Jazz singer and writer George Melly takes a nostalgic trip through front rooms and backstreets as he reminiscences about the influence of Dada and Surrealism on his early life.
Tag: UK
A send-up of the bawdy life of Romantic composer/piano virtuoso Franz Liszt, with ubiquitous phallic imagery and a good portion of the film devoted to Liszt’s “friendship” with fellow composer Richard Wagner. The film begins during the time when Franz would give piano performance to a crowd of shrieking teenage fans while maintaining affairs with his (multiple!) mistresses. He eventually seeks Princess Carolyne of St. Petersburg (at her invitation), elopes, and, after their marriage is forbidden by the Pope, he embraces the monastic life as an abbé.
Fictionalized portrait of one of history’s great literary couples: Stein & Toklas. Summer 1930s France, Alice tends to ailing Gertrude; they visit Fernande Olivier, Guillaume Apollinaire, others; and Hemingway pops in.
Film director, theatre director, and opera director. The multi-talented Luchino Visconti is interviewed on this special to reflect upon his views on each of those art forms and he approaches each of them. Also features interviews with collaborators such as Vittorio de Sica, Leonardo Bernstein and Maria Callas.
Eleven directors from 11 countries each contribute an 11-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what’s happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they’ve spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son’s death. The tones vary, as do the locales. Most stories are about others coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.
A rabbi is murdered. Detective Llonrot is called in on the case and looks for a ‘rabbinical explanation’ for the murder. Other murders are committed and deliberate clues left in chosen locations. Llonrot, convinced he is on the trail of a ‘mystical intrigue’ is lured to the ‘crime scene’ when the tables are turned by his nemesis, the master criminal Red Scharlach.
Englishman Bruce Harris took on more than he bargained for when he accepted the job of boss at a refuge for street children in Guatemala City. He has now become the not-so-local hero. This film documents his investigations into violent acts, including murder, against Guatemala’s street children by the national police. His pursuit of justice on behalf of these children is legendary but has placed him in a personally dangerous position.
In A Hole in the Soul, director Dusan Makavejev’s free-form, autobiographical meditation on the nature of a place combines aspects of both physical place (the former Yugoslavia) and mental place (the cinematic avant-garde). Makavejev mixes styles and genres in order to explore his sense of himself and his physical environment. Makavejev’s bold contribution to BBC Scotland’s acclaimed TV series The Director’s Place allows audiences a highly personal look at the director as he explores his own hole in the soul.