Krzysztof Kieslowski is the foremost director to have emerged in Poland since Andrzej Wadja. His two most recent features, A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love, shocked Western audiences and critics with their pessimism and brutality. Shot during the final months of communist rule, they are actually two in an extraordinary cycle of films made for Polish television. Each uses one of the Ten Commandments to explore the morality of Polish society; their subjects range from suicide to stamp-collecting, from incest to home computers. Arena talks to Kieslowski about these parables of contemporary life, and his role as a modern-day Moses.
Tag: 1990s
Paul Clark and his children are really down-hearted after the death of Jane, Paul’s wife. He falls in love with the business-woman Mary, a former tennis-player. They decide to live together. That appears to be very difficult. Their characters are totally different, and so are their lifestyles. Mary’s continuously reminded of the deceased Jane.
A profile of singer-dancer-actress Rita Hayworth (1918-87) features rare home movies, film clips and interviews with family, friends and fellow actors, including Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak and Frank Langella.
An animated story derived from a Chinese folk tale. Follows the magical journey of a sister and brother as they travel with their grandmother to a mystical world. In this world, they confront a talking frog, a fierce dragon, a wicked witch, etc. Protecting them during their travels is a bright, white pearl that possesses extraordinary powers.
After growing up on a racetrack and learning all she can about the details of horse racing, 11-year-old Danny wants to find the perfect racing horse for her uncle, Eddie. When she buys Tom Thumb, a purebred horse, she knows that he’s a champion that can launch her uncle’s racing career. But even as Danny and Eddie profit from Tom Thumb’s races, corrupt horse trainers attempt to ruin their chances by any means necessary.
MR. HEADMISTRESS is the story of Tucker, a small-time con man who has just been released from jail when he is accosted by two thugs who are intent on collecting a bad debt. The henchmen chase Tucker onto a departing train where he literally bumps into Naomi Bascombe, a renowned educator, initiating the con of his life by assuming her identity. Once at the school, Tucker soon realizes that he is onto the scam of his career when he learns that the school is set to receive a half million dollar donation… if the students’ grades improve.
A feature-length documentary on smoking, drinking and drugging in the 20th century. Through interviews with historians and professionals in the drug treatment field interspersed with film clips, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis delves into the history of America’s relationship with mind-altering substances over the past 100 years.