Music
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TOP 100 FORIEGN FILMS
Title
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Dir/Cntry/Yr/Lth
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Description/Language and Subtitles information
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The 400 Blows
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Francois Truffaut, France, 1959, 97 mins.
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One of the landmarks of cinema, which introduced the character of Antoine Doinel, played by Jean-Pierre Leaud, to the world, as the 12-year-old boy left to his own devices in an indifferent adult world. An uncompromising film, winner of innumerable awards. French with English subtitles.
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Aguirre: The Wrath of God .
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Werner Herzog, Germany, 1972, 94 mins
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"One of the great, mad, passionate, foolhardy masterpieces as reckless and as brilliant as Greed or Apocalypse Now" (Roger Ebert). Shot on location in the Amazon, Klaus Kinski is Aguirre searching for El Dorado--the mythical City of Gold. German with English subtitles.
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All the Mornings in the World
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Alain Corneau, France, 1992, 110 mins.
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This film combines the fervor of passionate music making and young love in 17th-century France in the story of cellist Marin Marais and his learning at the hands of teacher/composer Sainte-Colombe. Gerard Depardieu and his son Guillaume star as a musician in different stages of life, who must choose between his devotion to his instructor, his love for this instructor's daughter, and his art. French with English subtitles.
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Antonia's Line
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Marleen Gorris, The Netherlands, 1995, 102 mins.
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In this recasting in a woman's image of a story from the book of Genesis, an 88-year-old Dutchwoman recalls her past on the last day of her life, filled with colorful characters like a Russian midwife-undertaker, a Danish recluse, a mentally disabled girl, a village idiot and a mad Madonna who howls at the moon. An Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, the film also won Best Picture at the Toronto International Film Festival. Dutch with English subtitles.
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Au Revoir les Enfants (Goodbye, Children)
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Louis Malle, France, 1988, 104 mins.
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Louis Malle returns to the days of German occupation during World War II to recount the story of the friendship between two schoolboys, one Jewish and the other Catholic. A winner of many awards including Best Picture in France. Familiar themes are explored. Subtitled.
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Ay, Carmela
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Carlos Saura, Spain,1990, 105 mins.
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The always vivacious Carmen Maura, the star of so many films by Pedro Almodovar, plays the title role of an apolitical cabaret performer caught between the combatants of the Spanish Civil War. Maura performs several lively musical numbers in this historical drama directed by Carlos Saura (Blood Wedding). With Andres Pajares, Gabino Diego, Miguel Rellan and Maurizio De Razza as the Italian officer in charge of staging a musical revue for a very demanding Fascist audience. In Spanish with English subtitles.
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Ballad of a Soldier
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Grigori Chukrai, Russia, 1959, 89 mins.
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Grigori Chukrai's poetic and elegiac war story is one of the major works of post-war Russian cinema, detailing the odd, bemused moments of a soldier's earnest seduction of a country girl while visiting his mother. The film is also devastating at capturing the dread, pain and humiliation of war, and its effects on the people. "The picture flows in such a swift, poetic way that the tragedy of it is concealed by a gentle lyric quality" (New York Times). With Vladimir Ivashov and Shanna Prokhorenko. Russian with English subtitles.
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Battle of Algiers
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Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy, 1967, 122 mins.
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Internationally acclaimed, the staggering newsreel-like authenticity of the staged street riots and vital performances of the actors give Battle of Algiers a unique dramatic impact on this detailing of the Algerian revolt against the French. French/Algerian with English subtitles.
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Battleship Potemkin
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Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1925, 65 mins.
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Sergei Eisenstein's depiction of the mutiny of the crew of the Potemkin during the insurrection of 1905. The bold imagery, stylized composition and powerful rhythmic editing combine to make it a film consistently voted one of the top ten of all time. Silent, with music by N. Kryukov and a brilliant original music score by Edmund Meisel. Digitally remastered.
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Beauty and the Beast
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Jean Cocteau, France, 1946, 93 mins.
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Jean Cocteau's superb adaptation of Marie Leprince de Beaumont's dark fairy tale is a ferociously inventive and stylized depiction of erotic obsession, about a young woman's discovery of a ravaged soul beneath a monstrous beast. With Jean Marais, Josette Day and Marcel Andre. Cinematography by Henri Alekan. "A sensuously fascinating film, the visual progression of the fable into a dream-world casts its unpredictable spell" (Bosley Crowther).
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Before the Rain
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Milcho Manchevski, GB/Macedonia/Fr., 1994, 115 mins.
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Three intertwined stories are joined in this haunting feature about individuals facing hard choices. Set in the former Yugoslavia and London, it combines ethical and moral quandaries with compelling situations and jarringly striking settings. Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Picture. English and Macedonian with English subtitles.
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Black Orpheus
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Marcel Camus, Brazil, 1958, 103 mins.
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Marcel Camus' quintessential love story based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is set against the vivid backdrop of carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Orpheus, the streetcar conductor, falls hopelessly in love with Eurydice; winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes as well as an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Portuguese with English subtitles.
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Breathless
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Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1959, 89 mins.
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The landmark French New Wave film by Godard features Jean-Paul Belmondo as a small-time hood on the run from the law, having an affair with an American girl in Paris (Jean Seberg). A film which owes much to American film noir and yet revolutionized the world of film. Remastered. French with English subtitles
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Burnt by the Sun
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Nikita Mikhalkov, Russia, 1994, 134 mins.
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This Academy Award-winning feature (Best Foreign Language Film) is a wonderfully intimate, Chekhovian idyll set in Stalinist Russia which, at its conclusion, packs an explosive political climax. Director Nikita Mikhalkov plays a legendary revolutionary hero living in a dacha outside Moscow with family and friends. Most of the film's complex relationships are seen through the innocent eyes of Mikhalkov's (and the hero's) beautiful daughter in a film that gently reveals the tragedy of living under Stalinism. Russian with English subtitles.
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Cabeza de Vaca
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Nicolas Echevarria, Mexico/Spain, 1991, 109 mins.
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A visually spellbinding biography of the Spanish explorer Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the sole survivor of a 16th-century Spanish shipwreck off the coast of Florida. Cabeza de Vaca discovers the Iguase, a traditional Indian tribe, which allows Cabeza into their tribe. Over the next eight years, he learns about their mysterious culture and becomes a leader of the group. But his former identity catches up with him when a team of Spanish conquistadors return to colonize the Indians. "Bold and imaginative, the film has ambition, freshness, imagination, mystery and exhilarating reach. It has greatness in it" (Jay Carr, Boston Globe). With Juan Diego, Daniel Gimenez Cacho and Roberto Sosa. Spanish and Indian with English subtitles.
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Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
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Robert Wiene, Germany, 1919, 52 mins.
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The great Expressionist classic with Werner Krauss as Caligari, the fairground showman who hypnotizes his servant (Conrad Veidt) into committing murder at night. Famous for its distorted painted sets, its grotesque camera angles and its atmospheric horror, this cinematic landmark is now newly mastered from a 35mm archive print with an orchestral score. English intertitles.
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Cinema Paradiso
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Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy, 1989, 125 mins.
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An affectionate salute to the magic of the movies and the individuals who spend their lives in the projection booth. This Italian film received an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Philippe Noiret stars as Alfredo, the projectionist for a small Sicilian village movie palace, who opens up new worlds for one very inquisitive child. With Jaques Perrin, Salvatore Cascio, Pupella Maggio and Marco Leonardi. Italian with English subtitles.
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Circus
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Grigori Alexandrov, USSR, 1936, 89 mins.
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Grigori Alexandrov's daring attempt to import the American musical comedy form into the Soviet Union was conceived by its director as "an eccentric comedy--a real side-splitter."Its star is an American circus artiste who has a black baby--a daring conceit for 1936! The only way she can find happiness is among the Soviet people. Lyubov Orlova is the star in this rare comedy. Russian with English subtitles.
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Cleo from 5 to 7
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Agnes Varda, France/Italy, 1961, 90 mins.
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Ninety minutes, exactly, in the life of the singer Corinne Marchand, as she waits for the results of a medical test for cancer, and meets a young soldier about to leave for the Algerian war. Because of the anticipation, every trivial incident takes on a new significance. "Produced mainly in the streets of Paris, this is a moving poem of love and death" (Georges Sadoul). With Antoine Bourseiller. French with English subtitles.
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The Color of Pomegranates
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Sergei Paradjanov, USSR, 1969, 78 mins.
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Paradjanov's sublime mosaic on the life, art and spiritual odyssey of the 18th-century Armenian poet Sayat Nova. The film is a collection of images and tableaux that interweave landscapes, villages, costumes, props and music to form a metaphorical history of the Armenian nation. The film "achieves a sort of visionary para-surrealism through the most economical means of gesture, props and texture...A sublime and heartbreaking film" (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice). This director's cut repositions the shots and images and restores censored footage. With Sofico Chiaureli, M. Aleksanian and V. Galstian. Armenian with English subtitles. On the same program is Hagop Hovnatanian, Paradjanov's 12-minute short on the Armenian artist.
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The Cyclist
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Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran, 1989, 75 mins.
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A visually sophisticated film which deals with the themes of man's exploitation of man and the inequities between rich and poor. The cyclist is Nassim, an Afghan refugee in need of money to pay his wife's medical expenses. With work difficult to come by, a sleazy promoter suggests he undertake a bicycle marathon. Touting him as the Afghani superman, the huckster wagers that Nassim will circle a small area on the outskirts of town, day and night, for a week. Gamblers, bookies and food vendors gather to watch the desperate cyclist from the sidelines, turning his suffering to their own profit. Winner of the Best Film at the Riminicinema Film Festival. Farsi with English subtitles.
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Das Boot: The Director's Cut
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Wolfgang Petersen, Germany, 1981, 209 mins.
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Wolfgang Petersen's riveting, claustrophobic, German U-Boat warfare drama is presented in its original widescreen theatrical release ratio. This version also includes a newly redesigned digital soundtrack. With Juergen Prochnow, Herbert Gruenemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. Presented on two cassettes. German with English subtitles.
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De Mayerling a Sarajevo (Mayerling to Sarajevo)
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Max Ophuls, France, 1940, 89 mins.
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The assassination in Sarajevo of the Archduke Franz-Ferdinand and his wife, the Countess Sophie, is the spark that starts World War I. This historical event energizes Max Ophuls' classic tale of romance, power and greed. Casting an ironic eye on the extravagance and absurdity of the ruling class and portraying a bittersweet romance against the background of operas, balls and rides through the woods, Ophuls is at his masterful best. French with English subtitles.
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The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
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Luis Bunuel, France, 1972, 100 mins.
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Six characters are forever trying to sit down for a meal, but bizarre events dreams, fantasies, guests, terrorists interfere. Bunuel's brilliant satire lampoons the church, diplomats, wealthy socialites and radical terrorists and is a pure joy to watch. With Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stephane Audran, Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Michel Piccoli. French with English subtitles.
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Diva
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Jean-Jacques Beineix, France, 1982, 123 mins.
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A breathtaking series of visual images in this stylish romantic thriller; at the heart of the film is an opera-intoxicated 18-year-old mail carrier who becomes unwittingly entangled in a web of murder, intrigue and passion. French dialog with English subtitles.
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Divorce Italian Style
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Pietro Germi, Italy, 1962, 104 mins.
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The adult comedy sensation that started it all. Marcello Mastroianni is a Sicilian nobleman who, tiring of his fatuous and fawning wife, begins directing his attentions toward his teenage cousin. In an attempt to end his problems once and for all, he devises a plan to catch his wife cheating so he can kill her--but first he must find her a lover! Italian with English subtitles.
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Early Summer
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Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1951, 135 mins.
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Director Ozu gracefully portrays the conflicts between three generations in this classic story of a 28-year-old woman who lives with her brother, sister-in-law, nephews and aging parents and must endure their pressure to marry the man of their choice. With Setsuko Hara, Kuniko Miyake and Chishu Ryu. "A sensitively rendered film about basic human emotions made by a master filmmaker" (Leonard Maltin).
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Eclipse
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Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1966, 123 mins.
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The third of Antonioni's great trilogy, with Monica Vitti the alienated woman among the upper bourgeoisie. A brilliant film, with its stupefying climax of silence, comprised of 58 shots lasting 7 minutes. Italian with English subtitles.
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Europa Europa
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Agnieszka Holland, Poland/France, 1991, 100 mins.
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The film which took America by storm: Agnieszka Holland's powerful, moving story of a courageous German-Jewish teenager who survived World War II by concealing his identity and living as a Nazi during seven harrowing years through three countries. Based on a true story; a film which changes almost everyone who sees it. "A pure, absurd miracle of history" (New Yorker Magazine). Polish, German with English subtitles.
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The Exterminating Angel
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Luis Bunuel, Mexico, 1962, 95 mins.
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A metaphorically rich and comic film, Exterminating Angel is the story of guests invited to an elegant dinner party who find they are unable to leave at the end of the evening. A mysterious force compels them to stay--and stay--and stay. After several days, their well-heeled social facades collapse as hunger, thirst, fear, and boredom send them into a frenzy. Bunuel stated that this film is "a metaphor, a deeply felt, disturbing reflection of the life of modern man, a witness to the fundamental preoccupations of our time." It is certainly one of Bunuel's greatest achievements. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Fox and His Friends
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Rainer W. Fassbinder, Germany, 1975, 123 mins.
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A lower-class carnival entertainer professionally known as Fox the Talking Head strikes it rich, after a life of hard knocks, by winning the lottery. His new-found wealth attracts an elegant bourgeois lover, who proceeds to vamp Fox as thoroughly and unthinkingly as Lola Lola or Theda Bara. This ill-fated romance between "the capitalist and the lottery queen" makes for one of Fassbinder's most skillfully wrought films, expertly evoking a brittle, upper-class gay milieu where, as one character puts it, "God's dressed up like Marlene Dietrich, holding his nose." German with English subtitles. Electronically subtitled.
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Hate (La Haine)
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Mathieu Kassovitz, France, 1995, 91 mins.
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Winner of Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival 1995, Mathieu Kassovitz's harsh black-and-white drama of dispossessed urban youth is an unremitting look at the violence, unemployment and racial hatred that divide the young of contemporary France. Set in a Paris suburb over the course of 24 hours, the film is remarkable for the verve of its authentic performances and its gritty, realistic feel. French with English subtitles.
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Heart of Glass
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Verner Herzog, West Germany, 1976, 94 mins.
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Werner Herzog's brilliant, sensual, hypnotic film about the magical and desperate attempts of the people in a small village to learn the formula for making special glass, supplied by a wandering herdsman with extraordinary powers. An apocalyptic movie with stunning imagery (cinematography by Jorg Schmidt-Reitwin) that achieves a mystical, surreal power. With Josef Bierbichler, Stefan Guttler, Clemens Scheitz, and Sepp Muller. Music by Popol Vuh. German with English subtitles.
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Hiroshima, Mon Amour
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Alain Resnais, France, 1959, 91 mins.
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From the beginning, in which the love-making of a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) and a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) is intercut with newsreel footage of Hiroshima's atomic holocaust and its aftermath, to the couple's painful walk through the reconstructed city, Resnais' film recaptures both the pain and the richness of the war. French with English subtitles.
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I the Worst of All
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Maria Luisa Bemberg, Argentina, 1993, 100 mins.
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Based on the book Traps of Faith by Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, this is the last film completed by Maria Luisa Bemberg (Camilla, I Don't Want to Talk About It) before her death in 1995. The film tells the story of real-life poet and writer Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna, Matador), a target of the Spanish Inquisition, and her passionate relationship with a Viceroy's wife (Dominique Sanda, The Conformist), who protects the nun so that she may continue her work. As the Sister's status begins to grow among the peasants, the Church attempts to silence the nun. Considered radical for her time, Sister Juana is now recognized as one of Spain's greatest poets. Spanish with English subtitles.
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In a Year of Thirteen Moons
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Rainer W. Fassbinder, Germany, 1979, 129 mins.
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One of Fassbinder's most unusual and daring films, In a Year of Thirteen Moons stars Erwin Spengler as a man desperately in love with his business partner. He decides to have a sex change operation, becomes Elvira, but this fails to attract the love of his beloved. Instead, the new "she" finds a series of damaging relationships and betrayals. Fassbinder uses harsh color, asymmetrical sets, a dissonant sound track and alternating narrative techniques to evoke the pain of Erwin/Elvira in a film that stretches the boundaries of conventional storytelling. German with English subtitles.
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Indochine
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Regis Wargnier, France, 1992, 160 mins.
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Regis Wargnier's epic is set during the French occupation of Southeast Asia in the 1930s. Catherine Deneuve plays a plantation owner who searches for her adopted Vietnamese daughter Camille (Linh Dan Pham) after the young woman falls in love and becomes a communist revolutionary. "This intimate and tautly scripted work interweaves layers of deep affection with stirring historical details of 30s French Indochina, maintaining throughout an unshakable tension of a world about to change" (Toronto Festival of Festivals). Winner of the 1992 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. French with English subtitles.
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The Invitation
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Claude Goretta, Switzerland/France, 1973, 100 mins.
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Claude Goretta (The Lacemaker) takes viewers to a garden party that begins respectfully and falls to pieces as the sun and alcohol take their toll. Removed from their office surroundings, the guests let down their reserve until the butler restores the party and people to their proper order. Both charming and insightful, the film wryly observes the impact that time and space have on ordinary people. "One of the most impressive works to come out of Switzerland" (James Monaco, The Movie Guide). Digitally mastered with new electronic subtitles. French with English subtitles.
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Jamon, Jamon
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Bigas Luna, Spain, 1993, 95 mins.
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This winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival combines outrageous humor and steamy sex in a quirky movie of mismatched love affairs. Anna Galiena, Stefania Sandrelli, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz are all featured in this tale of erotic passions.
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Jazz Comedy (Jolly Fellows)
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Grigori Alexandrov, USSR, 1934, 98 mins.
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Grigori Alexandrov's first musical comedy is the rags-to-fame story of a shepherd boy who reaches lofty heights as a jazz-orchestra conductor. The film belongs to its heroine--Lyubov Orlova--who established herself as the first recognized star of Soviet cinema. Jazz Comedy is also remarkable for the clever camera work of Vladimir Nilsen, who introduced Western camera tricks to Soviet cinema. Russian with English subtitles.
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Jean de Florette
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Claude Berri, France, 1987, 122 mins.
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A marvelous tale of greed and intolerance from the novel by Pagnol about a city hunchback who inherits a valuable piece of property in rural France only to have his efforts thwarted by the villainy of his venal neighbor. With Gerard Depardieu, Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu and Ernestine Mazurownas as little Manon. French with English subtitles. 122 mins.
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La Dolce Vita
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Federico Fellini, Italy, 1961, 174 mins.
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"A landmark of cinematic social comment," wrote one critic about Fellini's journey through a decadent Rome. Banned by the Church in many countries, the sensationalism of the film often obscured its serious intent. La Dolce Vita follows a society journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) through a nightmarish world in which emotions have been destroyed by surface realities, moral conventions and unresolved guilt. With Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimee, Alain Cuny and Nadia Gray. Italian with English subtitles.
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La Jetee
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Chris Marker, France, 1962, 29 mins.
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Chris Marker's landmark film is set in postnuclear Paris. The story concerns an astronaut who travels back through time to realize a brief affair with a woman he once glimpsed. With the exception of a haunting shot of the woman blinking, the entire film is composed with still photographs and isolated shots. French with English subtitles.
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La Silence de la Mer (The Silence of the Sea)
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Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1947, 86 mins.
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An old man and his beautiful niece are forced to endure the presence of a Nazi officer during the German occupation of their small French village. Vowing never to speak to the invader, the couple listen in silence as the officer pours out his ideas and feelings about music, war and his love of France. Just as the officer overcomes their enmity and at the same time discovers the realities of Nazism in France, he is ordered to the eastern front. French with English subtitles.
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La Strada
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Federico Fellini, Italy, 1954, 107 mins.
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Fellini's masterpiece. Giulietta Masina plays Gelsomina, a tragic waif sold to play clown to travelling show strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn). "Simplicity itself, La Strada is a magical tale and an unbearably painful account of loneliness which will always be associated with the sublimely Chaplinesque Masina...but Quinn, too, is superb, particularly in the final revelation of his own heartbreak and isolation." With Richard Basehart and Aldo Silvani. Italian with English subtitles.
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La Symphonie Pastorale
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Jean Delannoy, France, 1976, 105 mins.
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Based on Andre Gide's introspective short story. Set in a mountain village, the story follows the spiritual growth and decline of a well-meaning pastor (Pierre Blanchar) and Gertrude (Michele Morgan), a blind orphan he takes into his home. Initially, the minister is guided by Christian principles to raise Gertrude with fatherly love, but as she grows into a beautiful woman, he is driven by a passion that destroys the happiness of his wife and son. Digitally mastered with new electronic subtitles. French with English subtitles.
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Lazarillo
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Cesar Ardavin, Spain, 1959, 109 mins.
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This morality tale is set in 17th-century Castile. A fatherless boy is abandoned by his mother and subsequently finds work with a strange succession of employers. A blind beggar, a miserly sacristan, a fake nobleman and even a traveling band of performers all teach him valuable lessons in vanity, cunning, deception and, ultimately, survival. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Life and Nothing More
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Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1992, 91 mins.
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The film investigates the aftermath of a devastating 1990 earthquake which killed some 50,000 people in northern Iran. This region provided the setting for Kiarostami's Where Is the Friend's Home. Kiarostami's search for the two young actors who played central roles in that film becomes the dramatic source of Life and Nothing More as a father and son travel to Quoker, the hometown of the two boys, and along the way meet earthquake survivors who desperately and valiantly work to reconstruct their lives. "In many ways the most beautiful and powerful Iranian film I've seen" (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader). Farsi with English subtitles.
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Like Water for Chocolate
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Alfonso Arau, Mexico, 1992, 105 mins.
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Immensely popular, magical story of a young girl whose cooking is infused with her emotions as she prepares her meals. Unrequited passions, changing political situations and madness emerge in this highly entertaining, sensual and funny story. Written by Laura Esquivel and directed by her husband. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Lumiere & Company
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Sarah Moon, France, 1996, 88 mins.
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To commemorate the centennial of the Lumiere brothers' first "motion picture," David Lynch, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Zhang Yimou, John Boorman, Arthur Penn, Peter Greenaway, Claude LeLouch, Costa Gavras, James Ivory and a host of leading international filmmakers created their own one-minute Lumiere film. Using the restored original camera, each director offered his own signature style to the film. Sandwiched between these 40 exciting, eclectic shorts are intriguing interviews with the filmmakers. A must-see for all movie fans, Lumiere & Company speaks for the passion, beauty and visionary dream of this 100-year-old art form. English and French with English subtitles.
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M
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Fritz Lang, Germany, 1931, 95 mins.
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A series of schoolgirls are murdered by a psychopath who terrorizes a large city and is hunted by the police through a network of beggars. Inspired by the real-life "vampire of Dusseldorf," Fritz Lang's great film is one of the key films of German Expressionism. Peter Lorre's performance as the murderer is one of the great screen performances of all time. German with English subtitles.
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The Marriage of Maria Braun
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Rainer W. Fassbinder, Germany, 1979, 120 mins.
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Hanna Schygulla stars in Fassbinder's spectacular weaving of soap opera, comedy, history, politics and social satire into a lucid whole. Maria marries Hermann Braun the night before he is called to the front in WWII Germany. Soon he's believed to be dead, and Maria starts working her way up through the bedrooms of the social elite. When her husband suddenly returns, a fight ensues and she ends up clobbering her lover to death. At the American war trial, Hermann accepts blame and prison sentence, while Maria is left to deal with her uncertain pregnancy and promiscuous nature in this darkly humorous metaphor for the German post-war national spirit. German with English subtitles.
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Masculine Feminine
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Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1966, 103 mins.
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A film about the children of Marx and Coca Cola directed by the child of Brecht and Hollywood. Two young lovers attempt to communicate throughout 15 discontinuous, contrapuntal vignettes. Dancing between precision and improvisation, this is one of Godard's most complex films, representing both a search for tenderness and a disheartening foray into the Sex War. With Jean-Pierre Leaud, Chantal Goya, and Catherine-Isabelle Duport. French with English subtitles.
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Melody Haunts My Reverie (You Only Love Once)
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Rajko Grlic, Yugoslavia, 1981, 103 mins.
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Voted as the third best Yugoslav film ever made, and an Official Selection at Cannes, this daring film is the story of an idealistic, young, partisan war hero who becomes a leader in the emerging socialist society of a small Croat village, and finds adjustment to the "new Yugoslavia" extremely difficult. He meets and falls in love with a middle-class ballerina, becomes involved with her bourgeois family and is eventually imprisoned. "A highly sensual romance...as passionate as it is politically catastrophic" (L.A. Times). Croatian with English subtitles.
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Men
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Doris Dorrie, Germany, 1985, 99 mins.
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Doris Dorrie's runaway hit of a screwball comedy about a businessman (Heiner Lauterbach) who discovers his wife is having an affair with a Bohemian artist. Disguised as the artist's roommate, Lauterbach watches, waits, and plots a strange reversal on the unsuspecting couple. German with English subtitles.
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Metropolis
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Fritz Lang, Germany, 1926, 90 mins.
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A newly mastered version of Fritz Lang's great masterpiece, the first classic of the science fiction genre. His depiction of a giant city controlled by an authoritarian industrialist who lives in a paradise-like garden while the workers live and struggle in subterranean sections of the city was as important for its vision of man in the service of those who control technology as for its implicit and moving social message. "A brilliant piece of expressionist design...with moments of almost incredible beauty and power" (Pauline Kael). Silent with music score.
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Minbo--Or the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion
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Juzo Itami, Japan, 1994, 123 mins.
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Juzo Itami turns his acid humor to Japan's infamous institution--the Yakuza gangs--in this film about a courageous attorney who rallies all of the employees at a hotel in an effort to resist the Yakuza blackmail. After the film was completed, thugs viciously attacked the director, forcing him to go into hiding. A brilliant, satirical look at the underbelly of Japanese modern life. Japanese with English subtitles.
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My Father's Glory
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Yves Robert, France, 1991, 103 mins.
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An 11-year-old boy spends an enchanting summer in the rugged French countryside with his family. The experience becomes a turning point in his young life and cements his relationship with his father. From the novel by Marcel Pagnol, a gorgeous film starring Philippe Caubere and Nathalie Roussel. French with English subtitles.
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My Mother's Castle
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Yves Robert, France, 1991, 117 mins.
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In the companion film to My Father's Glory, a boy continues his love affair with the wild country of southern France. Through frequent family visits to their summer home, he learns to love and understand his mother's true nature. The heartfelt conclusion to the story by Marcel Pagnol. French with English subtitles.
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The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
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Werner Herzog, W. Germany, 1974, 110 mins.
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In 1828, a young man appeared in the town square of Nuremberg, his origins unknown, having apparently been kept in solitary confinement all his life; five years later he was murdered by an unidentified assailant. Kaspar's brief, enigmatic destiny becomes a powerful metaphor for life in Werner Herzog's vision of the extreme edges of existence. Former mental patient Bruno S. delivers a sympathetic and powerful performance. "Herzog achieves a visionary, overcast style" (Pauline Kael, The New Yorker). Also known as Every Man for Himself and God against All. With Walter Ladengast, Brigitte Mira, Hans Musaus and Willy Semmelrogge. German with English subtitles.
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The Nasty Girl
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Michael Verhoeven, Germany, 1991, 94 mins.
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When Sonja investigates the secret past of her home town, she uncovers more than she expected--and more than the townsfolk want revealed. Before she knows it, she is nicknamed "the nasty girl" and her trouble really begins. This provocative comedy about secrets and surprises features a fabulous performance by Lena Stolze and is based on a true story. "One of the best films of the year!" (Los Angeles Daily News). German with English subtitles.
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Nosferatu
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Friedrich W. Murnau, Germany, 1922, 84 mins.
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One of Murnau's best known films, Nosferatu's eerie telling of the Dracula story was filmed on location in the mountains, towns, and castles of Bavaria. This German Expressionist symphony of horror is brilliantly infused with the subtle tones of nature: both pure and fresh, as well as twisted and sinister. Newly restored and color tinted, this version was remastered from a 35mm negative and includes recently discovered scenes and inter-titles freshly translated from the original German script.
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Nueba Yol
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Angel Muniz, Dominican Republic, 1996, 105 mins.
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This charming film about disappointment, triumph and the American dream broke all box office records in the Dominican Republic. When Balbuena (Luisito Marti) moves from Santo Domingo to New York ("Nueba Yol" in Dominican slang) hoping to make a fortune, he is in for a harsh disappointment, but finds the inner resources to succeed and find love in this land of crime, betrayal and strict labor laws. "Nueba Yol's well-placed plot and endearing characters provide a solid foundation for the deeper, more thought-provoking issues it raises. The film addresses not only immigration and crime but also the more universal themes of dreams, disappointment and triumph" (Mary Ann Farley, Video Business). Spanish with English subtitles.
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The Official Story
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Luis Puenzo, Argentina, 1985, 112 mins.
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Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1985, this powerful Argentinean feature is the true story of a comfortable middle-class couple and their adopted daughter. As the film progresses, the couple gradually begin to suspect that their daughter may be one of the many Argentinean children separated from their parents as they are detained or tortured and given away. The wife's journey of self-discovery reveals the horrors of the military dictatorship in Argentina. Directed by Luis Puenzo. With great performances from Hector Alterio and Norma Aleandro. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Passion of Joan of Arc
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Carl Theodor Dreyer, France, 1928, 114 mins.
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One of the most poignant, terrifying and unrelenting emotional historical documents ever filmed. Called an austere masterpiece in reference to the stark sets and extreme close-up photography, Joan of Arc is brilliantly portrayed by Maria Falconetti. Silent.
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The Peddler
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Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran, 1986, 95 mins.
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Shockingly forthright in its view of the social and economic problems of the post-Shah era, The Peddler uses a different cameraman and different style for each of three short tales set among the poor of contemporary Tehran. The first episode follows a kindly but naive couple who want someone to adopt their newborn daughter. The second, an astonishing mix of absurdist comedy and the supernatural, concerns a mentally unstable man who lives with his mother in a ramshackle apartment. The final section draws on the American gangster film to show the last hours of a peddler suspected of betraying his friends. Farsi with English subtitles.
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Peppermint Soda
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Diane Kurys, France, 1977, 97 mins.
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Diane Kurys' autobiographical first feature charts the adventures of two carefree sisters, Anne (Elenore Klarwein), a shy misfit, and Frederique (Odile Michel), a free-spirited extrovert, during the socially turbulent Paris of the early '60s. Living with their divorced Jewish mother, the girls shuttle between a rigid, claustrophobic school and awkward holidays with their father. "The film is a harsh, unsentimental look at adolescence, with the '60s setting serving primarily to define the social and political context of the girls' rites of passage" (Time Out). With Anouk Ferjac, Michel Puterflam, Yves Renier and Robert Rimbaud. French with English subtitles.
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Queen Margot
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Patrice Chereau, France, 1994, 144 mins.
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Winner of five Cesar Awards, Patrice Chereau's stylish, realistic adaptation Alexander Dumas' tale is set during the Catholic-Protestant wars of 16th-century France. Isabelle Adjani plays Margot, the unwilling daughter of Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi in a Cannes Festival-winning role), who is married to Protestant leader King Henry of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). In the film Chereau creates a non-stop series of betrayals, intrigues, plots, poisonings, love affairs and executions as Margot falls for a common soldier (Vincent Perez). French with English subtitles.
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Quilombo
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Carlos Diegues, Brazil, 1984, 114 mins.
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From Carlos Diegues, the director of Bye Bye Brazil and Xica, comes a handsome tale of revolution and conflict set in the mid-1600s. Disgruntled slaves in northeastern Brazil leave their plantations and form Quilombo de Palmares--their own democratic nation in the jungle. But this doesn't sit well with the Portuguese landowners, who send in their troops to restore control. A sequel of sorts to Ganga Zumba, this historical saga is a stirring fusion of folklore, political impact and dynamic storytelling, realized in vibrant tropical colors and set to the pulsing beat of Gilberto Gil's musical score. With Antonio Pompeu, Toni Tornado, and the dazzling Zeze Motta as Dandara the temptress. Portuguese with English subtitles.
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Rashomon
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Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1951, 89 mins.
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A cinematic landmark, a brilliant study of the nature of truth. Set in the 12th century. A samurai and his wife are traveling through the woods near Kyoto. They are attacked by a bandit, the wife raped and the husband killed. Four different versions of the incident are told by the participants and a woodcutter who was a witness. Japanese with English subtitles.
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Red
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Krzysztof Kieslowski, Switzerland, 1994, 99 mins.
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Kieslowski's striking conclusion of his Three Colors trilogy stars Irene Jacob as a model, separated from her lover, who is brought by accident into the life of the aging Jean-Louis Trintignant, retired judge and electronic peeping Tom. As Irene slowly uncovers her lover's secret life, she discovers that her own past is inevitably linked to her destiny. With Jean-Pierre Lorit and Frederique Feder.
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Red Desert
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Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1964 , 116 mins.
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Antonioni's masterpiece, with the great Monica Vitti playing the neurotic young woman married to an engineer in the industrial wasteland of northern Italy, searching in vain for meaning in life. Antonioni's first film in color--and what color! One of the most important films of the last half of the century. Italian with English subtitles.
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Return of Martin Guerre
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Daniel Vigne, France, 1983, 123 mins.
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Dramatization of an extraordinary imposture that took place in the 16th century and became a legend; the husband leaves his family and years later, returns. He re-integrates himself into the family and community, but then serious doubts spring up about his identity--is he the real Martin Guerre? With Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye. French with English subtitles.
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Rosa Luxemburg
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Margarethe von Trotta, Germany, 1985, 122 mins.
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Rosa Luxemburg's amazing life as a political radical and fiercely independent woman is brought to life in this sweeping biography starring the acclaimed actress Barbara Sukowa. From war and revolution to Luxemburg's tempestuous personal life, including her love affairs and numerous jail sentences, this charismatic figure stayed true to her ideals. German with English subtitles.
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Salmonberries
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Percy Adlon, Canada/Germany, 1991, 94 mins.
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German director Percy Adlon's political thriller features k.d. lang in her film debut. The story concerns a repressed East German librarian who escapes her oppressive surroundings after her lover is killed trying to scale the Berlin Wall. Devastated and grief stricken, Roswitha (Rosel Zech) travels to Alaska. Trapped in a grim, remote Eskimo outpost, she finds comfort and emotional fulfillment with the sexually ambiguous lang.
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Sans Soleil
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Chris Marker, France, 1983, 100 mins.
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An audacious and remarkable work from the brilliant essayist and poet Chris Marker, Sans Soleil visually interprets a series of letters from a wandering cameraman, based on his travels and experiences from West Africa to Tokyo as he searches for purpose, identity and self-definition through his observations, rituals, speculations, passions and predicaments. "As entertaining as Zelig, as visionary as Blade Runner" (Jim Hoberman, Village Voice). In English.
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Seventh Seal
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Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1956, 96 mins.
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Bergman's powerful allegory of man's search for meaning in life is stunningly visualized. A knight, upon return from the Crusades, plays chess with Death while the Plague ravages medieval Europe. With Max von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Bibi Andersson. Swedish with English subtitles.
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Stalingrad
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Joseph Vilsmaier, Germany, 1996, 150 mins.
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From the same production team that brought the world Das Boot, this film brings the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare to the screen: the legendary battle of Stalingrad. With German forces following Hitler's orders to neither retreat nor surrender, over two million Russians and Germans lost their lives in what came to be a turning point in the defeat of Germany in the Second World War. One of the most unflinchingly realistic war films ever made, Stalingrad stands alone in its searing, unforgettable imagery, "powerfully underscoring the adage that war is hell" (The New York Times). German with English subtitles.
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Strawberry & Chocolate
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Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba, 1994, 104 mins.
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A sensation from Cuba in which a chance encounter over ice cream between a middle-aged gay man and a young, fervent believer in contemporary Cuban Marxism sets the stage for a funny but serious film about difference and acceptance. Their friendship develops despite official intolerance of homosexuality and it soon withstands that short-sighted policy. This film broke box office attendance records in Cuba and achieved world-wide acclaim. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Sugar Cane Alley
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Euzhan Palcy, France, 1984, 107 mins.
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Euzhan Palcy's lyrical village drama set in French-occupied 1930s Martinique. The story examines the relationship of a determined, impoverished 11-year-old and his equally difficult and shrewd grandmother, who sacrifices everything for the boy's happiness. With Darling Legitimus, Garry Cadenat, Routa Seck and Joby Bernabe. French with English subtitles.
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Sundays and Cybele
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Serge Bourguignon, France, 1962, 110 mins.
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Winner of multiple awards including an Oscar, the moving, intelligently-told account of shell-shocked Hardy Kruger, who finds a source of communication with the outside world through his friendship with the orphaned girl Patricia Gozzi. French with English subtitles.
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Swept Away
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Lina Wertmuller, Italy, 1975, 116 mins.
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Raffaella, a rich, beautiful, acid-tongued Milanese who has chartered a yacht, and Gennarino, a swarthy Sicilian deckhand, are marooned on an isolated island in the Mediterranean. She is a capitalist for whom the system has paid off, he is a dedicated Communist. Swept Away is the story of their tumultuous courtship, in what one critic described as a "fierce battle of the sexes as witty as it is wise." Letterboxed. Italian with , English subtitles.
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Tango: Our Dance
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Jorge Zanada, Argentina, 1988, 71 mins.
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The sensuality and stylized rituals popular with the residents of Buenos Aires are part of the complex art form called the tango. Director Jorge Zanada examines the unique role of this dance within Argentina's social and personal landscape, exploring issues of machismo and passion contained within the dance. With a special appearance by Robert Duvall. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Ten Days That Shook the World
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Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1927, 95 mins.
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Also known as October, Eisenstein's famous recreation of the October Revolution during which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Kerensky government. Like his previous work, the film continues Eisenstein's experimental methods. Silent.
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Teorema
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Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1968, 93 mins.
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Pier Paolo Pasolini's breakthrough film, predicated on the theorem that "anything done by the bourgeoisie, however sincere and profound, and noble, is on the wrong track." Into the home of a classic bourgeois family walks in Terence Stamp, a stranger. Each one of the family--mother, father, son, daughter, maid--seeks and finds in the stranger a catalyst for the fulfillment of desire denied within the confines of the family structure. "Liberated thus by a moment of authenticity, each is left, on the visitor's departure, with a personal kind of madness, stripped naked in a symbolic desert." Italian with English subtitles.
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To Live
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hang Yimou, China, 1994, 132 mins.
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Winner of the 1994 Cannes Palme d'Or, Zhang Yimou's daring political tale of modern China landed him in major difficulties with the Chinese authorities. To Live follows a contemporary family across the turbulent face of modern China, from the Japanese invasion through Mao's Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The powerful drama is made all the more potent by strong performances from Gong Li. Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles.
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Tristana
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Luis Bunuel, Spain, 1970, 98 mins.
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The stunning Catherine Deneuve is Tristana, a victim of her own captivating beauty who is desired by two men. The first is her lecherous guardian (played by the great Fernando Rey) who, after raising her from a teenager, takes her as his mistress. The other is a young artist (Franco Nero) who wants to marry her but lacks the courage to free her from the corrupt relationship with her guardian. Set in 1920s Spain, Tristana is a scathing examination of moral decay viewed through Bunuel's typically dispassionate and ironic eyes. Spanish with English subtitles. Letterboxed.
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Triumph of the Will
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Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1936, 80 mins.
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Enormously controversial film record of a Nazi party solidarity rally at Nuremberg in 1934, crafted by Riefenstahl in her second directorial assignment. A fascinating lesson in the methods used by the Nazis to inspire national support. German with English subtitles.
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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
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Jacques Demy, France/Germany, 1964, 92 mins.
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Catherine Deneuve stars in this sumptuously photographed romantic musical of two lovers who are split up by the Algerian war. The girl marries another when she discovers she is pregnant. He also marries; yet they meet again. All dialog is sung; with haunting music by Michel LeGrand and lyrics by Demy, including the song, "I Will Wait for You." "A masterpiece! More beautiful and more startling than ever!" (New York Daily News). "The kind of movie that audiences will remember all their lives" (Chicago Tribune).
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Un Chien Andalou/Land Without Bread
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Luis Bunuel, Spain, 1928/32, 42 mins.
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Two great early films by Luis Bunuel: Un Chien Andalou continues to shock audiences today as it did in 1928; Land Without Bread is a horrifying account of one of Spain's most desolate regions, a documentary masterpiece made all the more harrowing for its travelogue style.
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An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano
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Nikita Mikhalkov, USSR, 1977, 100 mins.
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A bittersweet, humorous tapestry of human folly and lost dreams, loosely based on Chekhov's play Platonov. The course of the film takes place during a summer day at a decaying summer dacha. The hero had a spoilt love affair and now meets his old girlfriend, married to another. All his passions and frustrations burst out in the open. The film's leisurely atmosphere belies the intensity of the emotional content underneath, with Mikhalkov revealing profound moments of truth. With Alexander Kalyagin, Yelena Solovieva and Yevgey Glushenko. Russian with English subtitles.
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Viridiana
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Luis Bunuel, Spain, 1961, 90 mins.
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Bunuel's outrageous and devastating attack on religion and society. Viridiana, about to take her vows as a nun, takes to the pure Christian life by organizing a haven for a blind man, leper, cripple and beggar. Full of Freudian symbolism, the film ends in a famous orgy of destruction, containing Bunuel's blasphemous scene of the Last Supper. The film that got Bunuel kicked out of Spain. Spanish with English subtitles.
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Volga-Volga
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Grigori Alexandrov, USSR, 1937, 90 mins.
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An unseen miracle of 1930's Soviet cinema, Volga Volga is a revelation--a classic musical comedy that catapulted Lyubov Orlova into a Russian mega star. The setting is a giant steamboat making its way up the Volga River. On board is a motley collection of amateur singers and dancers travelling to Moscow to take part in a musical contest. At their center is Lyubov Orlova, featured alongside veteran Meyerhold comedian Igor Ilinsky. A triumphant success upon its release, it remains one of the most important and best-loved films produced by the Soviet regime. Russian with English subtitles.
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Weekend
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Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1967, 105 mins.
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"End of Cinema, end of world," read the titles at the conclusion of Godard's 1967 apocalyptic film Weekend. Godard himself described the work as both "a film found on the junk heap," and "a film lost in the cosmos." Presenting a dark, comic vision of the end of capitalist society, Weekend reflects the turmoil and chaos of the late sixties better than any Hollywood film from that era. It also stands as the climax to the first phase of Godard's filmmaking career, before he turned to the making of more experimental Marxist films after the social upheavals of 1968. With Mirielle Darc and Jean-Pierre Leaud. French with English subtitles.
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Where Is the Friend's Home?
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Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1989, 90 mins.
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A lyrical tale about a traveller searching for his friend's home, who finds himself on an excursion through places and moments of great beauty and wonder. The friends are the schoolmates Ahmad and Mohammad Reza. Mohammad Reza's careless attitude towards his homework has drawn several reprimands from their stern teacher, culminating in the threat of expulsion if he does not do his work. When Ahmad prepares to do his own homework, he finds that he has accidentally picked up Mohammad Reza's notebook. Fearing that his friend will be expelled if he cannot submit his lesson the next day, Ahmad defies his parents and sets out to find his friend's home in the neighboring village. Winner of the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. Farsi with English subtitles.
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White
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Krzysztof Kieslowski, France/ Poland, 1993, 92 mins.
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The second part of Kieslowski's Blue-White-Red trilogy, based on the concepts of the French tri-colour flag. A Polish man's life disintegrates when his new French bride deserts him after only six months. Forced to begin anew, he returns to Poland and plans a clever scheme of revenge against her. Julie Delpy is great as the young wife. French and Polish with English subtitles.
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White Balloon
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Jafar Panahi, Iran, 1996, 85 mins.
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Winner of the Camera d'Or and co-winner of the International Critic's Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, this Iranian breakthrough feature tells the story of a young girl's desire for a pretty goldfish to start her New Year's holiday. Snake charmers, a distracted dry cleaner tailor, a lonely and talkative soldier and other assorted adults get in the way of her goal. With a script by Abbas Kiarostami (Life and Nothing But...). "A miracle! Profound!" (Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Sun-Times). Farsi with English subtitles.
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Wild Strawberries
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Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1957, 95 mins.
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One of the great films of Bergman, with Victor Sjostrom as the aged Stockholm professor who recollects his past experiences and becomes aware, for the first time, of his failings and shortcomings. With Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Bjornstrand. Swedish with English subtitles.
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Wings of Desire
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Wim Wenders, Germany, 1988, 110 mins.
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"The first time I saw the film I thought it was a knockout; on second viewing it already seemed a classic," wrote J. Hoberman of Wim Wenders' re-examination of the divided city of Berlin. Damiel, played by Bruno Ganz, is the angel who has grown tired and frustrated at his inability to affect people's lives. When he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he decides to leave the heavens and enter the mortal world. With incredible cinematography by Henri Alekan, Wings of Desire is one of the rare movies of the past decade that actually stretch, break and re-form the boundaries of the medium" (David Denby, New York Magazine). German with yellow English subtitles.
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Woman in the Dunes
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Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan, 1964, 123 mins.
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A woman, confined to a deep pit in the sand dunes, where she is fed by neighbors and forced to clear her house of the threatening sands, is joined by a passing photographer whom the villagers have trapped into sharing her work and bed_forever. This is the situation of Teshigahara's great symbolic and sensual adaptation of Kobo Abe's novel, in which he "builds up the erotic tension...with extreme close-ups that transform the human body into landscape" (Oxford Companion to Film). With Eiji Okada and Kyoko Kishida. Japanese with English subtitles.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
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Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 1988, 98 mins.
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The latest wacky comedy from Pedro Almodovar once again stars Carmen Maura, his perennial leading lady. She plays a popular Spanish actress driven to distraction when her lover leaves for another woman. She knows she can talk him out of leaving if only she can talk directly to him and not deal with the answering machine. A comedy of errors ensues that involve a drugged pitcher of gazpacho, Shiite terrorists and a mental patient who left the asylum too soon. Spanish with English subtitles.
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