The rebellious daughter of an army general gets involved with a Communist agitator, mainly to annoy her father. He arranges to have her kidnapped and taken to Mexico–hoping that she will forget her “Red” boyfriend–by a young, handsome soldier named Jeff who, while somewhat of a goof-up, the general believes is still better for her.
Month: November 2021
Extending his fascination with genre cinema, Petzold’s second feature is a made-for-television variation on the 1945 noir Detour, transposing Ulmer’s Poverty Row classic from the gloomy backroads of postwar America to the drab railway stations and sunlit autobahns of 1990s Europe. Across this colorless landscape, homeless drifter Tom tracks ex-lover-turned-prostitute Tina with the questionable assistance of a slick rich guy named Jimmy, pursuing parallel paths on a desperate odyssey westward that just might lead all the way to Cuba.
Irene, a magazine editor who’s lived a sheltered existence under the shadow of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1973 Chile, gradually awakens to the political tumult when handsome photographer Francisco enters her life and opens her eyes.
An adaptation of Bedřich Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride. Set in 19th century Bohemia, the matchmaker Kezal wants to bring the mayor’s daughter Marie and the rich landowner’s son Wenzel together. Both of them, however, have already fallen in love with someone else. The endearing characters, a whimsical storyline and quiet humor combine with catchy tunes, a pastoral setting and fluid camera work. A last hurrah in the wanning days of Weimar cinema.
A “Perfect Movie Fan”, Joe Ruddy, is brought to Hollywood as a publicity stunt, and is put in charge of a production company as a gag, but everybody isn’t in on the gag, and Joe imports a notorious gangster, “Buggsy” Malone, to play “himself” in a film based on his life. “Buggsy” has gone straight, more or less, but retains some of his old habits to the extent of assuming control of the film, and the whole studio.