Yoshishige Yoshida returned to feature filmmaking after a hiatus of thirteen years with this brave and moving film about the struggle to maintain dignity in the face of old age and approaching death. The Human Promise reaffirms Yoshida’s ability to deal with difficult and even taboo topics by exploring the question of euthanasia with a profound sensitivity and subtlety. The film’s unusually frank meditation on death is anchored by the restrained performances by its veteran actors.
Category: Drama
Min is a young woman who loses her job, her boyfriend and her flat on the same day, throwing her life into chaos. Fortunately her best friend Jaz, comes to her rescue and finds her a new flat with a seemingly nice male student, as well as a new job. A boyfriend takes much longer though, and the two girls discuss life, love and sex throughout the film, as they try to make ends meet in inner-city Sydney in the mid-90s.
The Savage Eye is an experimental hybrid between fiction and documentary, portraying urban life as both a nightmare and a release. The poetic text sometimes contrasts with intriguing, neutral footage. When it was released in 1960, The Savage Eye was seen as an important example of cinema verité. Filmmakers Sidney Meyers, Ben Maddow and Joseph Strick worked on the film for a full four years in their free time. There’s an important role for music, performed by a brass ensemble and composed by Leonard Rosenman, who went on to write scores for films such as Barry Lyndon (1975) and Sybil (1976).
Ludivine Jarisse is a young woman who lives a contented but unexciting life in the country. One day, she is visited by Roberte, an old friend who has made a career for herself as an actress at a Paris music hall, L’Empyrée. Roberte intends to take a break and invites her friend to take her place. Ludivine readily accepts, and soon becomes a musical hall diva under the name Divine, although she is at first reluctant to expose herself in the revealing costumes she is given. One of her colleagues attempts to take advantage of her naivety, but when she resists, he implicates her in a drugs trafficking affair.
Two women on vacation decide to see who the better seductress is. When an accident causes tragedy, their husbands do what they can to cover all traces of a scandal.
Biography of the legendary musician Huddie Leadbetter “Leadbelly” that deals with the problems he had in his youth due to racial segregation including his time and prison and his efforts to conquer a position in the world of music.
A troublemaker returns to town only to find his old tearaway pals have joined a supervised motorcycle club. Friction erupts between him and the new leader about this goody-goody setup, and about the charms of gang moll Terry.
A young and unexperienced music student is courted by a famous pianist, but just when she is about to fall for him, the pianist is fatally shot by an unknown woman. At the court trial, the woman finally tells her own story and the reason for the crime she committed, and a complex family tragedy is unveiled…