This densely-packed film is based on a book by Tom Hart about the struggles of a young Yorkshire boy trying to come to grips with squabbling parents, a doctor who wants to institutionalize him because of his epilepsy, and a mother who refuses to accept that he is different in any way.
Category: Drama
This off-beat psychological drama by Sohrab Shahid Saless dissects German post-war society with a cutting edge. Herbert is a solid, middle-class engineer who one day quits his job and ensconces himself at home (preferably in the bathroom), refusing to say very much to anyone. His wife is all the more upset at his behavior because on Sunday mornings he goes out into the street and yells at the top of his lungs for everyone to “get up.” Eventually, the hard-working wife who is also earning their support convinces Herbert to go to a clinic for treatment, but will it change him?
This satirical fantasy is based upon an Elmer Rice play from 1923. A hard-working office employee is rewarded for his years of slavish devotion to the company by getting fired just prior to retirement and being replaced with an adding machine. Now, with only his nagging wife waiting at home to add more misery to his dreary life, the man has nothing left and goes over the edge.
American screenwriter Michael Moore arrives in Paris to work as a script doctor for a struggling film production. At the airport, he is met by Jean-Paul, a charming chauffeur who once served time for manslaughter. Despite this, Michael and Jean-Paul quickly forge a friendship. The American’s pleasant stay in Paris becomes complicated when he meets an attractive, wealthy woman at his hotel — the complication being the fact that he is married.
Smith, the deaf and dumb son of a rural black preacher, refuses to accept the menial labour on offer in the small farming community where he’s grown up. He tries to earn a living in the city, but this ends in assault, and his return home sparks off a cycle of vengeful violence. What Roodt’s film lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in dirty authenticity. A hard-hitting independent venture (the director went on to make Sarafina!), completed and released against the odds in apartheid South Africa.
Helen Regan, the daughter of a crippled ex-police officer whose disability makes her hesitant about getting romantically involved with policeman Bob Condon. But her doubts are shelved after Bob rescues her and her father, Dan Regan from Blake Standish, an escaped convict seeking revenge.
After the Japanese surrender to the U.S., ending World War II, the residents of a small fishing village feel great humility in the wake of the defeat. But some of the children — Ryuta and Saburo in particular — react with anger and confusion. Their uncertainty about the future is magnified when U.S. troops occupy the area and treat the villagers with kindness, adhering to Gen. MacArthur’s proclamation. Tensions ease, but profound complications still linger.
