A film set in a small Polish village in the ’60s that deals with a young girl’s awakening sexuality. Mala, about 13, lives with her unmarried mother and has a boyfriend of her own age. The village is sent into a turmoil by the arrival of the clan of Gypsies, who set up camp in the field. Gypsies are ostracized and damned as ‘devils’ by the conservative villagers. Mala is attracted to the Gypsies…
Category: Arthouse
Locked in the world of everyday life, the woman – a mother of three children – not wanting to lose her beloved man, her husband, hides another pregnancy from him. She finds herself in a no-win situation. It is impossible to conceal her condition any longer, and whatever she does will be the wrong solution. A tragedy occurs. When the woman finally begins to be aware that outside her home there is another life, other people, another world – it is too late for everything.
The film deals with the fate of the Roman merchant Piacchi, who lost his eleven-year-old son in a plague and now takes in a foundling of the same age, raises him and bequeaths all his possessions to the young man. Nicolo, as the adopted son is called, however, uses his power to deceive and destroy Piacchi and his young wife.
Tony Takitani had a solitary childhood. At school he studied art, but while his sketches are accurate and detailed, they lack feeling. Used to being self-sufficient, Tony finds himself becoming more irrational and instinctive. After finding his true vocation as a technical illustrator, he becomes fascinated by Eiko, a client who in turn is fascinated by high end fashion.
A must-see for all Rainer Werner Fassbinder fans. Radu Gabrea’s campy 1984 biopic about the late director stars the very talented Eva Mattes in drag in the title role, manipulating his Munich stock company in a variety of perverse ways while coming on as a slob enfant terrible. Funny, insightful, and packed with inside references that enthusiasts of the director and his myth will particularly enjoy, this is good, decadent fun even for spectators with only a casual acquaintance with Fassbinder; Mattes’s hallucinatory performance has a fascination all its own.
Intrigue and deceit in medieval Hungary, with spectacular choreography by Miklós Jancsó. Gáspár, the youngest scion of the ruling family, returns home from Italy and discovers he is destined to be crowned king. However, the path to the throne is convoluted and in the death dance around the court nobody can escape their fate. Ninetto Davoli, known from Pasolini films, also plays an important role alongside László Gálffi, while József Madaras and György Cserhalmi similarly excel in this carnival-like allegory mixed with pantomime.
An early film by American film director George Moorse. Kuckucksjahre portrays a clique of “dropouts” in the 1960s. There is Hans, who lives aimlessly into the day until he finds someone he can admire in the successful guy Ardy. Because he suddenly wants to stop doing nothing, however, he is abandoned by his girlfriend Petra. Then there is Sybille, who loves both Hans and Ardy. Ardy, however, falls in love with Astrid, with whom he eventually leaves.
In the wake of a young man’s suicide attempt, his family gathers in their large house in the country, where complex interrelationships play out against a tense vigil. Winner of the 1991 Jean Vigo Prize, Desplechin’s rarely screened featurette displays many of the hallmarks of his mature style: the deft handling of a sprawling cast of characters (played by several Desplechin regulars, including Emmanuelle Devos), the nuanced understanding of family dynamics, and the wide-ranging literary allusions. All come together in an incisive, poignant examination of the myriad ways we deal with tragedy.