A rediscovered masterpiece, director Larry Clark’s As Above, So Below comprises a powerful political and social critique in its portrayal of Black insurgency. The film opens in 1945 with a young boy playing in his Chicago neighborhood and then follows the adult Jita-Hadi as a returning Marine with heightened political consciousness. Like The Spook Who Sat By the Door and Gordon’s War, As Above, So Below imagines a post-Watts rebellion state of siege and an organized Black underground plotting revolution. With sound excerpts from the 1968 HUAC report “Guerrilla Warfare Advocates in the United States,” As Above, So Below is one of the more politically radical films of the L.A. Rebellion.
Category: Drama
Two teenagers meet and cautiously fall in love in beautiful surroundings during the peak of an idyllic Swedish summer. Oblivious to social boundaries, they innocently create their own inner world, expecting little from the dysfunctional and world-weary adults around them.
An enchanting and humorous blend of music, fable, and melodrama, Tajouj has become a classic of African cinema, the first Sudanese feature film and also the debut film of Gadalla Gubara. The story of a forbidden love triangle among the nomadic Beja people of the Eastern Desert in 19th-century Sudan, Tajouj stars Salah Ibn Albadya, a nationally beloved performer best known for his mystical Sufi and romantic ballads.
Georges Menessier, a 45-year-old celebrity press writer, smuggles into a mental hospital to take pictures of…his ex-wife Clara Noël, once a great film star now confined to this clinic for alcoholism and nervous trouble. Once inside the place he meets Clo, a beautiful twenty-year-old woman, another inmate. They fall in love but madness is synonymous with tragedy not happiness…
In modern-day Macedonia, East Indian gypsy Taip becomes friends with UN peacekeeper Riju and introduces him to his life of squalor. When Taip’s mother dies, he collects government money for the funeral – but then she comes back to life.
Bobby is the story of Raj, the poor little rich boy who has everything but the love and attention he craves, and Bobby, the granddaughter of his old maid in whom he finds love and support. Interwoven with this innocent love story are the very real issues of modern India’s social and class inequalities as the film explores the theme of relationships versus wealth. The two sets of parents, with their social and financial differences, make it impossible for the young lovers to be together. What follows is a touching tale of how the pair fights society and their parents, proving that love does conquer all and that a big bank balance does not automatically provide respectability.
Philip Ransome, a boy from the west of England about ten-years-old, has been mute since age three and spends his days roaming the moors alone. His parents despair of a cure. One day, he sees a singular wild albino pony with blue eyes and befriends it avidly. A kindly retired Colonel, who accepts Philip as he is, a girl his age, and a pet falcon she gives him provide him with more things to love and care about. Gradually, Philip emerges from his shell. But the way out is full of heartbreak and setbacks.
Francis, a 16-year-old boy, is unaware of any connection he may have to his new teacher, but it clear that the weight of the past is heavy burden on Olivier. While struggling to maintain a professional distance in Francis’ presence, he can’t stop himself from following the boy through the training center hallways and through the city streets after class. In vain, Olivier tries to understand the motivations of his acts, however, as the film advances, they slowly come to know each other and the relationship between the two psychologically bruised characters is strengthened.