Haru (1996)

November 25, 2021 / Drama

Haru (1996)

——UPGRADED——

Made in the early years of internet chat rooms, Yoshimitsu Morita’s mid-1990s standout follows a young salaryman in the city with the username “[Haru]” who becomes fast friends with a fellow named Hoshi who lives in a rural town. Their anonymity allows them to open up about their loves, struggles, and cinephilia. One day, Hoshi reveals that she is a woman, but that doesn’t damage the strength of their friendship. Eventually, the two finally decide to meet in person. Morita’s keen interest in new technology and an enduring love for trains come together to create a charming tale of connection in an alienating world.

WATCH HERE

November 25, 2021 / Drama

L’adolescente (1979)

——UPGRADED——

In the summer of 1939, 13-year-old Marie goes with her parents to visit her grandmother in a small town near Avignon. Although rumors of war reach the countryside, it’s an idyllic place, and Marie’s parents are constantly making love. Surrounded by sexual frankness, Marie fancies herself a woman and develops a crush on Alexander, the town’s young Jewish doctor but is despondent when he treats her like a child…

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November 25, 2021 / Documentary

Venice: Theme and Variations (1957)

Ivory’s first, slightly intoxicated film (part of his MA thesis for the University of Southern California) is a documentary on the history of Venice as revealed through the work of some of the artists who have painted its architecture and citizens (from Gentile Bellini to Saul Steinberg).

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November 25, 2021 / Arthouse

Po di sangui (1996) AKA Tree of Blood

In Amanha Lundju, the trees planted upon the birth of each child begin falling rapidly and mysteriously. Led by the tradition healer, Calcalado, the villagers begin a desert exodus in search of the cause of their curse and discover they must return home to fight for their traditions and their old way of life.

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November 12, 2021 / Silent

Greed (1924) [Custom Theatrical Edit] With synchronized score by Carl Davis taken from the 1990 Laserdisc release.

Miner-turned-dentist McTeague wins young Trina Sieppe away from her cousin Marcus, McTeague’s friend. When Trina wins five thousand dollars in a lottery, Marcus accuses McTeague of marrying her for her money. Trina becomes more and more obsessed with money, refusing to spend any of her winnings even though she and her husband are forced into dire straits. When Marcus informs the authorities that McTeague is not licensed as a dentist, thus depriving him of his meagre living, the friendship and the marriage are destroyed. At last murder intrudes, leaving no one unscathed.

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November 10, 2021 / Arthouse

Raku-yo-ju (1986) AKA Tree Without Leaves

Haru, an aging scriptwriter, has isolated himself somewhere in the woods of Nagano to work on his first novel. As the last surviving member of his kin, he intends to chronicle the family he grew up in.

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November 10, 2021 / Arthouse

Pałac (1980) AKA The Palace

Set in 1944. A courtly sheepherder enters an abandoned palace he has seen only from the distance since he was a boy. Once he enters the palace, strange things begin to happen as though he was dreaming the events rather than living them.

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November 10, 2021 / Documentary

Kommando 52 (1965)

The film deals with the infamous “Kommando 52”, which was active in the 1960s civil war in the Congo and was recruited mainly from West German men. Among them is the former Wehrmacht officer Siegfried Müller. Based on personal accounts and original material – backed by tape recordings of interviewed mercenaries and photos of murdered Africans – it creates a hard hitting historical document.

WATCH HERE

Month: November 2021