality among all the inhabitants has been instituted. They ask the aristocrats to return the land to the villagers, but their demands are not met because soldiers have surrounded the village. The anarchists try to leave but are killed on the way. Alexandros executes the hostages; the soldiers kill his comrades, and the villagers murder him. The only survivor is a little boy named Alexandros (Ilias Zafeiropoulos), who escapes and goes to Athens.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – The Wiz (1978)

    1971-1980AdventureFantasySidney LumetUSA

    Sidney Lumet’s 1978 adaptation of Broadway’s all-black musical resembles
    Saturday Night Fever more than The Wizard of Oz.

    Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader wrote:
    Sidney Lumet’s 1978 adaptation of Broadway’s all-black musical resembles Saturday Night Fever more than The Wizard of Oz. There is the same dark disco lighting, the same romanticization of urban rubble. And the theme is no longer “There’s no place like home,” but a learning-to-love-yourself homily that might have been lifted from Werner Erhard. Still, it’s one of the more competent neomusicals of the period, if only because of Dede Allen’s punchy editing and Tony Walton’s cavernous sets. A lot to look at, little to contemplate, and nothing to hum. With Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and a curiously restrained bit by Richard Pryor.Read More »

  • Pat O’Neill – Screen (1969)

    1961-1970Pat O'NeillShort FilmUSA

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    Screen (Pat O’Neill, 1969, digital (originally 16mm), color, silent, 4min.)
    A less-well known work by O’Neill, originally intended as an installation.
    Consider supporting the filmmaker.Read More »

  • Karel Reisz – Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)

    1951-1960DramaKarel ReiszUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis
    The sights and sounds of industrial Nottingham resonate with a grimy thud as Arthur Seaton works his tedious factory job. Through ale, women and practical jokes, he vents his frustrations against the “establishments” of work and marriage… until his reckless ways lead him to a night that changes his life. Forced to reevaluate his convictions, Arthur must decide exactly what he stands for.Read More »

  • Tinto Brass – Il disco volante aka The Flying Saucer (1964)

    1961-1970ComedyItalyTinto Brass

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    Quote:

    A gem! This is one of the last of the great movie comedies. Famous producer Dino De Laurentiis hired Brass to direct Rodolfo Sonego’s satirical political parable, “Il disco volante”, starring Alberto Sordi in four rôles, along with Silvana Mangano and Monica Vitti. Brass’s direction is flawlessly smooth, Sordi is at his most brilliant with his priceless doubletakes, and the film is screamingly funny. But since Brass did not write or edit it, “Il disco volante” is not a true-blue Brass film, though its anti-authoritarianism is certainly congenial to his outlook. The story concerns witnesses to some flying saucers that land in a village near Venice. They spin enough yarns that the police are brought in to arrest the visitors, but plans go awry when the aliens just want to party and when a few villagers start trafficking in Martians. Good movies are impossible to describe. Good comedies are even more impossible to describe. Take my word for it, though, you’ll like it!Read More »

  • Tinto Brass – L’Urlo aka The Howl (1970)

    1961-1970ArthouseExperimentalItalyTinto Brass

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    from imdb user comment:

    “2 Eggs; to break, broke, broken”, the only English phrase and theme song spoken in Tinto Brass’ “L’Urlo”. What a film! The only available version of this film I could find had no subtitles. Either way it doesn’t matter since it is very visual. When most people here the name Tinto Brass, right away they think of the horrid sleaze epic “Caligula”, or some might name “Salon Kitty”. If your lucky, you’ll here of some who have seen his fun slapstick sex comedies from Italy like “Miranda” and “All Ladies Do it”. Known mainly for his lighthearted sex romps with curvy women, Tinto Brass’ earliest experimental films were much different. Heres a recipe for a film like “L’Urlo”. Take some Fellini, add some Jodorowsky/Arrabal and a little table spoon of Godard for extra kick, stir and you got yourself “L’Urlo”. One crazy psychedelic, surrealist anti-war art orgy. A bus is lit on fire! Hippies are chased by riot cops. There’s stock footage of Vietnam and other wars with a machine gun showdown! S&M, slapstick sexuality, a man’s pursuit of a beautiful lady… abstract art and nudity galore! Most memorable is a man in a gas mask jumping around with nude people while goose feather’s fill the air! One amazing experimental protest movie! Rebel art at its finest!Read More »

  • Malcolm J. Thomson – David Bowie – Love You Till Tuesday (1969)

    1981-1990CultHungaryMalcolm J. ThomsonMusical

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    Love You till Tuesday was a promotional film designed to showcase the talents of David Bowie, made in 1969. The film was the latest attempt by his manager, Kenneth Pitt, to bring Bowie to a wider audience. Pitt had undertaken the film after a suggestion by Gunther Schnedier, producer of German TV show ‘4-3-2-1 Musik Für Junge Leute’ for the ZDF network.Read More »

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