Tag: FHD

October 22, 2023 / Arthouse

As a renowned author, Mahmoud feels pressure to compose his next great novel, but he is suffering from writer’s block. He harkens back to a happier time when he was a shy, awkward 11-year-old on his family’s lush estate in Tehran. He recalls his 14-year-old cousin, a tomboy who is nonetheless a ravishing beauty. She revels in the power that she has over him. That adolescent girl of long ago—or the memory of her—becomes the muse that inspires him.

October 22, 2023 / Arthouse

This highly symbolic Iranian drama (shot in black-and-white) revolves around the most important figure in a remote rural village. That figure is the village’s sole cow, owned by Mashdi Hassan. The beginning of the film makes clear just how vital the cow is to the life of the village and how much Mashdi and his neighbors cherish it. When the cow is threatened and then killed by members of a nearby clan, Mashdi becomes so distraught that he is gradually transformed into a cow himself. One highlight of this film is the glimpse it offers into a style of rural life which has gone unchanged for thousands of years.

October 13, 2023 / Arthouse

While on a train, a teenage boy thinks about his life and the flamboyant aunt whose friendship acted as an emotional shield from his troubled family. This film evokes the haunting quality of memory while creating a heartfelt portrait of a boy’s life in a rural 1940s Southern town.

October 13, 2023 / Experimental

1941 was Francis Lee’s first film; CH’AN his last. In between, he became an expert Sumi-e watercolorist and here he combines eloquent ink paintings with masterful animation methods. This film moves through mysterious shapes, takes the viewer on an explosive meditative journey across the imaginary landscapes of his creations. 

October 12, 2023 / Comedy

After five years working with Roger Corman, Jonathan Demme moved to Paramount to make Citizens Band, a charming ensemble comedy following a disparate group of characters who communicate across the airwaves. A huge influence on Paul Thomas Anderson, the film’s empathy for the outsiders and eccentrics who would characterise Demme’s later work is clearly evident here. And the cast, including Le Mat as a CB vigilante and Napier as a bigamist trucker, is terrific. A prescient study of human behaviour that resonates in our social media era, Citizens Band’s box-office failure left Demme fearing his career was over, but it can now be seen as the moment he found his distinctive voice. 

October 5, 2023 / Comedy
October 5, 2023 / Comedy

Montmartre, 1896: the Can-Can, the dance in which the women lift their skirts, is forbidden. Nevertheless, Simone has it performed every day in her nightclub. Her employees use their female charms to let the representatives of law enforcement look the other way – and even attend the shows. Then the young ambitious judge Philippe Forrestier decides to bring this to an end. Will Simone manage to twist him round her little finger too? Her boyfriend, Francois, certainly doesn’t like to watch her trying.

October 5, 2023 / Horror

In this remake of the 1973 horror hit “The Exorcist”, a 12 year old girl named Gul, living with her mother in a cozy, high society life in Istambul becomes possessed by the Satan himself through a Ouija board and a troubled psychiatrist and an experienced exorcist become the girl’s only hope for salvation.